Vegan Cupcakes really do rule the world (no need to take it over!)

This is my favourite recipe book. The cupcakes are amazing. I tend to stick to the basic vanilla cupcake with the buttercream topping or the chocolate cupcake, with ganache topping. I usually change a bit here and there, adding something or substituting something either for convenience (that's all I've got in stock) or to try it out or cos it's what i fancy. They have always turned out fabulous. So I can very highly recommend this book. There are superb basic recipes, also some very fancy cupcakes, with mouth watering pictures and easy to follow recipes. I'm not much of a baker, so if I can make a decent cupcake anyone can.


Today I fancied lemon cupcakes. Actually I've been fancying lemon cupcakes for a few weeks but only just got around to making some today. I finely shredded the rind of 2 unwaxed lemons. Then squeezed the juice from them. Quite a bit of lemon for a cake, but I really fancied the 'zing' of lemon with the sweetness of a cake. I used the basic vanilla cupcake recipe from this book, leaving out the almond essence (I find it too overpowering- even in small amounts), and added two-thirds of the fresh lemon juice and rind.

For the topping, i used the 'lemon cream cheese frosting' recipe from the above book, but added a bit more sugar and the rest of the fresh lemon. I already had some vegan soft cream cheese in the fridge, which has a sweet taste, and not savoury as I was expecting it to be, so perfect for cakes, or even a vegan cheesecake. I found this dairy free spread at Waitrose, it's new product to me, so I don't know where else they sell it.
The recipe for toppings in the book, are always generous in the amounts that they make, so unless I want lashings of a topping, I will half the ingredients. Today, I went for the full amount.
The cakes cooked in about 20-25 minutes on a low heat. they smelled delicious. I waited for the to cool down, then added the frosting, which as predicted, the recipe made a bit too much topping. Still, it was nice, no, it was more than nice, it was delicious. Sweet and Zingy, lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting, perfect!

To see this recipe and lots more, check out theppk.com, where you will find this book, and lots of other recipes. The ppk.com is a wonderful place to interact with vegans. There is a forum, blog, shop and much more. Very funky cool.

This amazing cupcake book is available at Amazon. Which is a convenient way to shop, or by searching google you can find lots of suppliers that sell it.