Win this apron from Cupcake Provocateur!

Wondering why I didn’t start this recipe post with a photo of the finished product? Um, because I made these with a three-year-old and seven-year-old and they decorated them with Scooby Doo fruit snacks so… gross. Yeah.

Anyway, it’s not a big deal – I was home with Teno and Milo on Wednesday because the Remnants release party was that night. We tried baking some ice cream cone cupcakes but some kind of freaky magic happened and they turned into soup. So, on our second try we did a hybrid of two of my favorite recipes – Julie Hasson’s French toast cupcakes and maple cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

What we ended up with were some of the moistest, fluffiest maple and cinnamon cupcakes I’ve ever had – and a couple of very entertained little boys.

To make the cupcakes you’ll need:

  • 1/2 cup soy milk
  • 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 & 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 2 Tbs brown sugar
  • 1 & 1/4 tsp maple extract
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

And for the vegan maple buttercream you’ll need:

  • 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 6 Tbs Earth Balance margarine
  • 6 Tbs non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
  • 2 Tbs maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp maple extract
  • Pinch salt

Then you:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees; line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Whisk the soy milk and vinegar together in a large measuring cup, set aside to curdle. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. Whisk the maple syrup, oil, brown sugar, maple and vanilla extracts into the soy milk mixture. Form a well in the fry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients – stir until the large lumps are gone. Fill the cups 2/3 full and bake 20-22 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely.

To make the frosting, beat all of the ingredients together until they’re pale and fluffy.

Like I said – not a big deal. It’s one of my favorite recipes from one book mixed with a favorite from another. Whatevs. People asked for it and there it is. Oh! And I also have a neat apron from Cupcake Provocateur to give away! Of course, if you see another one that strikes your fancy you can always use the code to your right to save 10% on it!

I asked this question on Twitter today, so I’m going to ask it again – leave me a comment with your answer between today and the end of the week (8/14) and one of you will win this apron – if you were an mma fighter what would your intro music be?