life notes + vanilla cupcakes

dessert & bread, personal

I want to tell you how I’m doing.  But it’s hard.

I don’t want to whine.  Who likes a whiner?

I don’t want to paint my life as a-okay.  Because it’s not.

I want to be honest, open.

Here goes.

The past few weeks have felt the longest of my life.  It seems like years have gone by since Joseph left.  There are moments throughout the day where I love what I’m doing.  But there are also parts of the day that I do not like.  That are not fun.

I could go on about how this homeschool adventure is one of the greatest challenges of my life.  Further I could tell you all about how I lack adequate rest.  Or how I miss my husband & that single parenting is not the way to go.  About the tantrums (there have been a few), the struggles of kids missing their dad.  How sometimes I’m not sure I have it in me to give anymore than I have given.

But why dwell on that, when we’ve got cupcakes?

These have been a bright spot in my life, to be sure.  I’ve learned there’s just something about cupcakes when you’re feeling down.

Measuring the flour.
Sifting in salt, baking powder.
Mixing dry & wet.
Pouring thick batter into neat circles.
Watching the batter rise up & puff.
Pulling out the warm cakes.
Finishing with controlled, even strokes of white glaze.

It’s soothing.  Making something fluffy & light, when your life is heavy.  There’s something to this.

Similar to the happy birthday cupcakes, these include tofu, which lends extra protein & gives them a nice texture.

Print
Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 18 cupcakes

Serving Size: 1 cupcake

Calories per serving: without frosting: 106 with frosting: 135

Fat grams per serving: without frosting: 3.5 g with frosting: 4 g

Tofu is the "secret" ingredient of these vegan, gluten-free vanilla cupcakes.

Ingredients

    For cupcakes:
  • 2 c. Bob's Red Mill gf all-purpose flour or unbleached pastry wheat flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 TBS. chia seeds
  • 1/2 c. full-fat non-dairy milk (soy works well)
  • 3/4 block 14 oz. of firm tofu
  • 1/2 c. evaporated cane juice
  • 2 TBS. pure vanilla extract
  • 3 TBS. coconut oil (optional, but cupcakes may be gummy if you omit or replace w/ applesauce)
    • For the frosting:
  • 1/4 of 14 oz. block of firm tofu
  • 3/4 c. organic powdered sugar (or 3/4 c. more for thicker, sweeter frosting)
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla
  • 1 tsp. coconut oil (optional, makes a bit more rich)
  • 1/2 tsp. coconut extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, & soda.
  3. In a blender, blend milk & chia seeds until smooth. Add tofu, sweetener, coconut oil, vanilla, & blend.
  4. Gently combine dry mix & wet ingredients. If using wheat flour rather than gf flour, take care not to over mix--only about 20-30 strokes. If you're using gf flour, no worries about over mixing (although you don't need to over mix), you can't ruin gf batter by over mixing.
  5. Pour into lined cupcake holders.
  6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until it passes toothpick test.
  7. Cool on cookie rack for 15-20 minutes before frosting. If you eat cupcake while it's still hot, if using gf flour, the cupcake will stick to the cupcake liner, which doesn't change the flavor, just giving you a heads up.
    8. For Frosting:
  8. In a food processor, blend tofu until smooth. Add sugar, oil (optional) & extract & blend again. Best if you make beforehand & refrigerate for a few hours, which will help it firm up nicely.

Additional Nutritional Info: Without frosting: 3 g protein, 1 g fiber, 17 g carbs 106 mg sodium. Frosting adds .5 g protein & 4 g carbs.

If using gluten-free flour, note that the cupcakes will be more dense. If using white or wheat pastry flour, cupcakes will be lighter & bigger.

♥♥♥

What do you make or do to make things feel lighter?

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