HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
It’s the beginning of the New Year and I already need to ask for your forgiveness. I know so many of you are kicking off the year with a healthy start (myself included), and here I am tempting you with delicious cupcakes. Crawling under a rock now, but I hope you’ll understand I do have a good reason. You see over the holiday break was my daughter’s birthday. She turned 4! Eeeek 4 already. I developed a special cupcake recipe just for her birthday that I had to share. Keep it in your back pocket for the next special occasion in your life, or for when you’re having a killer dessert craving.
These Coconut Ginger Cupcakes with Orange Vanilla Crème Frosting are sweet and flavorful, made mini size so if you’re anything like my husband you might be able to pop them in your mouth in one delectable bite. If you ask me, I love a little mini dessert. It is the perfect balance of sweetness in your life.
I started making the cupcakes and about half way through I froze, then bonked myself on the head. I remembered my daughter’s very specific, detailed request that the cupcakes themselves needed to be pink, with pink frosting, and pink sprinkles. Who am I to mess with her birthday vision? So I added a little pink food coloring to the rest of the batter and everything was rosy again.
Here you can see I set up a decorating station, which my son very quickly took over. He was all about helping decorate. I think I have a little artist on my hands.
I hope you enjoy these cupcakes as much as we did!
Coconut Ginger Cupcakes with Orange Vanilla Crème Frosting
Coconut Ginger Cupcakes
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 cup raw cane sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
12 drops Vanilla Crème Sweet Leaf Sweet Drops (or 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract)
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. ginger
¾ tsp. kosher salt
½ cup coconut flour
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line mini cupcake pan with cupcake liners (approximately 41).
With an electric mixer, beat soymilk, apple cider vinegar, sugar, oil and vanilla until well mixed.
Add baking soda, ginger, and salt and mix until incorporated.
Add coconut flour, and continue to mix.
Gradually add all-purpose flour, until it is all mixed in.
Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full, about 1 rounded Tbsp. of batter per cupcake.
Bake for approximately 12 – 15 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before frosting.
*Note – To make regular sized cupcakes bake for about 25 minutes.
Yields: about 41 mini cupcakes
Orange Vanilla Crème Frosting
¼ cup Earth Balance, room temperature
14 drops Valencia Orange Sweet Leaf Sweet Drops
4 drops Vanilla Crème Sweet Leaf Sweet Drops
2 Tbsp. + 1tsp. vanilla soymilk (as needed to achieve desired consistency)
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
With an electric mixer, whisk the Earth Balance, Valencia orange and vanilla crème sweet drops until smooth and soft. Add 2 Tbsp. of soymilk and mix again.
Gradually add the confectioner’s sugar, about ½ cup at a time. Add more soymilk if necessary. I add 1 teaspoon of soymilk after mixing in half of the sugar. Mix for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
*The amount of soymilk I used left the frosting fairly thick, so that when I piped the frosting out of a star tipped pastry bag it was easily able to hold its shape.