A chocolate cupcake is a thing of beauty. This baking challenge is an adaptation of Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by the girls at The Post Punk Kitchen. For fun I used coffee extract for the additional extract and added coffee extract to the frosting to ramp up the mocha-ness.

They turned out well with good texture, slight dimples and a not-to-sweet flavor. The cupcakes screamed for a mound of delicious frosting so I slathered a coffee Vegan Fluffy Buttercream on top. Good enough for breakfast.

Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting
cupcakes
1 cup vanilla soy or almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup organic sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp coffee extract
1 cup + 1 TBS all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
generous 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
frosting
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine
3 1/2 cups organic powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy
1 tsp coffee extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk
For Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12-cupcake pan with paper liners. Whisk together the milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and coffee extract to the milk mixture and beat until foamy.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat just until no large lumps remain. Pour evenly into the liners, filling three-quarters of the way. Bake 18-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
For Frosting: Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and soy milk and beat for another 5-7 minutes until fluffy.

Until next time, happy baking!