Coconut Bunny

In honor of my last few days of life with flour, eggs and dairy, I have made cupcakes. The eggs have nothing to do with it actually, as I enjoy the challenge of vegan baked goods - and rarely make regular cupcakes these days. 

While I adore Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I have fallen in love with a new basic chocolate cake recipe. I think it is superior. Adam disagrees. If you have the book, you should try them both and let me know what you think. The cake recipe was featured on Grist for Valentine's Day. I didn't have much luck with the frosting. Most likely because I failed to treat it as fudge and skimped on the boiling time. I ended up dipping the cupcakes - which was quite sexy and appropriate for Valentines day, but not at all what I was looking for in a frosting now - when I know I can't have real butter for a few weeks, if not forever if I discover I'm allergic to dairy! 

The cake: 

• 1 1/2 cups flour 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 3/4 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the wet ingredients. Mix the dry. Mix the wet into the dry. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a fork comes out clean!

Now for the frosting. My mother's buttercream. I do alright with the vanilla, but I stand no chance next to my mom for making chocolate buttercream. She could make it with her eyes closed and it would be the most delicious frosting you've ever tasted. 

The frosting:

• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1 box powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• a couple of teaspoons of milk (whatever kind you have) until the desired consistency is reached.

Mix and frost liberally!

When I lived with Emmy and Gus, we would occasionally make trips to Ballard for cupcakes. Our standard household order was as follows: Kate for Emmy, Triple Threat for Gus, and Coconut Bunny for Erin. In honor of my beloved Coconut Bunny, I've replicated (more or less) and topped these with delicious coconut!