Customizable Cake Recipe by Lauren Toyota, Vegan Comfort Classics

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspon apple cider vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil, or 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Seeds of 1 vanilla bean pod or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder

Preheat oven to 350º

Prepare muffin pan with paper liners or lightly oil.

In a bowl combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (and vanilla powder if using. I did not use).

Once the soy milk has thickened, combine it with the sugar, oil, vanilla extract and vanilla seeds (I did not have seeds or whole bean so did not use). Stir well to combine.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and fold with a spatula a few times until the batter is just combined. Do not over mix. Small lumps are ok but make sure you don’t have any pockets of dry ingredients that aren’t mixed in.

Bake for 14 minutes and check. Depending on your oven it take anywhere from 14 – 18 minutes. My cupcakes were done in 12 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes then remove cupcakes from pan (if you have cupcake liners you can lift them out immediately) and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1 cup vegan butter*, cubed and chilled
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extraxt
2 – 3 Tablespoons soy milk
31/2 – 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Whip the cold butter in a food processor or with a mixer until soft and smooth.

Add the cocoa and vanilla. Add 1 T of soy milk and 1 cup of sugar and mix until smooth. Continue adding milk and sugar until the buttercream is fluffy and spreadable.

* I used Smart Balance. Make sure to read their ingredients. Not all flavors are vegan.

I only used two cups of sugar to one cup butter. It made the right amount of icing for 12 cupcakes and wasn’t too sweet.