I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up this morning! The predicted morning thunderstorms were nowhere in sight which meant that I could get outside for exercise. I had a very windy 5 mile run and thought it was going to pour on me at one point, but then the sun peeked out and the wind was gone with the wind! The only water I encountered was the sweat pouring out of my skin on this humid morning.
After the run, I did 4 sets (10-15 reps each) of both push-ups and lunges. I’ve been trying to sneak in mini strength sessions lately in addition to Whittle My Middle because I find it much easier to sneak in strength work as opposed to longer sessions. Mini sessions are a good trick if you tend to get bored with strength work. The same goes for cardio too.
Today feels like The Friday Dance because we have a VIP coming tomorrow…OSGMOM is coming to visit us for several days!
Yay for moms :)
Tomorrow, I’m driving up North to meet mom at Grandpa and Diane’s and then we’re going to meet my Grammy and Harry for lunch before heading back home. On Saturday, we’re having a family get together at our place with my Aunt Jenn and family. Good times. I still need to figure out what I’m making for dinner Saturday though!
Oh, and there will be lots of this going down…
and this…muhauha.
Last night, Eric was gathering old furniture for furniture pick-up day when I spotted this green antique chair that he planned on throwing out…
That’s when the crazy old lady in me surfaced and my heart skipped a beat.
I don’t know where the chair came from, but I knew that it had many more years of life in it!
Eric saw my eyes light up like a Christmas tree and he said, ‘I KNEW you would want to keep that chair!!!!’
Duh.
Like I said, many productive years of life left…
Repurposed for a pretty green background for cupcake photos:
In other good mood news, I finally had a successful recipe after a week of disasters. And I mean a week of disasters. I didn’t show half of the flops I had this week because it was just too painful to watch.
I finally I struck sweet [whole-wheat] cupcake gold…
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Vegan Whole Wheat Chocolate Cupcakes with Cinnamon Infused Frosting
Adapted from my Favourite Vegan Chocoate Cupcakes, which was adapted from the famous eggless chocolate cake recipe.
Yield: 12 cupcakes.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used Vanilla Almond milk)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or distilled white)
- 1 cup sugar (I used natural cane sugar)
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted (I used Dutch-process)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- Cinnamon Spiced ‘Buttercream’ Frosting (see below)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
2. With an electric mixer, beat together the following ingredients in a large bowl (non-dairy milk, apple cider vinegar, sugar, oil, vanilla) for a minute or two.
3. Now sift the dry ingredients (flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt) into the wet. Mix well, until all clumps are gone.
4. Spoon the batter into prepared cupcake pan, about two thirds full for each cupcake. Bake for about 24-26 minutes at 350F, or until the cupcake slowly springs back when pressed with a finger. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
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I love this vegan cupcake recipe with all my heart and I think that it rivals any non-vegan chocolate cupcake! My Aunt Jenn first introduced me to the famous eggless chocolate cake recipe and I’ve been hooked on them even before I became a vegan.
Today’s Modification:
For this adaptation, I wanted to use whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose to make it a bit healthier. Instead of 1.5 cups of all-purpose, I used 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour and 1/2 cup of all-purpose. I was worried if I used 100% WWPF it wouldn’t work. Maybe next time I will try the full 1.5 cups!
The cupcakes turned out FABULOUS!
They are a bit nuttier tasting than the all-purpose ones, but not in a bad way at all. I will DEFINITELY be making them with WWPF from now on!
I decided to make a cinnamon-spiced ‘buttercream’ to go along with the cupcakes. I love the combo of chocolate with just a hint of cinnamon.
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Cinnamon Spiced Buttercream
Adapted from my Gingerbread recipe.
Yield: About 1 & 1/4 cup frosting.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups organic icing sugar (confectioners)
- 1/4 cup Earth Balance (I use soy free)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (or more to taste)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2-4 tbsp non-dairy milk, as needed to achieve desired consistency
- Pinch of kosher salt, optional
Directions:
1. With an electric mixer, whisk the Earth Balance and vanilla until smooth and soft. Add in 2 tbsp of non-dairy milk and mix again.
2. Gradually, add in the icing sugar slowly, adding more milk if necessary. Mix for several minutes until it is light and fluffy. Add in your desired amount of cinnamon and salt to taste. I use a stand mixer and let it mix for about 5 minutes or so. Makes about 1 & 1/4 cup of frosting.
