Monday 3 October 2011

Grand Final Cupcake Madness - also, the start of Vegan MoFo!

Vegan Mofo - opening weekend. I'm a bit behind because I was too busy running all over Melbourne being fed by others to make my own food! But I did manage to make one thing this weekend...


It's tradition for me to make yummy cupcakes for my friends' yearly Grand Final BBQ. This year, I attempted to make the most complicated cupcakes yet. From VCTOTW, Orange Pudding Cupcakes with Orange Creamsicle Icing. My version of the cupcakes consisted of three elements - the cake, the pudding filling and the icing.

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I made the cakes and the pudding the night before and made the icing in the morning. I iced the cupcakes after I got to the BBQ as I didn't want to risk them looking like crap by the time I walked the two blocks to my friends' house. (The forecast was for rain and hail!)

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The cupcakes didn't end up being as difficult to make as I had feared. The only major obstacle I had was finding a suitable replacement for Crisco vegetable shortening. After searching for coconut oil, I finally found some at an Indian grocery. I made the icing with the coconut oil replacing the shortening, and it was absolutely foul. I'm not sure if the bottle I bought was off or if coconut oil always tastes that way, but I had to ditch it and start all over. In the new batch, I simply doubled the amount of Nuttelex and it worked fine!

I also found that with cupcakes where there some sort of filling, it is cleaner and easier to use some sort of test-tube-shaped object to poke the hole, rather than a finger. The holes I poked with my finger were more messy-looking and a lot of the cake ended up coming out of the hole.

My piping back skills have slightly improved from last time, but still have a long way to go. Oh, and I sprinkled some Tahitian Vanilla salt from the amazing Gewurzhaus on the top of each cupcake for a bit of something extra. Behold:


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4 comments:

  1. Those cupcakes look lovely!I am working on my piping skills as well. I bought some bags and tips this summer but just used them for the first time yesterday. Happy Mofo to you!

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  2. I looked into using the coconut oil at my local Indian grocery stores in baking as it seemed really reasonably priced but when I googled the brand it said it wasn't suitable for cooking so that may be an explanation. The coconut oil from health food stores in the UK is really expensive so I tend to use the glaze from the rose and pistacio cupcakes in VCTOTW a lot as it makes a quick 'buttercream' icing.

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  3. Hmm...yeah, that would make sense. That stuff was nasty. Although, the guy working there led me to it when I told him I was looking for coconut oil to cook with (as opposed to the tanning variety!). I will probably steer clear of any kind of coconut oil for awhile and will try your suggestion!

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