Strawberry Cupcakes...a belated Valentine.

I've been a little absent from the blog-o-sphere this last week, and I apologize for that. I blame it on the fact that I was in Florida and the weather was sunny and 75 for the ENTIRETY of my trip, and that sort of does something to a girl...makes her not want to go on her computer. Makes her not want to ever go back to the cold and dreary and wet and nasty midwest. I love Chicago. So much. But the flight back was so depressing (we left and it was sunny, we arrived and it was a "wintry mix" which is code for UGLIEST WEATHER OF ALL TIME) and I'm not sure when I will be able to recover. Yuck.

I won't torture you all (or me) with the photos from Florida...oh wait, I didn't take any. Like I said...I blame the weather.

Anyways, before I left I was invited to a ladies' night Valentine's Day Eve dessert party. I love desserts, but since there is very little likelihood that a dessert party will have much that is vegan friendly, I decided I better bring my own. The hostess DID in fact make some AWESOME vegan chocolate fondue, so that was great, but I was so full off of "testing" the cupcakes as they were being prepared (you must make sure it all tastes right...seriously...), that I could hardly put any more food in my mouth. I had room for wine though...

So, as I was planning the dessert, I had originally wanted to try a red velvet cupcake recipe that I had found online, but at the last minute, decided to go back to the "Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook".

These cupcakes looked simple enough and pretty, so I thought I'd give them a go. I topped them off with the recipe for Buttercream frosting that is also found in the book.

Here's what I did wrong with the actual cupcakes:
-I used bleached flour, not unbleached. I know unbleached is better, but honestly, it was all I had in the kitchen.
-I used regular sugar rather than evaporated cane sugar. What does evaporated cane sugar look like? And what does it DO?

These puppies turned out pretty delicious-like.

The real chaos came about when I tried to make the Buttercream Frosting. I don't have a hand mixer which is what the recipe called for, so I used my food processor. No matter how long I processed the Earth Balance and the confectioner's sugar, it would not turn into a liquid...or even a paste. So then I added all the wet ingredients (almond milk, vanilla and almond extract) and it turned into a soup. I was in full panic mode at this point and just started dumping flour into the processor which didn't seem to help. I finally just called it and decided I would put it on the cupcakes and hope for the best. And at first, it looked like they could survive, but then, after about 10 minutes, I checked on the cupcakes, and the frosting was literally DRIPPING off of the cupcakes.

So here's what they looked like...ten minutes before the catastrophic shift occured.

I was so proud for those 10 minutes.

Now I am never going to make another cupcake AGAIN.

Or at least for awhile.

Here's the recipe for the cake part. I am not going to even include the frosting recipe because I assume I did something wrong and don't want to slander the Skinny Bitch brand with the horror of my experience. But, I wouldn't be surprised if they had never tested the frosting...they are WAY too skinny for that.

Strawberry Cupcakes

2 cups (255g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (120ml) canola oil
1/2 cup (120ml) almond milk
1 cup (200g) evaporated cane sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 (75g) silken tofu
1 1/4 cups (200g) chopped fresh or frozen strawberries


Preheat the oven to 325 F (165 C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with crimped paper liners.

In a large bowl, sift in the flour. Add in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir until combined. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, sugar, and extracts until well combined. In a food processor or blender, puree the tofu and strawberries until creamy. Add the strawberry mixture to the milk mixture and whisk until combined. Create a small well in the dry mixture and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir to combine but do not overmix. Pour the batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each liner about half to two-thirds full. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Top with Buttercream Frosting.