Karina's Mini Market Treats Meet Week Two...

Round Two mini vegan cupcakes for the Ashbury Market...


I started with a big batch of my favorite vegan vanilla cake batter and divided it into 3 bowls. I went to the market to see what seasonal fruits and herbs I could acquire to come up with three different flavors.
I decided on: Raspberry- Ginger, Spiced Pear-Mint, and Spicy Chocolate-Chili.


In the food processor I pureed a carton of fresh washed raspberries, about a tbl of chopped fresh ginger, some agave and lime. I added this sweet and tarty mix to the first bowl.


For the second, I pureed two extremely ripe pears, a handful washed mint, agave, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne and lime and added that to the next bowl...



Lastly I melted about a cup of vegan chocolate chips and added sea salt, cayenne pepper and chili pepper powder to it.



I mixed this together. I continued to add more cayenne and chili powder until I was satisfied with the kick.


Perhaps it was the fresh fruit, but for some reason, the first two didn't rise as much as usual..


On the other hand, the chocolate minis rose a little too much and overflowed into each other. I was upset at first and thought they might be ruined, but they tasted delicious and I remembered there is always hope in saving the aesthetic of your cake (or cupcakes) with some good old reliable frosting. I cut the size of mini cupcakes I was looking for out of the mass, leaving the excess, overcooked tops behind. I packed them tightly with my fingers and placed them in mini cupcake sleeves.


I made three different batches of frosting, all starting with earth balance, powdered sugar, sea salt, cinnamon, agave and vanilla. For the first one, I added raspberries and ginger, the second, mint and pear, and the third, with chocolate, cayenne, and chili powder.


Not a flawless batch shape wise, but the flavors were all still really really good and with the frosting and garnishing, they even managed to look pretty cute...



After everything they were a hit with friends, roomies, and co-workers, and I even sold some at the market!

Karina: "Now That's A Spicy Cupcake!"

A.) I love me some spice.
B.) I love me some chocolate.

Put the two together and you get insanely good cupcakes. Here are my vegan chocolate-chili cupcakes with vanilla-cayenne frosting. Boom.


I took:
2 cups water
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp white vinegar
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 cups organic unbleached sugar
1 tbls sea salt
2 tbls baking soda
3 tbls vanilla
1-2 tbls chili pepper powder
1/2 small diced green hot pepper
4 squares melted semi-sweet chocolate
3 tbls cocoa

I have to admit that these were approximately the ingredients I used (since I added and improvised along the way!) I started mixing the dry and the wet and then added them together until they were well mixed, smooth and delicious. I really wanted something with a lot or rich kick, so I started with less chili powder and fresh pepper and added more and more along the way. (Same with the amount of chocolate and sea salt.) Again, just follow your taste buds to the perfectly satisfying flavor. As long as you don't tamper too much with your flour, oil and baking soda amount while baking, you can add and change pretty much whatever ingredients you like! I divided the batter up in several cupcake pans and sent them to the 350* oven to transform into beautiful, spice-filled treats for 25-30 minutes.

For the frosting, I started with 1 cup powdered sugar and a few tbls of earth balance. I added a splash of vanilla hemp milk, a drizzle of agave, several shakes of cayenne pepper, a few of the chili-powder, and the scrapings of two vanilla beans. I blended with a hand mixer, adding more powdered sugar and earth balance until I had a thick, lovely texture with a whole lot of zing.

I also had the remaining hot peppers and decided to try to candy them to use as a garnish along with my pomegranate seeds I had found. I boiled them in a pot of sugar water (1 cup sugar - 1/2 cup water) for 10-15 minutes. I dried them out on a paper towel and drizzled honey and sugar over them. Even with the attempted sugar overcoat- DANG- these were spicy! I put them in top but warned people they might induce tears.


Hot Damn, Chocolate.

ariel's making ... double chocolate cupcakes

cupcakes are the new vogue dessert -- they're small, sweet and oh-so hip! i need to get on this ... so time to make some chocolate cupcakes ... per chef sam's request ;)


you'll need:

1 stick organic butter
1 c. organic sugar
1 organic egg
2 c. organic un-bleached white flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 c. organic fair trade coco powder
1/2 bar of organic fair trade chocolate (i used a 74% dark chocolate theo bar ... they make great chocolate!)
1 c. organic milk

always use fair trade, organic chocolate when possible. the other stuff just reeks of horrible labor conditions ... you can read more about it here.



start by melting your butter. while it melts, mix your egg, sugar and coco powder. add the melted butter and mix. add the dry ingredients and milk and mix. throw in the chocolate bits and stir 'til it's all gooey and a rich chocolate color.


pour into un-bleached, recycled cupcake holders and bake at 400* for about 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when you poke them.


chocolate! chocolate!

they're perfect with a cup of tea in the garden with a friend ... sitting in the sunshine enjoying these prefect spring days we're having!

happy baking dears!

kisses,

ariel