(Not So) Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so I got together with my baking buddy, Ali, and we whipped up some adorable vegan cupcakes that are sure to sweeten any V-day celebration. A confession: these were initially meant to be Red Velvet, but as you'll see below, in our quest to be healthier, the color veered more toward regular chocolate, which is actually fine by us because they taste delicious. (If anyone has found a healthy way to create the red color, we'd love to know).

The key to red velvet cupcakes being red is typically the use of Red dye #40. This is the food coloring you can find in any grocery store and in numerous processed foods. The reason we didn't use it in this recipe is because it is a known carcinogen along with causing: migraines, hyperactivity and other behavioral issues. So, we chose to take the natural route in this recipe and ended up with a chocolate colored cupcake. However, we've heard that beets might do the trick, so we'll be updating our recipe if it works!

Natural Food Coloring via Seelect We purchased the all-natural food coloring in the baking section at Whole Foods. Click on the image above to go to the Seelect website and view the various natural food colorings that are available. Other natural food colorings are available through India Tree as well. 
Now to the recipe...

(Not So) Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients for Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cup organic flour

1 cup vegan sugar

1 cup soymilk

1/3 cup organic canola oil

4 T or 1/4 cup Natural Red Food Coloring

2 1/2 T cocoa powder

3 t vanilla extract

1 t chocolate extract

1 t apple cider vinegar

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t sea salt

1/4 t almond extract

Ingredients for Frosting:

1 small round container of vegan cream cheese

2 1/4 c powdered sugar

1/2 c vegan butter

2 t vanilla extract

1/2 t lemon juice

Instructions for Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. combine vegan milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside to curdle.
3. In a large bowl combine the flour sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add the food coloring, canola oil, chocolate extract, almond extract, and vanilla extract to the soymilk mixture. Mix well.
5. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full (leave room for these to rise fairly high)
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes and then move to cooling rack.

Instructions for Frosting:

1. Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth.
2. Refrigerate while cupcakes are cooling so it will firm up a bit.
3. Use a pastry bag to frost, or if you don't have one, fill a small sandwich size plastic bag and cut a small opening in the corner.
4. Add the food coloring, canola oil, chocolate extract, almond extract, and vanilla extract to the soy milk mixture. Mix well.
5. Add festive cupcake toppers and serve.

Helpful hint: If you're feeling creative, consider making your own cupcake toppers. We made our own cupcake toppers by purchasing fun Valentine's Day items at Michael's and gluing them to toothpicks. The options are endless. Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate for your Valentine

If you're looking for something sweet for your Valentine this year, Sjaak's organic chocolates is the go-to shop. Sjaak's products are 100% certified organic and they have a full line of vegan options including peanut butter bites, almond butter bites, mint, hazelnut, cherry, and more.

♥ And to sweeten the deal they are offering 25% off with this coupon code:  Val2512 ♥
 

"Whatever the question, love is the answer.
This applies to yourself as well."

- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Sjaak's Vegan Chocolate

If you've been reading our blog for awhile, then I think it's pretty clear by now that we're obsessed with chocolate. When we first went vegan it was hard to come by, but now we are flat-out spoiled. We have a new favorite made by a company called Sjaak's that just happens to be made locally in Petaluma, CA. 

We think every vegan out there needs to experience Sjaak's, especially the chocolate lovers.

They carry these chocolate bars in most Whole Foods stores throughout the Bay Area.

For other areas you can order directly from their website.
I bought a heart shaped box of truffles for V-day and they were really good too.

Check out all of Sjaak's vegan chocolate options here. 

You can thank me later. ;)