The photo above was from my first test run of dairy-free. I chose to use one of my existing vanilla cupcake recipes but simply replace the dairy ingredients with Nuttelex and Soy Milk. As yucky as soy milk may sound to some people (my Twitter feed reacted quite strongly to the thought of it!) you can’t taste it at all in this recipe.

Dairy-Free Vanilla Cupcakes (makes approx 18 regular / 30 mini)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Self-Raising Flour
• 2/3 cup Caster Sugar
• 2 eggs
• 115g Nuttelex (or any other vegan margarine)
• 1/2 cup Soy Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175C (160C fan forced). As always, I recommend you use an oven thermometer.
2. Beat the Nuttelex, sugar and vanilla essence together – you don’t need to pre-beat the Nuttelex as it’s already soft.
3. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until combined. It might look as if it’s seperated at first but will mix together.
4. Sift the flour and add half in with half of the soy milk. Repeat with the remaining half.
5. At this stage, if it seems too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons worth of soy milk, but don’t add too much!
6. Spoon into cases and bake for 15 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

“Buttercream” Frosting

Ingredients

• 150g Nuttelex
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
• 3 – 4 cups Icing Sugar (sifted)
• 1 – 2 tablespoons Soy Milk

Method

1. Beat Nuttelex with Icing Sugar (and vanilla essence), adding it one sifted cup at a time.
2. It should start to get fairly thick after the third cup – you might not need a fourth. Give it a taste test to see if the balance of sugar and Nuttelex is even. If you find it is too thick, add the soy milk in in very very small amounts (that’s why I’ve written maybe 1-2 tablespoons) until it is at the right consistency to pipe or spread on the cupcakes.

Remember, if it’s too thick and you use a plastic disposable piping bag, it’ll split the sides of the bag. I know this from experience If you’re not sure how thick it should be, it should be thick enough to hold it’s shape but not too thick that when you mix it by hand it is tiring. If you add too much liquid in, you’ll have to add a whole lot more icing sugar to even it out.

Here’s what the second run looked like (using fondant hearts and colouring in the icing)

Happy baking!

After the success of Cupcake Camp Adelaide and repeatedly being told I make great cupcakes I thought I would set up my own little business, Cupcake Treats Michael actually found the domain for me because he knows I love cupcakes and that’s what the business was born around. It’s a side project, but hey, maybe one day it could be something big. I’d like that!

These were my first attempt in a long time with working with fondant. Christmas Cupcakes! I didn’t have my Wilton colours at this stage but this is what I could do with regular green colouring.

These are Malteaser Mini Cupcakes for my very first Cupcake Treats order!

36 Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream icing for Christmas Day

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Cupcake Treats (Silly icing went all melty!)

Vanilla Chocolate Cupcakes (half chocolate half vanilla with buttercream icing)

So yeah that’s where I’m up to! I’ve managed to iron out all the little problems I’ve had over time and now know what works to get the butter just right, and the oven temperature, all of that stuff. The  mini cupcakes look so cute and they’re the perfect size, and I can’t believe I only just discovered them this month.

I also have wholesale access to a bunch of awesome cupcake suppliers now so this makes me even more excited. There’ll be a couple of new recipes coming in January, and some piping techniques to help you get the ice cream swirl that’s so popular.

But finally, thanks to all of you – most especially to my housemates and family who gave me loads of cupcakery for Christmas including PJ’s, a new recipe book, an apron with my name on it (!!!) and some awesome cupcake badges! I just love reading the emails I get sent with new recipes and also the links I get on Twitter when people have come across something cupcake and thought of me. I love all of you for being so awesome. (I have said awesome too many times). If ever you need any help with anything cupcake related don’t hesitate to email me – monnie at cupcaketreats dot com.

Happy New Year and I’ll see you in 2010!

Doesn’t this look delicious! Thanks to my housemate Anne, I’ve got a recipe to share for dairy free cupcakes. Anne made these yesterday to try out some recipes for Cupcake Camp Adelaide, as she has some friends and family who have specific dietary requirements. These cupcakes taste exactly the same as regular cupcakes – just as yummy! Thanks to Shane for the photos as well.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup Polyunsaturated spread
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (essence)
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 1/2 cup Self-Raising Flour
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup cold water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (or 160°C fan forced).
2. Using an electric mixer, beat spread, vanilla extract, sugar, flour, egg and 3/4 cup cold water on low speed for 1 minute. Increase speed to high. Beat for a further 4 minutes or until
   mixture has thickened.
3. Spoon into cupcake cases placed in cupcake trays and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Leave them in the tray for 2 minutes before turning them onto a wire rack to cool.

This recipe makes up to 30 cupcakes depending on your combination of case sizes (babycake or regular cupcake).

But we’re not done yet, there’s still the orange and icing part of the recipe!

Icing Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup polyunsaturated spread
• 2 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture
• 2 tsp orange essence (note that this can be replaced with other flavours such as strawberry)
• red and yellow food colouring
• sprinkles!

Icing Method:

• Use an electric mixer and beat the spread, icing sugar and orange essence in a bowl until light and fluffy.
• Add 2 to 3 drops of food colouring and beat to combine.
• Place icing in a piping bag, piping gun or plastic bag with one corner snipped off. Pipe icing onto cakes.
• Add some sprinkles and you’re done!