title: may 14-16

here are the products of the past few days!my garden box is all built! it awaits a fresh load of dirt, some deer netting, and my seedlings! five of them have sprouted in the peat pots i planted them in. i love the smell of peat moss, it makes me think of everything good. my mom used to have it around all the time because our soil is very heavy and clay-like, so whenever she planted/tended her gardens that was what everything smelled like. spring!
cupcakes! these are vegan vanilla cupcakes. and this is the recipe!
(from the cookbook "vegan cupcakes take over the world!")

ingredients:
1 cup plain soy milk
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, softened (or 1/3 cup canola oil) (i use a brand called earth balance)
1/4 tsp. salt (increase salt to 1/2 tsp. if you are using oil instead of margarine)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract, caramel extract, or more vanilla extract (depending if you want a different flavor mixed with the vanilla or not)

steps:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees. line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2. whisk the soymilk and vinegar together in a measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to get good and curdled. (ew!)

3. if you are using margarine: sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.

4. in a separate large bow, use a handheld mixer at medium speed to cream the margarine and sugar for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy (don't beat it for more than 2 minutes!). beat in the vanilla and other extract (if using), then alternate beating in the soy milk mixture and dry ingredients, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times.

5. if you are using oil: beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, vanilla, and other extracts (if using) in a large bowl. sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix until no large lumps remain.

6. fill the cupcake liners two-thirds of the way (you can even fill them a wee bit more--they don't rise too much) and bake for 20-22 minutes. transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

there is also a recipe for frosting, which i didn't get around to doing this time:

ingredients:

1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening (a.k.a. crisco)
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening (a.k.a. earth balance)
3-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain soy milk

steps:

1. beat the shortening and margarine together until well-combined and fluffy.

2. add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.

3. add the vanilla and the soy milk and beat for another 5 to 7 until fluffy.

and there you go! the photo blog turns into a food blog! let me know if you make these/how they turn out.