I recently discovered Fantasy Cupcakes on line, a lovely UK bakery that won a gold heart prize in the North West Fine Foods Awards, beating out 400 entries in the general foods competition.
Vegan Mudpie Cupcake
So I e-mailed Fantasy Cupcakes to ask for their secrets at taking a vegan cupcake into the mainstream. The owner, Melinda, thought that the bitterness of the chocolate was the primary flavor of the cake and that it lingered on the palate.
Here’s a list of Melinda’s tips for vegan mud pie cupcakes:
- Use a little apple cider vinegar in the sponge batter instead of soya milk curdled with vinegar;
- Mix the wet ingredients together and fold in the dry ones; and,
- For the frosting, melt rich, dark chocolate mixed with soya cream, leave it to set, beat in a little powdered sugar until a firm(ish) spreading consistency is reached, spread onto the cupcake in a dome shape with a small palate knife, and dust with a good quality cocoa.
Melinda said the frosting recipe was an adaptation from a recipe for a vegan chocolate torte which was a family favorite for years.
For my two pence, I’d recommend using Cadbury’s cocoa powder. It’s make in the UK and has more bite to it than its US Hershey counterpart.