We had a BBQ picnic at lunch, and I wanted to make something that one of my dairy free co-workers could eat (no cow products or cinnamon for here either). I was up for the challenge, but I wanted to make something that everyone else would like, too.
I’d read about “Chocolate Cupcakes for Almost Everybody” in the Best Food Writing 2009.
I used vanilla soy milk (the recipe calls for soy or rice milk, but a vegan friends says the rice milk doesn’t rise as well.) I also had Dutch Processed cocoa powder, which is a bit darker than regular cocoa powder.
The recipe says it will make 12 cupcakes, but it made 18 for me — it leaves more room for the glaze on top. That did reduce my cooking time from 20 minutes to about 15 minutes. I added orange/Halloween sprinkles to make them more festive.
And they were a hit. The chocolate cupcakes were moist and with a very rich, chocolate flavor. I really liked the 3-ingredient icing / glaze — easy to make and spread. All the ingredients are ones I have on hand, and the recipe is very easy to make. You could use buttermilk if you aren’t a soy milk person, but the texture was just right – not my different than my black bottom cupcakes.
In an interview with The New York Times: “Eggs are the big lie in baking.” On the Web site, Post Punk Kitchen, Isa Chandra Moskowitz concedes that eggs give baked goods structure and leavening. “However,” she writes, “like a bad boyfriend, they can be replaced, and with pleasing results.”
Of course these won’t work for my gluten-free friends because of the flour . I’ll have to try that challenge the next time.