Baking cupcakes that are moist, light, eggless and dairyless seemed like an almost insurmountable challenge to me when I first went vegan.
Brainwashed as I had been through years of baking about the importance of butter and eggs to the process of cakemaking, I believed that a good cake was impossible to make without these ingredients.
I admit I lived through a few mistakes: cupcakes that weren't fluffy, cupcakes that were too tough, and cupcakes that just weren't, well, what cupcakes ought to be. Until, inspired by some cake veganizing tricks from other bakers, I scored a winner.
My Lemony Vegan Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are, to me, a small triumph for veganism. They taste so good, I bet they'd convert any sceptic. Desi is a regular cupcake gourmet and even he agrees these are among the best he's tasted.
So go on, I dare you. Put on your baking gloves and take a stab at these. I know you'll be back for more!
Try these vegan cakes next:
- Vegan Carrot Cupcakes
- Vegan Brown Sugar Pound Cake
- Vegan Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Streusel
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
Vegan Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the lemon cupcakes
- 1 ⅓ cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup sugar (you can use regular)
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- ½ cup vegan butter (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the cream cheese frosting
- 8 oz vegan cream cheese (left out of the refrigerator for at least an hour to soften.)
- ¼ cup sugar (powdered)
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
- ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
Instructions
Make lemon cupcakes
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and mix well. Set aside.
- Mix the milk and vinegar and set aside.
- In another bowl, with a hand mixer or a stand mixer set to medium speed, cream the vegan butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the two extracts.
- Add the flour mixture in three batches alternating with the almond milk, beating in well after each addition so there are no lumps. Scrape down the bowl after each addition.
- Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Divide the batter equally among the cups, filling each cup about ⅔rds.
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven about 22 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set aside on a rack to cool completely before frosting.
Make cream cheese frosting
- Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer for a minute or two until light and fluffy. Using a spatula or, if you have one, a pastry bag, decorate each cupcake any way you wish. I go for abstract art, as you can see!
Jeanette
I made these for my daughter's first birthday party this weekend. LOVED the recipe! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Vegan Digest
This pattern was selected as today's Vegan Recipe of the Day over at Vegan Digest. Love the addition of cardamom in the frosting!
Laura Galbraith
i just thought i'd let you know, that this is the 8th time i've used your recipe for cupcakes, and it's turned out AMAZING every single time!! thank you so much for creating such a wonderful cooking resource!!! I love your blog! 🙂
Michelle
If you make these, and you REALLY should, do yourself a favor and DEFINITELY ADD CARDAMOM.
My god, these are delicious.
Susan
Lemon and cream cheese, what a dreamy and tangy combo.
I only recently got down to really sitting with my copy of this cookbook. It's a lot of fun. I'm getting inspired to make my very first vegan baked goods.
Uma
beautiful cupcakes. Looks soooooo mouth-watering. Love the cream cheese frosting. Gorgeous.
Nick
These look great, although I would probably use real cream cheese. I always feel that lemon cake is underrated - my favorites are those little madelines.
Sia
who can say no to this moist and light delights. i have had pretty bad experince with baking cupcakes. but i am not giving up so soon 🙂
Nidhi
OMG! They look awesome. I wish I could just pick one. Beautiful click!
Sagari
beautifulll cup cakes
Vaishali
Jayasree, Sowmya, Thanks ladies!
Miri, I buy the almond milk I use in baked goods. Whole Foods carries it. For curries, etc, I grind my own.
Cham, Raaji, Madhavi, Aparna, Liberal Vegan, Sireesha: Thanks, dears.
Curry Leaf, I don't think you can make soy yogurt with vinegar and soy milk. There are some recipes out there for making soy yogurt, using dairy-free yogurt culture that you can order online. You might also be able to try it using soy milk and a few tablespoons of store-bought soy yogurt that contains active cultures. I also recently saw a soy yogurt recipe posted by Priya of Live2Cook. Hope that helps 🙂
Sireesha
Mouth-drooling and tempting cup cakes.
Curry Leaf
Yummy,can we use soy milk +vinegar to obtain soy yoghurt /replace eggs ;tofu is giving me pblms,
theliberalvegan
I have got to try this! They look so yummy.
Madhavi
Yummy cupcakes, nice recipe and looks/sounds awesome!!!!
Aparna
These look so great. They look like the regular thing.
I really liked your frosting. Looks extremely good. Only I can't find the vegan alternatives here.:(