It may have been a while since I last posted something, but that doesn't mean I haven't been getting up to all kinds of deliciousness! Sunday before last Tim loaded up his car with an embarrassing amount of our unwanted clothes while I raced around putting the finishing touches on some treats to take with us to the Coburg Primary School car boot sale. The aim of getting up so early was to try and raise some money for our upcoming trip to New Zealand. Poor organisation, lack of sign-posting and small turnout meant we didn't get as much money as we would have liked (or get rid of enough stuff - our shed is full!) but we did have a really good day out in our community, and I'm hell proud of the delicious baked goods I provided - incidentally they looks so much better than anything at the "normy" bake sale table!
And what did I bring to this party? Triple chocolate cupcakes and gluten free almond shortbread hearts with royal icing and pink vanilla sugar. For the cupcakes I used the basic chocolate cupcake recipe from Vegan cupcakes take over the world. I really like this recipe - it's straight-forward and doesn't require any weird or expensive ingredients and every time I've used it the results have been stellar. The cakes are soft and light as a feather with a strong but not over bearing chocolate-y taste, delicate crumb, and they aren't too sweet - which is a blessing because the frosting that went with them was insanely rich and sweet. This recipe came from the Vegan family cookbook and uses an unusual technique of beating icing sugar into melted chocolate to create an intense, smooth frosting that reminded me of little Cadbury snack cakes I used to eat as a kid. On top of that was a sprinkle of grated dark chocolate (Lindt 85% cocoa).
The shortbreads were a much lighter affair - quite literally, as these cookies melt away in your mouth. That may have something to do with the fact that they are mostly made of Nuttelex but please don't let that deter you from trying these gorgeous, versatile cookies. They may be rolled out and cut into whatever shape you desire, decorated in an endless number of ways, and I think the dough would even work well as the cookie part of a melting moment biscuit. The recipe came from a nifty little book called Sweet alternative. All the recipes are gluten, dairy and soy free. Everything in it looks divine, though sadly many of the recipes rely heavily on eggs so are out for me. The shortbread however is just one of several beautiful looking desserts within this book. I bought my copy for ridiculously cheap so if you see if around any where grab it. I iced them using the Royal icing recipe from The joy of vegan baking - an exceptional icing recipe that gives crisp, flawless results.
Triple chocolate cupcakes
Basic chocolate cupcake recipe
(From Vegan cupcakes take over the world)
Makes 12
1 cup rice/soy milk
1 tsp apple cider/white vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 180C and line your muffin pan with paper liners.
Whisk together the milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and extract to the milk mix and beat until foamy. In another bowl sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, and salt. Add the dry stuff to the wet stuff in two batches and mix until no large lumps remain. Pour the batter into the the liners, filling 3/4 of the way and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Once done transfer onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Chocolate frosting
(From Vegan family cookbook)
Makes a hell of a lot of frosting
3 tbs Nuttelex or coconut oil at room temp
70g dark chocolate
3 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup rice/soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
ice water
Melt the chocolate and Nuttelex/oil either in the microwave or double boiler and pour into a medium sized bowl. Fill a large bowl 1/3 full with water and ice cubes. Add the icing sugar, milk and vanilla to the chocolate mixture and place the bowl over the large bowl so that it sits in the cold water. Make sure NONE of the water gets in to the chocolate bowl. Beat the frosting with an electric mixer until it firms up and turns a paler colour.
Frost the cupcakes with as little or as much frosting as you desire, and top with a little grated chocolate.
Gluten-free almond shortbread hearts
(From Sweet alternative)
Makes 12-20 depending on the size
200g/1 cup Nuttelex
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour, plus 1/2 cup extra
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 tsp xantham gum
pinch of salt
Cream the Nuttelex, sugar and vanilla until creamy and fluffy. Sift 1 1/2 cups flour with the remaining ingredients and add to the sugar mixture. Fold until well blended using a wooden spoon. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a tray with baking paper. Tear off two large sheets of grease-proof paper and lay one down on your clean work surface. Unwrap the dough and place it on the paper. Knead the dough a couple of times. If you find it is too sticky knead in a little of the extra flour until it reaches a workable consistency, using a little or all the flour if you have to. Place the second sheet over the dough and roll out to 1/2 cm thickness. Cut out shapes using a floured cutter and place the shapes on your tray. Continue rolling out the dough and cutting until all the dough is used. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until very lightly golden. Let them cool slightly on the tray before transferring to a cooling rack. Make sure cookies are completely cool before icing.

Royal icing
(From The joy of vegan baking)
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer
2 tbs water
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
food colour of your choice
In a medium bowl beat the egg replacer and water until very fluffy (about two minutes). Beat in the lemon juice and almond extract. Add the sugar and beat at a low speed until smooth. Add your colour, a tiny bit at a time until you reach the desired hue. Spread the icing on your cookies with the back of a spoon or gently dip the cookies into the icing. I sprinkled my cookies with a little vanilla sugar and pink sugar while the icing was just tacky. These may take several hours or overnight to set so be careful how you store them to avoid squishing.