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vegan frosting

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes (DF + vegan option)

March 16, 2020 by Rachael Ng Leave a Comment

I’m back at it again with the chocolate and orange, because it’s one of my favorite combos and I just can’t get enough. These cupcakes are moist and fluffy and topped with an amazing chocolate orange buttercream frosting made with vegan butter! Swap the eggs out for flax eggs in the cupcakes, and you’ll have delicious, can’t-tell-they’re-vegan vegan cupcakes!

The cupcakes are made with oil instead of butter, and you’ll hand mix the batter. No stand mixer or beaters required for the batter. And no alternating ingredients. Just simple mixing. The buttercream comes together easily (with a hand mixer!) and is one of my favorite non-dairy treats – that’s because it tastes just like regular, indulgent, and totally delicious buttercream!

Some of the ingredients I like for these cupcakes, along with possible substitutes:

Coconut sugar is a low GI, unrefined sugar. It tastes nothing like coconut, and it’s better for us than regular cane sugar – it’s my favorite, go-to sweetener for baked goods! If you don’t have this on hand, feel free to replace it with any kind of cane sugar (raw, white, or brown).

Raw cane sugar is just an unrefined version of the white sugar we all know and love. It’s less processed and usually organic. Again, this can be replaced with more coconut sugar or another kind of cane sugar.

Coconut oil adds much needed moisture to these cupcakes. You can replace it with your favorite oil – I recommend avocado or olive oil.

Eggs can be replaced with flax eggs. For three flax eggs, mix 3 Tbsp flaxseed meal with 9 Tbsp of warm water; allow to thicken for 5 minutes.

Oat milk has become my absolute favorite plant-based milk. It’s creamy and sweet, and I’ve been loving it in everything. Of course, you can use whatever plant milk you’d like.

Orange zest, extract, and juice all add to the wonderful orange flavor we love in these chocolate cupcakes. Don’t skimp!

Dutch process cocoa powder is richer in flavor and darker in color than regular (natural) cocoa. I like it for the frosting here because it helps balance the sweetness of all that powdered sugar and creates a beautiful color. Feel free to use natural cocoa powder in its place OR, for a richer frosting, replace some of the powdered sugar with more cocoa powder.

Vegetable shortening helps thicken the vegan buttercream, stiffening it a bit to allow for melt-free piping. You can use more vegan butter in its place, but your frosting may be a little melty after piping.

Yield: 18 Cupcakes

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

Super moist, naturally flavored chocolate orange cupcakes topped with a decadent, can't-tell-it's-vegan chocolate orange buttercream!

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 15 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

  • 1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup natural (regular) cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/2 cup unrefined (raw) cane sugar
  • 3 large eggs, room temp (or 3 flax eggs if vegan - see note)
  • 2/3 cup coconut oil, liquid
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp orange extract
  • 1 cup oat milk, hot
  • Zest from 3 medium oranges

Chocolate Orange Buttercream

  • 1 cup vegan butter (2 sticks), softened
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
  • Zest from 3 medium oranges
  • 3/4 tsp orange extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 7 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 6-8 Tbsp orange juice

Instructions

For the Cupcakes

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a regular cupcake pan with paper liners. Bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass of warm water for around 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, sift the flour and cocoa powder. Whisk in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt, whisking until ingredients are uniform in color; set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugars and eggs. Whisk in the liquid coconut oil, orange juice, and vanilla and orange extracts. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and gently mix together.
  4. Finally, add the hot oat milk and fresh orange zest and stir until totally combined - the batter will be very thin.
  5. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full (you should have about 18 cupcakes). Bake at 350°F for 13-15 minutes or until the cupcakes spring back when lightly tapped. Alternatively, you can insert a toothpick into the middle of a cupcake - you'll know they're down when there are a few crumbs on the toothpick.
  6. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for five minutes, and then gently transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Prepare the Frosting

  1. In a large bowl, beat together the vegan butter and vegetable shortening until smooth. Beat in the orange zest, and the orange and vanilla extracts.
  2. Sift in 1 cup of the powdered sugar and the cocoa powder and beat until well combined.
  3. Beat in the remaining powdered sugar and the orange juice, alternating between the two. For example, beat in another 3 cups of powdered sugar, then beat in 3 Tbsp of orange juice, add the rest of the powdered sugar, and then add orange juice until the frosting reaches a thick and stiff consistency that's still easily spreadable.
  4. Add frosting to a piping bag (or gallon plastic bag) fitted with your choice of piping tip - I used a Wilton 1M tip. I like to place the piping bag, with the tip, into an empty glass, folding the excess bag over the edge of the glass. Then you can easily fill the bag with frosting.
  5. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes, starting from the outside edge and going toward the middle as you work your way up. Keep the pressure steady and the bag upright as you pipe.
  6. Top cupcakes with your choice of toppings. I chose a spoonful of melted chocolate (thinned with olive oil*), orange zest, and a chocolate ball.
  7. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for maximum freshness.

