Makes 1 dozen cupcakes
Delicate vanilla cake dotted with real vanilla bean. Glossy chocolate ganache messing up your fingers. It’s the simple things in life! This is basically the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World cupcakes, only made a teeny bit more awesome.
For the cupcakes:
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
For the ganache:
1/3 cup almond milk
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Bake the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Spray lightly with cooking spray.
Whisk the almond milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to get good and curdled.
Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.
Beat together the almond milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla extract and vanilla bean in a large bowl. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix until no large lumps remain.
Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool.
In the meantime, prepare the ganache.
In a small sauce pan, bring the milk to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer and add the chocolate and syrup. Mix with a rubber spatula for about 30 seconds. Turn heat off, continue stirring until the chocolate is fully melted and the icing is smooth.
To assemble:
Let ganache cool for about 10 minutes. Dip the top of the cupcake in the ganache and then set them on a cooling rack. Spoon the remainder of the ganache over cupcakes. Let set in a cool room for an hour or so, or place in the fridge to set. Serve to happy people!
All twelve of these cupcakes were seriously scarfed in less than ten minutes. My non-vegan husband LOVED them.
These were delicious! I made them for my vegan husband’s birthday. Omnis loved them too! I made the cupcakes exactly as directed. I doubled the recipe and made 24 cupcakes. No issues or problems. The batter is tasty – reminds me of cookie dough. The cake is dense and so moist.
For the ganache I added a tablespoon of vegan butter (most ganache recipes have a fat component. I also added additional chips.
I topped the some of the cupcakes with vegan marzipan. Others I topped with vegan bacon (made with coconut flakes). Both toppings were excellent with this recipe. This one is a keeper!
Isa do you think I could double this recipe to make a 14×14 cake? Do you think it’s too delicate to layer & use fondant?
That would work!
Oh. My. Gosh. Checked your archives for cupcake recipes…made this on Tuesday and the cupcakes are already all gone. ha! Even my carnivore husband loved them…said you would never know they were vegan!! This recipe rocks!! =)
We made these for my brother’s all-vegan wedding, and everyone loved them. I just recently made them again, and they are still the best vanilla cupcakes I’ve ever made. They rise nicely, and pair well with practically every filling and/or frosting. I highly recommend this recipe to everyone, vegan or not. 🙂
I made these for my niece’s birthday party yesterday. They were a big hit!
Thank you — we hadn’t found a good vegan yellow cake recipe yet! This will be our go-to now.
Note: The batter seemed thin but it cooked beautifully. 18 mins was all it needed. We didn’t have a vanilla bean. Just did 2 tsp van extract. I used store bought frosting.
I’m usually pretty good about reading recipe reviews and altering if need be, but failed this time around. Recipe for the cake is absolutely perfect and divine! The ganache was super runny, as others have said- after having the first batch completely run off like water I remade it and let it sit for about an hour and added a bit more chocolate chips to help thicken it up. They look far from pretty, but damn are they yummy!
If I make this with apple sauce instead of oil and with maple syrup instead of sugar, do you think it will still turn out? How much, do you think I would need to decrease the wet ingredients by?
If I use coconut oil instead of the canola would I just use the same amount? want to make this for my daughters first birthday on saturday (so she can indulge and I wont feel guilty)… hope to hear from you.
Can I use coconut oil instead of canola oil?
Hi can this be translated into a larger cake quite easily
Hi,
I was keen on baking the cupcakes. Just wanted to know if I could substitute almond / soy milk with regular milk? Cornstarch isn’t available where I live, please suggest replacement for it. Options is Corn flour/ arrow root.
Look forward to
What in this recipe is the substitute for eggs? Or is the cornstarch the binding agent? I am new to vegan baking, and have a wedding that I am doing in August. Any suggestions would be so helpful! Thank you!
Hi Isa!
I just posted a gluten-free version of your famous cupcakes on my blog http://www.homemadesbyarfi.com/2014/04/isas-punklicious-vanilla-bean-cupcakes_17.html
I hope you don’t mind, you’ve got a fans in New Zealand!
Love,
Arfi
I love anything with vanilla beans in it, and these delicious cupcakes were no exception! The ganache was a bit watery but other than that they were great. I sub xylitol for the sugar and it gives the cupcake a subtle minty taste. http://amzn.to/1fSK07t
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Going to trial this as a cake! Planning a DIY wedding, in which my (non-vegan) aunt is making our wedding cake! I think this would be a great wedding cake base recipe.
Thank you, Isa, for this delicious recipe. I made a test run today in anticipation of a friend’s birthday next week. They were moist and bursting with vanilla flavor. The chocolate ganache was luscious. We used fresh raspberries to finish off what was left in an impromptu fondue.
These cupcakes are a winner, delicious and moist. I made some non-vegan cupcakes as well and i have to say the cake part of this was wayyy better since the other turned out dry. A good lighter, dessert.
I’ve made this recipe few times (in a 8” inch mold or cupcakes) and I can’t get it right! It’s always to dense, to humid. It’s not that it’s not good, it’s juste not fluffy, more like a Quatre-Quart.
I’ve tried most of the recipies on VCTOW without any problem but I can get a basic white cake right.
Just want to say I made these without testing the recipe first. That is how confident I am that your recipes are always amazing. I made these for my 55th b-day! One batch I left out baking soda accidently but the end result was still amazing. The batch with soda was fluffier (duh) but the batch without was a little thicker or heavier cake but the flavor with each was perfect. Delicious. When tested side by side, people tended to like the heavier non-baking soda a tad better. It was just a consistency thing and just wanted to FYI. The cupcakes were delicate and delicious–just like me LOL.
I need to make a soy-free, nut-free vegan cupcake. Will these work with coconut or rice milk?
Possibly the best cup cake we ever eaten. Thank you for the recipe.
Hello. I have your cupcake book and make many of the recipes. LOVE them! Do you have a recipe for vanilla cake that can be increased for a large cake pan – 12 to 14 inches? Will this recipe hold up to doubling and baking in that size? Thank you!!!