This recipe was touted as a vegan cupcake that resembled a jelly donut.  The idea is that a blob of jelly placed on the cupcake top would bake inside and be like a donut. It sounded wild enough to run through my challenge.

Assuming that the cupcake might fall flat under the weight of the jam, I threw all of the high altitude alterations at it. I added soymilk and flour while reducing baking powder and sugar. For health reasons I replaced some of the white flour with whole wheat flour, and swapped arrowroot for cornstarch. Also, because I felt like it, I used cinnamon instead of some nutmeg.

Other high altitude tricks I used were to put the cupcake tin on a rack in the lower third of the oven, raise the oven temperature, and bake for less time.

With all these changes I was worried the cupcakes would fail so I put the oven light on. Was I glad I did! It was fun to watch the batter rise gracefully until the jelly finally succumbed and was enveloped.

The cupcakes had a light crumb but were too spicy to resemble a jelly donut. They were more like a spice cake combined with a jam dot cookie. On a hunch I decided to enhance the jelly flavor with peanut butter frosting instead of the powdered sugar called for in the recipe. Mmmm…always follow your hunches!

Jelly Spice Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting adapted from VegNews Magazine
cupcakes:
1 cup + 2 TBS soymilk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 TBS arrowroot
1 cup + 3 TBS all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup + 1 tsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup raspberry jam
frosting:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegan margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 TBS soy milk
for garnish:
2 TBS powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 370F and line a 12-cupcake tin with paper liners. In a measuring cup, combine soymilk, vinegar, and arrowroot. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Create a well in the center of the flour for the wet ingredients. Mix soymilk mixture with a fork to dissolve the arrowroot and pour into the flour mixture. Add oil, sugar, and vanilla, and mix well.
Fill liners with batter until almost full. Place a heaping spoonful of jam into the center of each cupcake, being careful not to overfill. The jam will sink into the bottom of the cupcake during baking. Bake cupcakes for 16-18 minutes. Prepare frosting by blending the ingredients until smooth and creamy, adding milk to achieve the desired consistency. Cool cupcakes completely on a wire rack. Apply frosting and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Until next time, happy baking!