Did I stress bake again? This is getting out of hand. Let’s pretend it’s NOT stress baking. Instead, this is celebration baking.
What am I celebrating today?
- Today, November 30th, is the day I finish my first novel! 1320 words to go!
- After today, I will have only 17 days until I get to go home for the holidays!
- Tomorrow is December 1st, the start of the most wonderful month of the year!
- The pain in my teeth has finally started to subside, and the antibiotics will start kicking in soon – yay!
- I’m nearly done the paper that has been causing me grief for a while
- I’ve got all sorts of exciting ideas for hand-made Christmas gifts planned!
What are you celebrating today?
Yesterday, on a brief hiatus from the editing/re-writing of that darned paper, I took a moment to indulge my Top Chef: Just Desserts side (a show that I discovered a few days ago, to great delight!!). This is also little bit of a tribute to my experience at NaNoWriMo. The black-and-white swirls and stripes is in honour of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, because I found out this month that she wrote it during NaNoWriMo a few years ago! That inspiring tidbit has been getting me through my month. I was so impressed that such a wonderful novel could come out of that speed-writing experience.
Black & White Marble Cupcakes
Adapted from “Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cupcakes” in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
Makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1/2 cup margarine, softened
- 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp cocoa powder
For the icing
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1/4 cup margarine
- 1 3/4 cups icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 cup soy milk
Method:
Preheat the oven to (what else?) 350. Either grease a muffin tin, or line with cupcake liners.
Mix together the vinegar and milk, whisk for about 20 seconds, and set to the side.
Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt, sifting if you’re into that kinda thing.
Cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the extracts and cornstarch and mix to combine. In 3 additions each, add the milk mixture, then the flour mixture, alternating until all additions have been added. Stir vigorously after each addition until the resulting batter is silky smooth.
Boil about 1/2 cup of water. Place the cocoa powder into a bowl, and add 3 Tbsp of the water and whisk until it’s smooth. Add 1 cup of the batter to the cocoa powder mixture and mix well until you have a dark, chocolatey batter mixture.
Into the liners, place one spoonful or so of each of the batters until they are about 3/4 full. Then, using a knife or a toothpick, create swirls to make a marbled effect. (My batter was a little thick, so it didn’t swirl as nicely on the top. But when you bit into it, it looks nice and marbly!)
Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool before piping frosting.
For the icing: Cream the margarine and shortening together until fluffy. Add the icing sugar, and mix for several minutes until it too becomes nice and fluffy. Then add the vanilla and soy milk, mixing until a good consistency. Then ice away!
BON APPETIT!
