Hi Friends, guess what? Today is my birthday! And to celebrate, here is a great cupcake recipe from Sweet Melissa's, a wonderful little bakery in San Francisco, CA. I hope you enjoy these cupcakes as much as I do!

Sweet Melissa, San Francisco

Melissa Furano is a young gifted baking artist. She creates serious works of art that are equally delicious.I discovered her red velvet cupcakes while I was at an event in San Francisco. Every now and then she will send a tub of her cream cheese frosting my way just because she knows how much I love it! I asked her to developed a healthier cupcake recipe for my newsletter to you. After all we can't always delight in the most sinful version, but her Vegan Triple Vanilla Cupcakes are certainly the next best thing.

Sweet Melissa's Organic Vegan Triple Vanilla Cupcakes

Yield: 24

Ingredients

1 c. organic light vanilla soy milk
1 tsp. organic apple cider vinegar
1 whole vanilla bean, scraped clean
1  1/4  c. organic whole wheat pastry flour (available at Whole Foods)
2 tbsp. organic corn starch
3/4  tsp. baking powder
1/2  tsp. baking soda
1/2  tsp. salt (fine grain iodized salt or flake kosher salt best)
1/3 c. organic canola or vegetable oil
3/4  c. organic sugar
2 tsp. organic vanilla extract
optional:  1/4  tsp almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with cupcake papers.

2. Whisk together soy milk, vanilla bean seeds, and vinegar and set aside for about 3 minutes.

3. Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. Beat together soy milk mixture with oil, sugar, and vanilla extract (and almond if using).

5. Add flour mixture one third at a time to the soy milk mixture and whisk by hand until no lumps remain.

6. Fill cupcake papers  3/4  full and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting.

Vegan Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients 

1/4  c. organic earth balance margarine, softened
1/4  c. vegetable shortening
1/2  c. organic unsweetened cocoa powder
2  1/2  c. organic powdered sugar
3 tbsp. organic light vanilla soy milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract 

1. Place margarine and shortening in stand mixer with paddle attachment and beat until well combined.

2. Sift in cocoa powder and mix until incorporated.

3. Sift the powdered sugar into the mix in  1/2  cup increments, adding 1 tablespoon of the soy milk after each addition.

4. Once all ingredients are well blended, add in the vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. 

Good Old Fashioned Milk Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients 

1 lb. unsalted organic butter (at room temp-DO NOT MICROWAVE)
1 lb. organic powdered sugar
1  1/2  tsp. organic vanilla extract
8 oz. organic milk chocolate, cut into small pieces 

1. Melt chocolate over a double boiler or in 30 second increments in the microwave until completely melted.  Set aside to cool to room temperature. 

2. Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and beat on med-high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.

3. Sift powdered sugar, add in  1/2  cup increments to the butter with the mixer on med-low speed to avoid a big white mess.  Periodically scrape down the side of the bowl to ensure it's well blended.

4. Once all the powdered sugar is mixed in, whip for another minute on high speed before adding the vanilla extract and melted chocolate.

5. Add the cooled chocolate to the buttercream in a slow stream and whip until blended, scraping the sides when necessary.  

6. Load buttercream into piping bag with desired tip and pipe 1 ounce (approximately 2 tablespoons) of buttercream per cupcake.

Approximately 80 calories per unfrosted cupcake, 300 calories with 1 ounce of buttercream.