Chocolaty-Chai Cupcakes

For a birthday present I was invited to an encaustic art lesson at a friend-of-a-friend’s house.

Art lesson?? YES please!!

The Martha Stewart deep inside of me really wanted to bring a delicious treat for the three of us gals to share. And there’s no better time to make a heart-warming treat.

All circumstances (going to a new someone’s home, art, birthday fun, potential new friend, autumn) screamed cupcakes!

I was wanting a different autumn-like cupcake.

Pumpkin = my true love.

I make practically EVERYTHING with pumpkin this time of year. Let’s see – Pumpkin pretzels, Pumpkin Pudding, Pumpkin cake pops, the list goes on..

I forced myself to break out of the pumpkin box.

My second love = Chai.

Last winter Jennifer, my sister-in-law, purchased a box of chocolaty chai tea from an adorable tea shop up at Lake Arrowhead. Let’s just say people don’t drive over an hour for nothing – Chocolaty chai is the essence of holiday cheer all wrapped up in one tiny tea cup.

With this deep yet expansively wide flavor in mind, I whipped up some vegan (and whole wheat!)  chocolaty-chai cupcakes.

Here’s the recipe:

CUPCAKES

Ingredients

1 1/2  cups WW flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground clove

1/2 tsp. powdered ginger

3/4 cup of chocolate soy milk with 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar added

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tbl. canola oil

1/2 cup of Good Earth herbal tea (You can use black tea if you’d like)

1 tsp. vanilla

Methods

Heat oven to 350. Grease cupcake tin – set aside.

Pour chocolate soy milk into a large bowl and add the teaspoon of vinegar.  Set this aside.

Combine all the dry ingredients, except the brown sugar, in a medium-size bowl and whisk to combine.

In your soy milk bowl, add the sugar, canola oil, tea, and vanilla.

Whisk this together until well combined too.

Fold the wet ingredients to the dry being careful not to over mix.

Fill the cupcake tin about 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean.

Let cool before frosting (at least an hour).

FROSTING

Ingredients

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup smart balance (dairy free margarine)

1/4 cup non-dairy creamer

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powdered

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Methods

In a mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer, cream the powdered sugar with the soy margarine until mixture is thick but well combined. Add creamer, cocoa powder and vanilla, and continue to mix until smooth

*Remember – Muffins are just bald cupcakes.

I didn’t have time to run to the grocery store and buy powdered sugar – the cupcakes were quickly converted to muffins.

To jazz up the bald cupcakes I whipped together a large tablespoon of smart balance with spices (cinnamon and cloves) and served them with a “spiced butter.”