Charity Cupcakes

So I was asked by a local vegan group to create something for their Holiday Pot Luck! The person that had contacted me was interested in ordering some dessert. So working in a bakery before and seeing these god awful things decided to make it for them. I mean just because I don't like cupcake cakes like this doesn't mean other people don't enjoy them. This time I opted for simple chocolate and vanilla cupcakes...they had contacted me way before the blog post about the holiday cupcakes. So he told me that there would be approximately 50-60 people at this function. So I planned accordingly and decided to make 75 cupcakes,just in case some people wanted to eat more...who knows. Anyhoo, I made them a Christmas tree,Santa Claus,and Wreath. They loved it and said they were cute and tasted amazing..Another satisfied customer in the world of vegan cupcakes!!!!
Xoxoxo
Chris

Holiday Cupcakes 2: Peppermint Marble Cupcake

Nothing screams Christmas more to me than Candy Canes. Whether you use them to decorate those Christmas trees, plastic or real…Give them to your children as treats, or get them from Santa Claus himself.. you definitely have to try these. Now I will admit these are pepperminty to the max girls and boys! Not to the extreme that’ll burn your mouth or even clear your sinuses, just be warned there is goodness in everything. I make a basic vanilla cupcake, but heighten its flavor by adding peppermint extract the batter. I also take some of the batter set it aside and add red food coloring to it. Much in the tradition of marble cupcakes you will be making a marbling effect with these. Both batters should contain peppermint extract. I will admit red is my favorite color, lots of things are red like hair, cars, tattoos, Santa’s outfit and my personal favorite blood. Just kidding folks blood is a reddish brown!



I make of course a peppermint butter cream, much like the batter I set aside a certain amount and color it red. You want to pipe on the butter cream creating a swirly effect like the cupcake…I know it seems like a lot of work, but it’s the holidays no time to cut corners or even be lazy folks. The skies the limit when creating fun exciting garnishes. You could of course another time consuming option is to make peppermint bark, or even make your own candy canes. But with all the holiday shopping and gift receiving I will have under my belt; I opt for a simple vegan ribbon sugar.I hope you continue to enjoy my stories and pictures and ideas on my blog…please stay tuned as the new years will bring us all good fortune and of course great cupcakes!
Xoxoxo
Chris

Holiday Cupcakes 1: Silk Nog Cupcake...Yummy!

*So, my editor is uber busy with work,so I decided to post this despite it not being reviewed for mistakes and bad sentence structure...call it more authentic! Don't hold it against me! *




Ok, well I'm taking a break from doing any homage cupcakes I decided to focus on holiday favorites this month. The first is Egg Nog! Even though I find it repugnant, a lot of people enjoy this beverage...some with spirits and some without! A favorite holiday liquor to add to this beverage is rum. These vegan delights are sans alcohol, but do have a hint of imitation rum flavor courtesy of store bought extracts. Every Christmas Silk honors us with the release of Silk Nog! There is also pumpkin nog, but find it to be more of a thanksgiving beverage than Christmas. I used the silk nog as the base for the cupcake, shake a little bit of nutmeg and rum extract into these beauties and it’s like having a nice glass of nog.



I decided to dive into the unknown and do a egg nog custard. I used agar flakes, silk nog and some secret spices to make a vegan custard. Custards are usually egg based and really thick, this custard is sort of messy so you need to be careful. I then thought well what kind of frosting will I make? Having leftover silk nog what else than to use it for the egg nog butter cream. Even though this seems like egg nog overload is farther from that! Silk nog is very light and not as thick and sweet as traditional egg nog, so whether you like egg nog overload or just a hint, these will satisfy those taste buds of yours. I put a generous piping of frosting and garnish with some freshly ground nutmeg and a beautiful fake Christmas tree! Whether you’re adventurous or not you should definitely try making these cupcakes and bring them to your office or better yet a less corporate approach to your holiday parties and gatherings this year. Just make sure you keep them chilled or else the custard will be very very runny!
Xoxox
Chris