FLUFFY BERRY CUPCAKES

2009-07-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of soy milk
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup of white sugar
1/3 cup of canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of flour
1/3 cup of cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
300g berries (strawberries, blueberries etc)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 200'C and place cupcake liners in a muffin tin. Mix together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl and leave for around 3-4 minutes to curdle. In a smaller bowl sift together flour, baking soda & powder, salt and coca. Once the soy milk and vinegar are curdled add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract and beat until foamy. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Lastly add the berries and mix. Make sure you don't over mix them as this will make the cupcakes look a strange colour (slightly green and purple!). Pour the mixture into the liners filling half of the way. This will leave lots of room for them to grow. They take around half an hour to bake (give or take 10 minutes depending on your oven). Leave them to cool before icing.

I use a simple frosting recipe for the icing.

VEGAN FROSTING:

Ingredients:

1 cup of vegan margarine (I use nutlex)
2 cups of icing sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup of soy milk

Directions:

Beat the margarine and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and soy milk and beat until smooth & fluffy (approx. 5 minutes).

I decorated these cupcakes with strawberries and little coloured heart sprinkles.

Recipe by Mai.

CINNAMON, GINGER & CHOC CHIP COOKIES

2009-07-07T20:35:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

2 cups of unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Cinnamon (as much as desired)
Ginger (as much as desired)
Vegan chocolate (I recommend luxury dark chocolate, again as much as desired)
1 cup raw sugar
½ cup oil (vegetable or canola)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
¼ cup soy milk or water (or rice milk, although I find soy best)

DIRECTIONS:

Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 200’C. In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
Add the chopped chocolate. Make a well in the centre and set aside. Now in a medium size bowl mix the sugar and oil. Mix well. Add the vanilla essence and soy milk and mix well.
Next add the wet mixture to the dry mixture. Be careful not to overwork it. You can add more chocolate, ginger or cinnamon if desired. Spoon onto ungreased baking paper and place them into the oven.
Depending on your oven they can take between five to fifteen minutes to bake. Keep an eye on them as they can burn easily. Place them on a tray to cool before serving.

TIP- Add nuts to the recipe for something different. The cookies below have walnuts in them!

These are super tasty cookies that are simple and quick to make. Great for unexpected guests!

RECIPE BY HEATHER

(this recipe is included in our BIG EATERS HAVE BIG HEARTS SUMMER 09 ZINE)