Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes With Almond ‘Buttercream’ And Raspberry Glaze

Delicious Chocolate cupcakes topped with fluffy sweet clouds of frosting and a fruity raspberry glaze!

Ingredients (11-12 cupcakes)

For the Cupcakes

• 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used Vanilla Almond milk)
• 1 cup sugar (I used natural cane sugar)
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (or other oil)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp pure almond extract (optional, but awesome)
• 1.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted (I used Dutch-process)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt, to taste

For the buttercream

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance buttery stick or equivalent, room temperature
• 3 cups icing sugar, sifted (I used organic)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp pure almond extract (may sub. other extracts)
• 1.5-2 tbsp non-dairy milk, to achieve your desired consistency

for the raspberry glaze

• I saved a bit of the frosting (~1/2 cup) and I made a raspberry glaze. I mashed about 5-6 fresh raspberries with a fork and mixed it with the frosting. The raspberries release a bit of water and the frosting thins out into a lovely glaze that you can drip over the cupcakes. It added a lovely hint of raspberry to the cupcakes that paired well with the chocolate and almond flavours!
• Note 1: If making the frosting as shown in the pictures, please double the frosting recipe above.
• Note 2: For soy-free option, use soy-free earth balance. For nut-free option, do not use almond extract and use vanilla.

Instructions

For the cupcakes

• 1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. With an electric mixer, beat together the following ingredients in a large bowl (non-dairy milk, oil, sugar, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, almond extract). Beat on medium speed for a minute or two.
• 2. Now sift in the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt). Mix well, until the clumps are gone.
• 3. Spoon the batter into prepared cupcake pan, about two thirds full for each. Bake for about 22 minutes at 350F, or until the cupcake slowly springs back when pressed with a finger. Allow to completely cool before frosting.
• 4. LICK THE BOWL!

For the Buttercream

• 1. In a mixing bowl, beat 1/2 cup of Earth Balance (or equivalent) with an electric mixer. Add in the milk, extract, and salt. Mix. Now gradually add in the sifted icing sugar, starting with 1 cup and mixing slowly until fully combined. I like to use my stand mixer when making frosting because I leave it mixing for about 5-10 minutes until nice and fluffy. Alternatively you can beat the frosting with a handheld mixer, for at least 4-5 minutes. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the frosting if you want to make the raspberry glaze (shown below).