BBQ & Cupcakes

I don’t think I’ve talked about it on here before, but I know that I’ve talked extensively with folks about how awesome I think Vegan Dad is. Every single thing I have ever made that he posted is DELICIOUS! I own plenty of cookbooks but I can’t help but pine after his. I mean, he’s a genius.

So of course I wasn’t surprised when my friend Samantha and I devoured his latest BBQ tofu recipe, paired with his southern-style greens (I used kale, spinach, arugula and mustard greens I harvested from the WYG last Saturday) and some Gluten-Free Bob’s Red Mill cornbread.


Sam and I are new friends; we met through DC Food for All, actually! She isn’t a vegan but eats like one sometimes and when she found out that I love to cook for other people she asked if she could come and watch me because (she says) she doesn’t know how to cook. It wasn’t exactly like a cooking lesson which is what I was a little nervous about, but she just watched me cook it up and saw how easy it was! I really love vegan soul food and this was a great example of how to make a very delicious & nutritious southern-style meal, no pork fat required!

For dessert we had some cupcakes that I made the night before. If you know me, you know I’m not a huge fan of sweets, especially pastries and cakes. However, for some reason earlier this week I had a huge craving for a vegan cupcake! I knew I could just ride over to Sticky Fingers and pay ~$4 and satisfy the craving, but I am pretty broke and couldn’t justify it. However, I can justify buying ingredients for homemade cupcakes since I am a food stamps recipient. I really love lemon and berry together, so I made lemon cupcakes with straw-raspberry icing.


Using a few of these websites plus my copy of How it All Vegan! This is what I did for my Berry Lemonade Cupcakes!:

Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup oil
1 cup full fat coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350*F.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add sugar and brown sugar and mix. Whisk together oil, coconut milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until relatively smooth. Fill cupcake liners with a scant 1/4 cup of batter (should be just under 2/3 of the way full). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Frosting:
1/4 cup frozen strawberries
1/4 cup frozen raspberries
3 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
1/2 cup all-vegetable shortening
3.5 cups powdered sugar

Blend strawberries, raspberries, lemon juice, coconut milk and vanilla together in a blender until smooth. In a medium bowl, use an electric beater to beat Earth Balance and shortening together until smooth. Add berry mixture and blend until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar, about a cup at a time.

The problem with my frosting was that it was not frothy/airy enough. It tasted DELICIOUS but was really goopy and didn’t keep its shape. I put it in the freezer and that helped it for when I would first squeeze it onto the cupcakes but after it became room temperature again it would start to melt down into a goopy mess. We ate them quickly enough for it not to be a big deal, but I’d like to perfect this in the future. If you have any advice, let me know!