Shed Kitchen: Vegan Banana Split Cupcakes

Last week I got an e-mail from Michelle from Eating Journey. She and Katy from Silly Tator Tot were embarking on a project called Vegan Week; basically, they wanted to go vegan for a week and see what it was like! They invited other bloggers to take part in Vegan-4-a-Day today. (Pretty self-explanatory.)

Unfortunately I didn’t plan ahead well enough to have a full vegan day (although because I don’t eat dairy and I eat minimal meat, it may happen that way anyway) so I thought it might be better to just post a vegan recipe! I mean, I read Skinny Bitch, I know my way around some egg replacers.

I originally made this recipe for my friend Erica’s 21st birthday. The recipe comes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, which is a great cupcake cookbook, whether you are vegan or not! They are….a party in your mouth.

Ingredients

1/2 cup pineapple preserves (or apricot; pineapple are hard to find)

1/2 cup very ripe banana, or thawed fronana

1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

2/3 cup soy milk

1.5 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/4 c dark chocolate, finely chopped

This is How We Do It

Preheat oven to 350.

Stir pineapple preserves in a small saucepan over lower heat until they are melted. Set aside.

Blend the mashed banana for a few seconds in a food processor to get rid of any lumps.

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, soy milk, vanilla, almond extract, and banana.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to combine; don’t over mix.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter. Top the batter with a teaspoon of melted preserves and a teaspoon of dark chocolate. Use a toothpick to carefully swirl the preserves and chocolate through the cupcake. PARTY!

Bake for 20-22 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting…

Cream together 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening and 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine (like Earth Balance). Add 3 and 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar and beat for another three minutes. Add 1.5 tsp vanilla and 1/4 cup plain soy milk and beat for another five minutes until fluffy.

For the Chocolatey Drizzle…

Heat 3 tbsp soy milk in a small saucepan over medium heat; remove from heat and add 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips. Still until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before using.

So sort of involved but SO WORTH IT!

These cupcakes are seriously like bricks; they are so heavy and just packed with delicious stuff. And the cherries on top make them so damn cute!

Definitely a good recipe to make for a very good friend who loves treats and totally deserves to be impressed on her birthday…or just for the heck of it, ’cause you want to be a vegan for a day! Either way!

Tagged as: cupcakes, Meatless Monday, recipes, treats, vegan, vegetarianism