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flour

2 tsp. aluminum-free baking

powder

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

½ cup nonhydrogenated vegan

margarine, softened

1 cup unbleached cane sugar

Egg substitute for 1 large egg

1 tsp. white or cider vinegar

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring soy milk and vanilla bean to a boil. Turn off heat, and let cool for 45 to 60 minutes. Remove vanilla bean from the pan, open pod, and scoop out seeds, returning them to soy milk. Discard pod.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 22 to 26 muffin cups with paper cupcake liners.

3. Into a large bowl, sift together unbleached all-purpose flour, aluminum-free baking powder, baking soda, and salt, or blend with a wire whisk.

4. In a separate large bowl, and using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed, beat vegan margarine and unbleached cane sugar for 1 or 2 minutes or until light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula. Add egg substitute and white vinegar, and beat again.

5. Reduce speed to low, and add ½ of dry ingredients, alternating with ½ vanilla bean soy milk, until well blended. Add remaining dry ingredients and soy milk, and mix for 1 minute or only until cake batter is nice and smooth with no lumps, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Be careful not to overmix.

6. Pour batter into the prepared cupcake tins, filling each cup about ¾ full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pans. Remove to a wire rack, and cool completely before frosting.

8. Frost with your choice of frosting (try Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, recipe in Chapter 21), or double-wrap in plastic, and freeze.

BAKER’S BONUS

Natural vanilla beans are also known as pods.To cut open a vanilla bean, lay it flat on a cutting board. Slice open the bean lengthwise from one end to the other, being careful not to slice through it. This exposes thousands of tiny seeds you can scrape out and use in recipes.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Gooey chocolate cupcakes baked with a vegan cream cheese center and loaded with chocolate chips are a chocoholic’s dream come true! These cupcakes are so moist and yummy, they don’t need frosting.

Yield:

12 to 16 cupcakes

Prep time:

30 minutes

Bake time:

23 to 28 minutes

Serving size:

1 cupcake

1 (8-oz.) pkg. vegan cream cheese,

at room temperature

1½ cups Florida Crystals or

unbleached cane sugar

¼ cup soft silken tofu or soy yogurt

1½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ cup vegan semisweet chocolate

chips

1½ cups unbleached all-purpose

flour

½ cup natural cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup water

⅓ cup canola or vegetable oil

1 TB. white vinegar or apple cider

vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 to 16 muffin cups with paper cupcake liners.

2. In a medium bowl, and using an electric mixer on high speed, beat vegan cream cheese and ½ cup Florida Crystals for 1 minute. Add soft silken tofu and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, and beat for 1 more minute or until creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula. Stir in vegan chocolate chips.

3. Into a medium bowl, sift together unbleached all-purpose flour, natural cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, or blend with a wire whisk.

4. In a large bowl, and using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed, mix water, canola oil, remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, white vinegar, and remaining 1 cup Florida Crystals for 1 minute or until well blended, scraping the bowl as needed.

5. Reduce speed to low, add ½ of dry ingredients, and mix to combine. Add remaining dry ingredients, and mix for 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until batter is well blended.

6. Pour batter into the prepared cupcake tins, filling each cup about ¾ full. Gently spoon vegan cream cheese filling on top of each batter-filled tin, evenly dividing among cupcakes. Bake for 23 to 28 minutes or until cheesecake