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I opted not to make frosting turds this time. ;)
Here’s a shot without my diffusion disc:
With diffusion disc (notice the shadows are gone)
Dolled up with a couple antique china plates that I picked up at the antique market:
The cupcakes tend to freeze well, so I popped them into containers and froze until the frosting got firm (about an hour or so). Then I added some plastic wrap over top of the cupcakes, sealed the container, and placed them back in the freezer. They will stay nice and fresh until the dinner party on Saturday!
By the way, a HUGE thank-you for your comments and emails yesterday regarding my gluten-free baking challenge. You sure know how to help a girl out! I’m sure that many other readers will benefit from all the information too. I’ll be sure to keep you posted with my GF + vegan trials and tribulations over the next few weeks.
Whew, I feel extra chatty today.
This Chatty Cathy needs to get back to work!
So yummy looking! Love the chair-by-the-window shot :) The color is gorgeous!
I bake *everything* (all muffins, cupcakes, cakes, quickbreads, cookies) using 100% whole wheat pastry flour (Arrowhead or Bob’s Red Mill organic) — never white — and have never had anything but a fantastic result. In fact, oat flour and spelt flour work fine for all these applications, too. No one has ever discerned anything different, even when I served vegan whole-wheat chocolate frosted cupcakes to a large, mixed audience at a holiday gathering this winter. I’m not sure how the myth got started that white in some proportion is necessary but it’s safe to nix it; I promise.
Those look very lovely! I’m a sucker for vegan cupcakes…
I noticed you opted for extra virgin olive oil instead of veggie or canola oil. Is that to give it a richer flavor? I wouldn’t think the texture would be at all altered?
Oh those cupcakes look amazing! Keep the green chair!! :D
Lovely chair
and those cupcakes, yammieeeeeee :D
Those cupcakes look gorgeous!
I’ve been looking at this blog for a few weeks now, I love it so much! You’re making me feel that being a healthy vegan IS possible (still working on convincing my parents though :P)
Also, I know I’m a bit late to the GF conversation but I wondered if you’d looked at any Erin McKenna’s recipes? She runs a bakery in NY so (though I’m in the UK) I’m guessing they must be good! This article has 3 recipes, there’s some videos on YouTube too- one of them is for blueberry muffins :)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/5120700/Healthy-cakes-Sweet-mercy.html
Thanks Ellie!
I actually have the first babaycakes book but have yet to use it :) cant wait!
That chair is so cool! Love the splash of color. Great food photos today :)
Oh my gosh these look AMAZING! As usual with your baked goods! I’m dying to try these and strike whole wheat cupcake gold myself! It’s been a goal of mine to get a good one but none of my past experiments have turned out – so I’m putting my faith into these!! :)
these look absolutley amazing! ESPECIALLY the frosting! I’m not the biggest frosting girl, but a simple, spiced buttercream? I’m in!
*absolutely*
I can’t spell today ha!
i love your enthusiasm for your recipes :) it makes reading your blog way more fun
Yay for mom visits! I love that chair, good idea saving it. Such a pretty backdrop to the pics :)
That is definitely a cute chair!
I’m bummed because before I had to go gluten-free, I never did experiment with whole wheat pastry flour. And now it’s all I see recipes for! Hope you have a fun time with your family. :)
That frosting looks delish! I am a cinnamon fanatic!
I haven’t had any problems yet with subbing whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose in any of my baking adventures. These cupcakes look delicious! I’m excited to see what you come up with for the dinner party.
Ps. my boyfriend and I have made you asparagus potato salad without modification twice now…it’s so freaking good!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I remembered my fiance and I loved your gingerbread recipe!!! this looks like a winner too. :) And I love that green chair!! soooo cottage-y and it’s green! the most beautiful color in the world! haha. Such a great find Ang~
have a wonderful time with your mom!!! i always love a visit with my mammasia! :)
mini strength sessions are the best way i’ve found to get them in too. i’m not a huge fan of weights because it just seems boring but i know how important doing strength and core work is so i make sure to get it in there. doing a little bit each day breaks it up nicely, i alternate between doing my arm weights one day then lower body/full core the other.
great to hear that your running is coming along and hopefully that annoying injury will stay a thing of the past!! also double yumm on those cupcakes! have a great day. :)
Great job on a successful cupcake! I love those cupcake liners, I have them too. I made a few turd iced cupcakes for Easter and had to laugh while I stood back and admired them, then remembered your post :) Let’s hope nobody else saw them like we did!
I am always drooling over your vegan desserts! YUM!
Yay for mom’s!!! And omigosh I love that chair!!!! I’m going camping next week and I really hope to find a garage sale with lots of good finds :)
Yum! The combination of ww in cupcakes (I love ww in baking…that nutty taste is out of control delicious) and cinnamon sounds amazing! I will be making these for my next book club meet.