She Strengthens

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake Triumph

A Recipe Born from Creativity and Passion

In the world of competitive baking, it’s not often that a vegan recipe takes center stage. But that’s exactly what happened when our innovative cupcake creation won first place and photographer’s choice at the SF Food Wars mini cupcake competition, beating out 21 other competitors.

The Winning Formula

Our recipe combines the best of three worlds: a classic chocolate cupcake from “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World,” a rich and creamy filling inspired by an old magazine, and a decadent chocolate ganache recipe from a friend. To top it off, we added a touch of elegance with fresh blueberries and dragon fruit.

Get Ready to Indulge

Yields: 36 mini cupcakes
Difficulty: Medium
Total Time: 1 hour
Active Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 cup room temperature rice milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup evaporated cane sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons good quality vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup good quality cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons non-dairy butter
• ¼ cup non-dairy cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup rice milk
• 1/4 cup non-dairy butter
• 6 oz. semi-sweet non-dairy chocolate chips
• 2 oz. unsweetened cocoa bar
• 1 fresh Dragon Fruit
• 1 small carton blueberries

Let’s Get Baking!

Cupcake Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a mini-cupcake tin with paper liners and spray lightly with non-stick spray.
2. Mix rice milk and vinegar in a large bowl. Set aside to curdle while preparing dry ingredients.
3. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk until fully combined.
4. Add sugar, oil, and vanilla to the rice milk mixture. Mix until combined.
5. Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing on low until fully incorporated.
6. Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool.

Filling Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients on medium-high speed for 1 minute.
2. Pour mixture into a pastry bag with tip in place. Set aside.

Ganache Topping Instructions

1. Melt chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate in the microwave for 45 seconds. Stir and heat again for 45 seconds.
2. Melt non-dairy butter.
3. Combine chocolate, non-dairy butter, and rice milk in a mixer. Mix slowly until combined.

Dragon Fruit and Blueberry Topping

1. Slice the rough, outer edge from the dragon fruit and rinse blueberries.
2. Slice dragon fruit into 6-8 slices. Cut into small triangles and set aside.

Assembly Instructions

1. Poke holes into the middle of the cupcakes using a clean object about the size of a pencil.
2. Squeeze filling into cupcakes, being careful not to overfill.
3. Dip cupcakes into ganache topping, coating evenly.
4. Top with a blueberry and a slice of dragon fruit.
5. Enjoy your delicious vegan chocolate cupcakes!