Vegan Margarita Cupcakes: The Real Deal

As part-two of the fiesta cupcakettes that I made for MonkeyMan's
Aunt, I wanted some crazy margarita cupcakes. Obviously citrus,
but I didn't really know where to go from there.

Hopefully I won't get assaulted for this, but why are there no cupcake
recipes other than from the 'cupcakes take over' book. I looked over
the recipe and could just tell it wasn't going to be flavourful enough.
No, I wanted a sharp citrus, a creamy cupcake, and a strong kick of
tequila. Not a lingering aftertaste and some glaze with sparkly sugar
on top. Too harsh? I just wanted something that would knock people's
socks off. If it was just the tiniest bit bland, people are going to
immediately blame it on being a vegan cupcake.

Ole!



Margarita Cupcakes: El Auténtico

Ingredients

Juice and zest from one lemon
Zest from one lime
3/4 cup coconut milk/cream
(if using cream, reduce the oil and increase the cream to 1 cup)
I Like how this adds a little more of a topical taste
1/4 cup oil
3 tbsp tequila
2 tbsp triple sec
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup cake flour
2 tsp corn starch or arrowroot
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup earth balance
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
lemon or lime zest
1 tsp lemon or lime juice
4 tbsp tequila (Or more)
dash of salt
(one drop of each yellow and blue colouring: optional)

(+rock salt and more tequila)

Combine the lemon juice with the coconut, stir and set aside.
Sift together the dry ingredients (including the sugar).

Stir the coconut/lemon once more and add the alcohol, vanilla, and
oil. Gently combine the wet and dry ingredients, just until mixed.

Portion out into cupcake cups, about 80% full.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350°F. Remove when a tooth pick inserted
into the middle comes out clean, or you start to see the tiniest bit of
gold on the tops.

Remove from the pan and allow to cool on a rack. Right after placing
the cakes on the cooling rack, brush the tops with more tequila, making
sure to get around the edges too.

While the cupcakettes are baking, prepare the frosting.
First cream together the sugar and earthbalance, then add the zest,
juice, salt and a little bit of the tequila at a time.

The frosting should be smooth and fluffy, but not stiff or wet.
Right before frosting, brush the cakes again with tequila. Pipe the
frosting on in your favorite design, then top with a tiny wedge of lemon
or lime and sprinkle lightly with rock salt.

These went faster than a blink of an eye. Maybe a guacamole or salsa
cupcake should be next? Or is that just too weird? Okay.

How about a spicy mango?

Goodbye Summer, Hello 7 Days of Aloha

I am officially back from my summer break and about to start
school in a few days. Back to the world of administrative studies
and writing about policy! But also back to the lovely world of
writing about food and making for all of you.

Over the summer I spent sometime in the California mountains
with my Grandparents testing, writing, and drawing. It gave
me a chance to test out some key recipes on some very willing
omnivores.


The view from my Grandparents' mountain house


Then I took off to Hawaii to stay with my parents and younger
brother for three weeks. It was absolutely gorgeous, as usual
and I got quite a tan. There I got to throw somethings a my
brother who is pretty picky just to see what a picky kid would
think of some of the cookbook recipes. Thank goodness it went
over well and I got some good ideas from all of my ventures...


Our new favorite 'secret' beach

I didn’t blog most of this because of spotty internet, busy
schedules and sometimes downright laziness. Yet now I am
switching in to high gear and taking on some new projects.
I’m doing some light catering again, which is always fun. Yet,
I’m entering the larger stages of the cookbook project and
illustrating is going to be intense.

This past weekend I picked up another catering gig and did a
job for Compassion Over Killing’s Vegan Outreach at Animal
Acres. I will post pictures of that later as I am still unpacking
at my house and haven’t uncovered my camera yet from all
my luggage.

Before I left I promised to do a series on Hawaiian cuisine,
so I thought I would celebrate my return with just that.
Plus, why not start with something everyone loves...

In Hawaii everyone knows and loves this light, sweet, fluffy
bread. Sometimes it is called Hawaiian sweet bread, sometimes
Portuguese sweet bread... I’ve had it in all different flavours as
well; Taro, Mango, Guava (Passionfruit).

However, these tastings were all in my pre-vegan days as the
traditional recipe is packed with eggs and butter. They are both
yeast and egg leavened, but my adaptation was better if I do say
so myself. The only thing different was the colour from no egg
yolk.

French toast from this sweet bread is very popular. I like encrusting
it with macadamia nuts and serving it with guava butter!


Hawaiian Sweet Bread


Ingredients

1 tbsp instant dry yeast
2 tbsp warm water
3-4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp flax meal beat with 6 tbsp water
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 tbsp earthbalance
2/3 cup vegan white sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Soymilk for brushing (opt)

Make a paste with the yeast, salt and water and set aside.
Warm the earthbalance and coconut milk over very low heat,
but do not cook or get it ‘hot’. Add the sugar and flax to the
coconut mix, then pour over the yeast paste.

Add the flour a half cup at a time until it forms a ball and turn
out on to a clean, floured counter top. Knead in some flour if
it is too soft to knead. Knead for about 10 minutes.

Place in a mixing bowl with the vegetable oil and roll the dough
around to ensure it is greased. This prevents your bread dough
from cracking and becoming hard while rising. Cover the bowl
with a towel and place in a warm spot.

Let it rise for about an hour and a half or until it has doubled in
size. Remove from the bowl and using a pastry knife or something
similar cut small balls about the size of plum. Fold the piece of
dough under a couple times to make a nice smooth roll.

Place onto a greased sheet as you go. After all the rolls are shaped
allow them to rise again for about 30-40 minutes. Brush the tops
with a little soymilk if you want before baking at 350F for 25-30
minutes until the tops are golden brown. This may differ a little
as I originally baked these at a high altitude and adjusted the
recipe after the fact.