Light Allergy-friendly Vanilla Cupcake with Rich Vanilla Buttercream Icing
Inspiration
My Wooden (5th) Anniversary Gift & Mantra
As I’ve mentioned, my favorite food group is cupcakes! So much so that last year when my husband and I celebrated our wooden (5th) anniversary he bought me a wood plaque that says “Keep Calm and Eat a Cupcake” which is SO my mantra! (As an attorney by day, I admit having glanced to my office wall and recited this in my head during more than one stressful moment.)
The first time I made these dairy-free, soy-free vanilla vanilla cupcakes was when my girlfriend and work colleague “retired” to dedicate more time to her family and awesome, fashionista designer clothing exchange SnobSwap. (For those in the DC area, check out the launch of SnobSwap in Georgetown this Thursday!) I had to miss Elise’s farewell lunch because I didn’t want to bring my allergy-stricken daughter to the Allergy-Palooza it would have been – at an Asian seafood restaurant, so loads of soy, shellfish, and fish. Instead, I decided to surprise the CEO of SnobSwap with her favorite cupcake – well, not exactly her favorite but an allergy-friendly, homemade version of such.
I most recently made these cupcakes for another girlfriend who my infant daughter and I linked up with this past weekend while in Chicago attending the Nourished Food Blogger Conference. The conference was amazing! I learned so much about foods available to those with allergies, how to blog better, etc. Most importantly, I met a lot of really great people (who totally understood whenever I asked if a food contained [insert any one of my daughter’s multiple food allergies])!
FREE Ingredients
As I’ve mentioned, my love for cupcakes heightened when a girlfriend introduced me to Magnolia Bakery, so of course I was excited when my search for a vanilla cupcake recipe led me to one posted on Food Network by Magnolia’s Allysa Torey. Although the recipe called for self-rising flour, I’ve never bought the stuff. Perhaps I just like to burn a few calories mixing together dry ingredients before consuming 100 times more calories enjoying my finished goods? After reading some negative reviews of the recipe’s icing (e.g., too runny), I also decided to use my own buttercream recipe.
Cupcakes:
- 1 ¼ cup flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup canola oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
- ½ cup vanilla rice milk (at room temperature)
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract (like Nielsen-Massey Madagascar bourbon)
Icing:
Because these cupcakes are all about the vanilla flavor coming through, I highly recommend using a good quality vanilla extract. I’ve found it’s worth the few extra dollars to buy a brand like Nielsen-Massey Madagascar bourbon pure vanilla extract to keep in my cupboard for flavor-sensitive recipes like this.
Method (or Mistakes)
Cupcakes: Put cupcake liners in 12-cup muffin pan. Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix dry ingredients with a wire whisk, then set aside. In a large bowl, combine the oil and sugar. Using a hand (or electric) mixer, beat on medium speed until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla (start and end with the dry ingredients). With each addition, beat the batter until the ingredients are incorporated but be careful not to over beat. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, making sure ingredients are well combined. Using a cookie scoop, fill each cupcake liner until about ¾ full. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden and toothpick entered in center of cupcake comes out clean.
Extra large vanilla cupcakes - lesson: more is not always better
The first time I made these, I had extra batter (no idea why), so I filled my muffin pan cups more than ¾ of the way full. My extra large cupcakes came at a cost. The edges of them were stuck to the pan, and I had to use a knife to cut them free. Unfortunately, I cut several of the cupcakes too far, almost cutting their tops off entirely. Because the cooking spray that I’ve come across all contains soy (allergy trigger), spraying the pan would not have been an option. My advice: Don’t overfill cupcake liners. If you have extra batter, just make more cupcakes!
Icing: Using an electric mixer or hand mixer on low (or do by hand), whip butter until creamed. Add ½ of the sugar and continue to whip on low. Add 3 tbsp of the milk and the vanilla extract. While mixing on medium-high speed, slowly add remaining sugar, alternating with enough milk, until the icing is the consistency to be piped from an icing bag (or spread) onto cupcakes. Pipe over completely cooled cupcakes.
NOM YUM
I’ve made a number of different cupcakes since first making these, but these probably are still one of my favorites due to their light and fluffy texture and their melt in your mouth moistness. Even after leaving them in an airtight container in the freezer for two months, they maintain their melt in your mouth character. (If you freeze them, I recommend thawing in them in the fridge a bit then letting sit at room temperature at least one hour before serving.)
I’m so glad I went with my own icing recipe. The vanilla rice milk paired with the amount of pure good-quality vanilla extract made the vanilla flavor of the icing really POP! I would have been disappointed had I ruined these cupcakes by topping them with something other than my icing with its YUMmy flavor, sweetness, and texture (crystallized outside but melt-in-your mouth inside). Most everyone has raved about the flavor and richness of the icing on these cupcakes. Their next comment is often something along the lines of: these cupcakes are “bakery good”; “You should sell these!”; or “I would pay good money for these.”
If you try and like this recipe, please leave me a comment. I would especially like to know what you think of my dairy-free, soy-free vanilla buttercream icing. Also, keep posted for different renditions of this recipe, such as citrus flavored vegan cupcakes with filling.
