Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that RuleWritten by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero
Foreword by Sara Quin (Tegan & Sara)
Photography by Rebecca Bent
ISBN-13: 9781569242735
ISBN-10: 1569242739
Publisher: Da Capo Press/Marlowe & Company
Paperback: 168 Pages
S: This book is an absolute darling! I had heard so many good things about this book in the past year. At first, I was curious and skeptical, how do you make cupcakes and frosting's that are dairy-free? Second, I absolutely do not like wasting ingredients when I bake. Especially when recipes call only for egg whites or egg yolks. What am I suppose to do with the other half? Well, these reasons were enough for me to try vegan cupcakes!
H: The book is divided into two parts. First, "How to Make Kick-Ass Cupcakes" and the second part includes all the recipes. The recipes are then broken down into different sections: "Basic Cupcakes," "Classic Cupcakes," "Fancy Cupcakes," and "Frostin's and Fillin's." The introduction contains a couple of pages that we really enjoyed reading. They also explain in the introduction that these cupcakes were tested many times by many different people, which is reassuring when choosing a new cookbook.
S: "Cupcakes A to Z" was a blast to read. Isa and Terry came up with a funny list having to do with cupcakes. My favourites were the letters H, L, N, O, and X... while R and S are completely true for me.
H: For vegan noobs like us, we found the first part very useful. They went over all the ingredients by explaining what works and what didn't. We learned a lot about dairy substitutions here. They also go over tools for baking and decorating as well as cupcake troubleshooting.
S: The recipes were well-written and easy to follow. Each recipe has an introduction, followed by ingredients and directions. Occasionally there are variations to the recipes and these side notes labelled under "Sprinkles." I also like the fact that all the recipes make a dozen cupcakes. I have seen other cookbooks that provide recipes for 18-20 cupcakes or really odd numbers. Where am I suppose to put the odd leftovers if cupcake pans only fit 12?? Right?
H: Calm down there... Not only is the book well-written and put together, the photographs are beautiful, as you can see below.
Photography from Rebecca Bent LLC:
Left to Right: Pistachio Rosewater Cupcakes; and Green Tea Cupcakes with Green Tea Glaze and Almond Flowers. Photos by Rebecca Bent.
S: So, we decided to try making the basic cupcake (baby steps first). "Golden Vanilla Cupcakes" and "Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake."
H: The cupcake rose up into perfect little domes.
S: Compared to non-vegan cupcakes, the only thing I noticed missing was the aroma. Also, each batter made a bit more than 12 cupcakes, so we were scooping them in, which is why the domes were higher
H: Taste test! These vegan cupcakes were good and moist, I admit I had a couple for breakfast one day...
S: More than a couple... but yay, this marks our first vegan cupcake occasion! We hope you enjoyed our review and photos. They also have a flickr group if you want to see more vegan cupcakes made by others!
H: Like always, we end with our personal ratings, I give the book 5 "total vegan cupcake domination" out of 5.
S: I would recommend this book to vegan cupcake lovers! I give it 4.5 [|} [|} [|} [|} [| (sideways cupcake emoticons, notice one is bitten in half) out of 5!
Collage above: Measuring out all-purpose flour; soy milk and apple cider vinegar.
Golden Vanilla Cupcakes
From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
(makes a little more than 12 cupcakes)
1 cup of soy milk
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of canola oil
3/4 cups of granulated sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and have your cupcake liners ready in the pan.
- Whisk soy milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside to curdle.
- Then, beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
- Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until smooth.
- Fill cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
Collage above: "Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake" and "Golden Vanilla Cupcakes."
Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake
From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
(makes a little more than 12 cupcakes)
1 cup of soy milk
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1/3 cup of canola oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and have your cupcake liners ready in the pan.
- Whisk soy milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside to curdle.
- Add to the soy milk mixture sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix until foamy.
- In a separate bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Pour half of the dry batch into the wet batch and mix. Pour the last half and mix until smooth.
- Fill cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
Thank you to Lindsey from Da Capo Press for letting us review this book!
