My Food Allergies Can’t Stop Me! A Vegan Vanilla Cupcake Birthday

Let’s talk cake.

As a kid, some mornings I’d watch in awe as Dad pulled up chair for breakfast with a slice of marble cake {always from a box made weekly by mom}. Being an adult was so cool, you got to break all the rules!

Thus while I’m not a huge cake lover, I do have an emotional reaction when I eat it and I absolutely savor it.

Finding out I needed to eliminate dairy and eggs, I was certain my cake days were behind me. Then Whole Foods in Orlando started putting out slices of Vegan Vanilla cake. In that first bite, I sighed unconsciously with relief, here was a cake I could truly enjoy for my birthday!Yes indeed last year when my Dad flew in to Orlando to surprise me, he also bought me a whole Vegan vanilla cake…which at Whole Foods was roughly the price of his plane ticket. Luckily, I learned a trick to freezing cake so I made that delicious treat last for many, many adult breakfasts!!

Who says cake can't be for breakfast?! A delicious #allergyfriendly cupcake #recipe everyone will love Click To Tweet

Why Vegan?

Just because I want to enjoy a dessert, doesn’t mean it has to be one that will leave my stomach in knots and my stomach bloated. Of course I will have bites here and there of foods with dairy, but I kind of enjoy the challenge of finding great tasting food that skips my food allergies!

And as you know from my Muffin Tin round up of savory and sweet treats earlier this week, I’m on a roll with bite sized foods, so I had to share my birthday treat that many of you asked about after I shared it on Instagram.Upon arriving in Colorado I discovered no such vegan vanilla cake existed.

The Vegan bakeries said they couldn’t get the flavor right. Whole Foods just said no we don’t make it here.

But then, one fateful day post hike, I stumbled upon a single Whole Foods that made Vegan Vanilla cupcakes…not chocolate, not carrot, not some other fancy flavor, I just wanted classic vanilla!

I now buy in packs of 4.
I cut each one in half.
I place them in the freezer

This lasts me quite awhile!! As always, I realize that making something myself is more economical and surprise, usually healthier!! Thus I set out to find a Vegan Vanilla Cupcake recipe that was amazing and that I could enjoy with equal amounts of icing.Are you a bigger cake or icing fan?

I’m all about the icing. I don’t deny my sweet tooth! And yup it’s part of why I run!

Vegan Vanilla Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup  canola oil (or avocado oil)
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour Baking Mix
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

**Note: I learned about the King Arthur flour during a pizza making party at Cook Street with Sprouts. Not only does it have a good flavor, but it adds in some of the basics that we need for rising and baking. Once again EASY to the rescue!!!

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan butter, cold
• 2 cups organic powdered sugar (must look to ensure it’s vegan!)
• 2-3 tablespoons unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper cupcake liners.
2. For the cupcakes: mix all wet ingredients
3. Add the salt
4. Then slowly add in the flour mixture, stirring until smooth
5. Pour that delicousness into your cupcake pan (about 2/3 full)
6. Bake for 16-18 minutes
7. For the icing: beat together the vegan butter and vanilla until light and fluffy
8. Slowly add in the powder and almond milk while beating (add milk 1 tbsp at a time to keep thick consistency)
9. Wait until cupcakes are completely cool before icing or it will run off the side — not that I found this out the hard way or anything.

Now before anyone emails me, remember I”m a runner not a baker!! I do my best to try out things in the kitchen and share the ideas with you, but  my weirdo taste buds that like things like carrots, peanut butter and cereal might not be yours.

Are you more of a baker or a cook?

Do you have a favorite dessert?

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