Vegan Cupcakes

So, I don't know if you remember me saying that I was on a mission to make vegan cake taste good or not, but I think I did it!!! This weekend at our spiritual community I volunteered to bring in cupcakes to celebrate people's birthdays. Seeing as it is about to be fall I thought I would make something Fallesque. Fall makes me think of crisp morning air, juicy apples, snuggling up by the fire, taking long walks through the forest and listening to the crunching of leaves under foot. What better representation of Fall could I come up with than apple cupcake with cream cheese frosting? It was very easy and they tasted amazing. My daughter and friend Annie helped me make them. Thank you both for all of your help.
I just have to tinker with recipes. I like to add my own flair. In this case I took out half of the sugar. Don't worry they still tasted sweet! I wanted to rely on the sweetness of the apples. Most of the apples ended up in the cakes, despite my daughter pinching the apples from the cutting board! I had a total disaster with the frosting and I thought I might implode at the devastation I was feeling, but I survived. Basically the frosting ended up being splattered all over the kitchen. The cabinets looked quite lovely, as did the floor! And to top it all off I broke a glass. I am such a klutz. Anyways, people were gobbling them up and I don't think they knew my little secret about them being vegan. Sometimes people turn their noses up at vegan food. They think it is going to taste like dirty socks or something! No dirty socks here, just yummy healthy goodness.

For the cupcakes:

-1 1/2 cup veggie oil
-2 cups sugar (I use 1 cup)
-1 cup apple sauce
-3 tbsp. vanilla extract
-3 cups of whole wheat flour
-1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1 tsp. nutmeg
-1 cup chopped/crushed walnuts
-3 cups (equivalent to about 3 medium apples) chopped apples

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the wet ingredients with sugar (oil, apple sauce, vanilla). In a separate bowl sift together the dry ingredients. Add to the wet mixture and stir by hand until it is thoroughly mixed. The batter should be stiff. Fold in the walnuts and apples. Pour into cupcake liners. Bake for about 15-20 mins.

For the frosting:

-1 tub tofutti cream cheese
-1/2 block of extra firm tofu
-1/2 cup powder sugar (I use 1/4 cup)
-1/4 cup agave nectar
-1 tsp. lemon zest

Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender. Cool in the fridge.

Let the cakes cool in the pan for a about 20 minutes, then another 40 outside of the pan before attempting to frost them.

I got this recipe off of a fellow bloggers page by the name of Imaginary Ordinary Vegan.

What Kate Ate 9/19/10

Quinoa with banana, almond milk and walnuts
Vegan apple cupcake
Pad Thai
Fish fingers and peas (total comfort food)