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halva candy, vegan chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips.

YOUR BASIC CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE
MAKES 12 CUPCAKES
    THE NAME SAYS it all, a simple but perfect, tender, and all-around wonderful chocolate cupcake. Change the look, flavor, and even nationality (with COCONUT PECAN FUDGE FROSTING, page 147, for GERMAN CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES) by topping with any frosting, glaze, or filling you can imagine. This recipe is the basis for so many great chocolate cupcakes in this book. We’ve been even known to whip up an unadorned batch and serve with a glass of cold soy milk when the need for good, honest chocolate cake arises.
     
    INGREDIENTS
    1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
¾ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract, chocolate
extract, or more vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed
or regular
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
    DIRECTIONS
    1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
    2. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat till foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are okay).

    3. Pour into liners, filling three-quarters of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.
    Variations
    PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE HEAVENCAKES: Fill with Peanut Buttercream Frosting or Filling (page 151), and top with Rich Chocolate Ganache Topping (page 143). Pipe a cute swirl of remaining frosting on top of glazed cupcakes.
     
    PEANUT BUTTER BOMBES: Double the Peanut Buttercream Filling or Frosting recipe (page 151) and frost into high, rounded domes on top of cupcakes. Chill till very firm, then carefully dribble with RICH CHOCOLATE GANACHE TOPPING (page 143). Decorate with chocolate shavings or curls or sprinkles.
     
    CHOCOLATE MOCHA CUPCAKES: Add 2 tablespoons instant espresso or coffee to batter. Frost with VEGAN FLUFFY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING (page 142), replacing the soy milk in the frosting recipe with cold, strong coffee. Dust tops lightly with ground cinnamon or nutmeg.
     
    GERMAN CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES: Like the lady said, frost generously with Coconut Pecan Fudge Frosting (page 147).
     
    CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKES: Add 1½ teaspoons orange extract, or 1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel, or 2 tablespoons finely chopped candied orange peel, to cupcake batter. You can also replace up to ¼ cup of the liquid with orange liqueur in addition to any of the orange-y options. Frost with ORANGE BUTTERCREAM (page 145), adding 1 teaspoon orange extract to the buttercream in addition to the vanilla extract. Decorate tops of frosted cakes with a sliver of orange peel or orange candy sprinkles.
    Sprinkles
    Use Dutch-processed cocoa
for darker cupcakes. Worth the effort
to get, try these with a mixture of black
cocoa powder (see ingredients section,
page 12) and regular cocoa powder,
for the deepest, darkest, and most
ridiculously chocolatey chocolate
cupcakes ever.

    Cookies ‘n’ Cream Cupcakes

    COOKIES ‘N’ CREAM CUPCAKES (PICTURED ON PAGE 39): Mix into cupcake batter 1 cup (about 10 cookies; chop first then measure) of coarsely chopped vegan chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies (like Newman-O’s). Bake as directed. Prepare VEGAN FLUFFY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING (page 142), and stir into frosting ½ cup finely mashed sandwich cookie crumbs. Frost cupcakes generously, and top each cupcake with half of a sandwich cookie.
    FLAVOR EXTRACTS AND LIQUORS: Replace almond extract with 1 to 2 teaspoons of coconut, caramel, or raspberry extract. Also try adding up to 1 tablespoon of liquor such as