Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I'm totally into cupcakes. They're just perfect! Little pieces of glorious dessert that you're able to hold in your hand. What's not to love?

Just so you know... it's only been recently that I've decided to give vegan cupcakes a try. I was a little nervous about substitutions in baking and whatnot, but now I finally feel confident enough that I know what I'm doing to get the taste that I desire.

Luckily, my assumptions about my skillz were correct, because these suckers are good. The frosting is super rich and delicious and the cake has a nice texture and isn't too crumbly or too moist. My sister and mom, both non-veg (and the former is extremely picky) loved them ("these are vegan? What's vegan? There better not be anything weird in here"). I plan on doing lots of experimentations with cupcakes in the future... with particular fondness towards an almond/coconut hybrid or maybe a chocolate-hazelnut or perhaps a strawberry-lime. Oooh!!

Chocolate Cupcakes:
1 Tb. rice vinegar

1 1/2 c. soymilk

2 c. flour

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

5 Tb. cocoa

1/2 c. coconut oil, warmed until liquid

1/2 Tb. vanilla

1. Measure vinegar into a measuring cup and fill with milk to make 1 1/2 c. Set aside and let stand about 5 minutes.

2. Mix all dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix soymilk mixture, coconut oil, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just blended.

3. Pour into baking cups or sprayed muffin tins and bake 15-20 minutes at 350. Cool on a wire rack until ready to frost.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1/4 c. vegan margarine

1 c. powdered sugar

1/8 c. cocoa powder

dash of salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tb. soymilk

In a bowl beat together vegan margarine, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt until smooth. Add the vanilla and soymilk and give it another quick whirl with the beaters. Use it to frost the cooled cupcakes.

Enjoy!