Halloween Cupcakes (Vegan)

BOO!

I love halloween. You have no idea. I don't know if its the scary things, costumes, treats, or the parties. I guess I love it all. So lets combine my love of food with my love for Halloween:

I don't get to bake a whole lot, but I really wanted to try my hand at vegan cupcakes. After a lot of research, I settled on this cupcake and frosting recipe. The cupcake is light and fluffy, with a hint of coconut. The frosting is sweet, but not too sweet, and has a hint of lime. Combined, they taste like a pina colada / margarita in your mouth!

My family actually really loved this, and even though they do not have sweet tooths, they still ate them up :) They look a little scary, but they really are the cutest, sweetest things... muHAHAHAHA.

Halloween Cupcakes (Vegan)

40 min total, Serves 18

Cupcake

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid*
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  
  1. 1. 
        1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pans or line with paper baking cups.
        2. Measure almond milk into a 2 cup measuring cup. Add apple cider vinegar to milk and give a quick stir. Let the milk mix stand until curdled, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk mixture with liquid coconut oil and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
        3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 17-20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in their pan, setting the pan over a wire rack.

Frosting

1 1/2 Avocados, peeled and pitted

juice from a lime, freshly squeezed

3/4 package of 1 lb confectioners sugar

2 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Combine avocado and lime juice in a bowl. Mash the two together and blend using hand blender or transfer ingredients to an upright blender. Once the ingredients look smoother, add the sugar in small batches and continue to blend. Once completely smooth, add vanilla and blend until color is even.

2. Spread frosting over cooled cupcakes with a spoon. Add additional decorations and allow to set at room temperature.

*Found the coconut oil at Fred Meyers in their organic/health foods section. Its a solid that comes in a jar, so it needs to be scooped out, warmed to a liquid, and then used. I bought the organic coconut oil, scooped it into a bowl, microwaved on medium for about 30 seconds and then stirred. I repeated this for maybe 2 minutes more, stopping at 30 seconds each time.

Here are the links I went by:

Cupcake

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegan-Cupcakes/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

Frosting

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Avocado-Icing/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

Aubergine and Bulgur Salad

Originally the recipe calls for couscous but my friend had a small tub off bulgur wheat that I couldn't let go to waste. Whipped it up for a friends bbq. One person told me "ew", another said "yum". I liked it so, XP

Aubergine and Bulgur Wheat Salad
20 minutes, Serves 6

olive oil
1 aubergine*, chopped into chunky
1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 zucchini, chopped
5 baby portobello mushrooms
10 cherry tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 cup parsley, finely chopped
2 cups bulgur wheat or couscous

1. Heat a nonstick skillet to medium high. Once warm, lower to medium and add a tablespoon of olive oil, move pan to spread around.

2. Season aubergine with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and grill for a 5 minutes or until they start to brown. Add onion, zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes to the pan and continue to cook until all the vegetables are tender crisp.

3. In a seperate pan, heat cooked bulgur wheat or couscous with garlic and parsley. Continue to cook until garlic is fragrant and add the cooked vegetables. Mix well and serve immediately for a warm salad or cold as an easy lunch.

*Aubergine is just a fancy word for eggplant

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