Pastel colours and lemony flavours are markers for the beginning of spring for me.
My forsythia is covered in bright yellow blooms, delicate primroses are peeping at me prettily and daffodils are blowing their trumpets with aplomb.
I love making cupcakes, it’s one of my favourite ways to de-stress and. I like the idea of meditation but I’m rubbish at it, my mind wanders about too much and I end up telling myself off, which doesn’t help me to calm down at all! Baking familiar recipes is much more calming.
Concentrating on weighing, mixing and tasting keeps my hands and mind occupied allowing stress to just drift away.
The heat of the oven, the comforting smell of baking permeating my home, hot cakes sitting on cooling racks waiting for all my people to tumble back in – this is my version of mindfulness.
Cupcakes are also super easy to make with children, I think we have made more cupcakes and muffins together over the last 22 years than anything else! When three of us went vegan I was worried that these little bakes would be off the menu but no, vegan cupcakes turned out to be just as easy and just as tasty as the egg and dairy based ones – hoorah!
How to Make Vegan Cupcakes
Vegan cupcakes are so easy to make – no need for eggs or dairy here! Butter is easily replaced with a vegan option such as Vitalite and, for this recipe, I use cider vinegar and baking powder as my vegan egg replacer. They provide the fluffy lift which eggs traditionally give. I use this simple method in 99% of my baking but other vegan egg replacers include:
- Bananas or apple sauce
- Commercially produced egg replacement powder
- Ground flax seeds and water
- Silken tofu
- Chia seeds
- Arrowroot
For more information and suggestions to help veganise everything from butter to bacon try ‘The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions‘ by Celine Steen and Joni-Marie Newman (This is an affiliate link, if you buy through it it won’t cost you a penny more but will earn me a small commission)
Just take a look at that fluffy rise! The first bake of spring always has me reaching for these gorgeous reusable cupcake cases in pretty pastel colours – aren’t they adorable?!
Vegan Cake Decorations
- These vegan cupcakes are topped with pastel icing flowers from Waitrose. It’s always such a delight to find vegan cake toppers but if you’re not sure what you are looking for on labels check out this Vegan Label Reading Guide on the Veganuary website. Label reading can seem daunting to begin with but it very quickly becomes second nature.
- Edible flowers look beautiful on top of cakes. If you want to grow your own pansies, violas, nasturtiums, marigolds, tulips, sunflowers and honeysuckle work well. Alternatively buy edible flowers on line from Maddocks Farm Organics.
All that’s left is to serve them up on a pretty cake stand or wrap them up and put them in a basket before heading out for a picnic.
Looking for More Vegan Cakes and Bakes? Try My:
- Easy Dairy Free Vanilla Cupcakes
- Super Simple Fork Biscuits
- Pecan and Pumpkin Brownies
- Vegan Gingerbread
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Orange Muffins
- Cornish Fairings – the Best Ginger Biscuits!
- Easy Traditional Flapjack
- Easy Vegan Sponge Cake
Follow me on Pinterest, Facebook,Twitter and Instagram where I share recipe ideas, links to vegan events and articles and where I natter on about my favourite subject – vegan food
Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 200 ml soya milk
- 20 ml cider vinegar
- 200 g self raising flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch salt
- 200 g golden caster sugar
- 80 ml vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- 150 g icing sugar
Instructions
To Make Vegan Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.
- Mix the cider vinegar into the soya milk and leave to stand for 10-15 minutes until curdled.
- Sift the flour, salt baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl.
- Stir in the caster sugar.
- Whisk together the oil and vanilla and pour into the curdled milk.
- Grate the zest of your lemon into the liquid mixture.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and fold together gently, using a metal spoon. Don't over mix your batter it should still be a bit lumpy.
- Spoon your batter evenly between your cake cases and pop into the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until risen and brown.
- Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
To Make Lemon Glace Icing
- Cut the lemon in half and squeeze to extract the juice.
- Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl.
- Add lemon juice and mix together until smooth and runny.
- Spoon the icing onto your cupcakes, decorate with sugar confetti if desired and leave to set for about half an hour.
- These cupcakes keep well in an airtight tin for two to three days.
Notes
Nutrition
Pin These Eggless, Dairy Free, Vegan Cupcakes For Later!
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amazing, i love this recipe!
thank you!