Spooky sweets

Halloween is right around the corner and although I'm still stumped for costume ideas, I certainly didn't need convincing on the cupcake front! As I've mentioned, I'm a somewhat tentative baker and not one to get creative with my own sweet concoctions just yet. But I got this fabulous recipe from Jess's wonderful blog and these babies were pretty close to perfection! The only changes I made were reducing the amount of Earth Balance in the frosting (hey, I can be sensible sometimes) and adding a pinch of cinnamon for a seasonal flair.

Not that cupcake baking ever needs to be justified, but I whipped these up for a bake sale at school. I can't remember the last time I helped out with such an event but it felt nice to contribute to a good cause. All of the funds went to organizations that help at-risk women in the Ottawa area. Lately, it's been so easy to get consumed in my law school bubble of lectures, readings, assignments and exams. It really is as crazy as everyone said it would be. But it's important that myself and my classmates get our noses out of our books and our butts out of the library every now and again to realize that there is, in fact, a world outside of law school. And dare I say (gasp!) even more important things than academic success. Coming from the perfectionist that I am, this is much easier said than done. But every pot luck, bike ride, and bake sale for a good cause is helping me not to forget the things that I'm passionate about. After all, I still want to come out as me at the end of this whole ride!

Vanilla Halloween Cupcakes
Makes one dozen

1 cup almond milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sunflower or canola oil
3/4 cup organic cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup organic all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the almond milk and cider vinegar in a large bowl and set aside to curdle for about five minutes. Add in the oil, sugar and vanilla and stir until well combined. Sift the remaining dry ingredients into a separate bowl before slowly stirring them into the wet mixture. Beat (or whisk) together until smooth.

Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way full and bake for about 16 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Be patient and allow the cupcakes to cool completely before icing.

Vegan Vanilla Buttercream
1/3 cup earth balance vegan margerine
3 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp almond milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Red and orange food colouring
Vegan jujubes (check for no gelatin!)

Whip the Earth Balance and the vanilla together. Add in the sugar and almond milk a bit at a time until the mixture is smooth. Add in the cinnamon and food colouring. To get the orange, I used about two parts yellow to one part red. Pipe or spread the frosting on the cupcakes and top with jujubes! YUM!