Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake

  • Makes : 12 cupcakes

The name says it all, a simple but perfect, tender, and all-around wonderful chocolate cupcake. Change the look, flavor, and even nationality (with Coconut Pecan Fudge Frosting, for German chocolate cupcakes) by topping with any frosting, glaze, or filling you can imagine. This recipe is the basis for so many great chocolate cupcakes in this book. We've been even known to whip up an unadorned batch and serve with a glass of cold soy milk when the need for good, honest chocolate cake arises.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup soy milk
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350˚F and line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

Step 2

Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat till foamy.

Step 3

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are okay).

Step 4

Pour into liners, filling three-quarters of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

Notes

Recipe for Chocolate Mousse Topping.

Sprinkles

Use Dutch-processed cocoa for darker cupcakes. Worth the effort to get, try these with a mixture of black cocoa powder (see ingredient section page 12) and regular cocoa powder for the deepest, darkest, and most ridiculously chocolatey chocolate cupcakes ever.

Recipe Source: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
Reprinted with permission from the author, Isa Chandra Moskowitz.
Photograph © Wanda Embar.

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