Notes

  • This frosting recipe makes enough to pipe 18 regular cupcakes with some frosting leftover.
  • For a chocolate drizzle, melt ~1/4 cup of chocolate chips and then stir in olive oil, a small splash at a time, until the chocolate is thin enough to drizzle - you want it to stream continuously off of a spoon.
  • For vegan cupcakes, use 3 flax eggs: (mix 3 Tbsp flaxseed meal + 9 Tbsp warm water, allow to thicken for five minutes)

© Rachael | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Cake

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sugaredandstirred on Instagram and hashtag #sugaredandstirred

More orange + chocolate recipes:

Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies (dairy-free + vegan option)
Grain-Free Orange Brownies (dairy-free)
Orange Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies (dairy-free)

Filed Under: Cake, Dairy-free, Vegan Tagged With: chocolate cupcakes, chocolate orange cake, chocolate orange cupcakes, dairy free cupcakes, vegan buttercream, vegan cupcakes, vegan frosting

Hummingbird Cake with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

April 17, 2019 by Rachael Ng 7 Comments

You may know by now that I try to make desserts that are both delicious and (a bit) better for you than traditional baked goods. But when it comes to cake, I simply can’t accept any substitutes for a sugary, buttery frosting. Keep your whipped cream and coconut butter, I NEED BUTTERCREAM. Or in my case vegan buttercream.

I’ve attempted vegan buttercream frostings in the past, and this one is by far my favorite. It’s devilishly sweet, buttery tasting, and stable enough to frost a 3-layer cake in an 80°F apartment. The secret? Add a bit of vegetable shortening. Yes. I know. Maybe you think it’s gross or too unhealthy. But the shortening really helps to stabilize this frosting. You could leave the shortening out and replace it with vegan butter, but I can’t vouch for the results.

As for making the vegan buttercream, it really is so simple. You’ll need vegan butter (I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks), vegan cream cheese (I used Trader Joe’s brand), vegetable shortening, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Lots of powdered sugar. You’ll want the vegan butter to soften to room temperature, but you’ll keep the vegan cream cheese in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make your frosting. Before you add the cream cheese to your mixing bowl, pour out any liquid that has pooled at the top.

The cake itself is pretty straight-forward. I made an 8″ 3-layer cake, but this amount of batter will work for a 9″ 2-layer cake or even a thick 6″ 3-layer cake. For 8″ or 9″ pans, the cake layers will be thin and flat enough that you won’t need to trim the tops off. For a totally vegan cake, check the “notes” section below.

Some of the ingredients I love for this recipe:

Banana and pineapple make up a classic Hummingbird Cake. I like my bananas mashed and my pineapple crushed but feel free to chop your banana or use pineapple chunks!

Toasted pecans have a more prominent flavor than non toasted pecans, and it takes so little time to pop them in the oven and let them toast.

Extra light olive oil gives this cake moisture while maintaining a low flavor profile.

White whole wheat flour is a whole wheat flour that’s lighter in color and sweeter in taste. It’s milled from the whole hard white wheat berry, so it has more naturally occurring nutrients than all-purpose flour.

All-purpose flour helps keep this cake soft. It balances out the white whole wheat flour.

Cinnamon and nutmeg add a bit of cozy spice. Feel free to play with your spices, adding more or less to suit your tastes.

Yield: 12 Slices

Hummingbird Cake with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

Hummingbird Cake with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

A classic hummingbird cake made dairy-free (or vegan)! With bananas, pineapple, toasted pecans, and thick layers of you-can't-tell-it's-vegan Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting, this cake will not disappoint!

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Additional Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients

Hummingbird Cake

  • 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 5 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk
  • 6 Tbsp extra light olive oil
  • 3 large eggs (or 3 flax eggs, if vegan - see notes)
  • 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups mashed ripe banana (~2-3 bananas)
  • 1 cup (8oz) crushed pineapple (with juice)
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened to room temp (I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 8oz vegan cream cheese, straight from the refrigerator (I used Trader Joe's brand)
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2-2 lbs powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare your cake pans. Spray each pan with olive oil and then line the bottoms with a parchment paper circle. If your pecans aren't already toasted, now would be a good time to toast them - spread them out on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for around 10 minutes or until toasted. If you plan to frost your cake the same day, you can set out your vegan butter.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and coconut sugar. Stir in the toasted chopped pecans.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond milk, olive oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add in the mashed banana and pineapple. Add liquid ingredients to dry and gently mix until no flour pockets remain.
  4. Divide the batter equally into your pans. For three 8" pans, bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with a few crumbs, being sure to rotate your pans halfway through baking.
  5. Allow cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Run a butter knife around the edges, invert a cooling rack over the top, and then flip over. Your cakes should all come out easily. Gently remove the parchment paper circles and throw away.
  6. Once your cakes have cooled completely, you can make your frosting. Drain liquid from the vegan cream cheese, and then, in a large bowl, beat together the vegan butter, shortening, and vegan cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add 16oz of the powdered sugar and beat. Continue adding powdered sugar until you've reached the desired consistency. If you end up adding too much sugar, you can add water or nut milk 1 tsp at a time to thin the frosting out.
  7. Now you can begin frosting your cake! I added 3/4 cup of frosting between each layer and then smoothed the rest onto the sides and top of the cake. Decorate your cake with pecans and enjoy! Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator if your home is warm.

Notes

  • For vegan cake: use 3 flax eggs in place of the eggs. 1 flax egg = 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal + 3 Tbsp water. Let thicken for 5 minutes.
  • For 2-layer cake: this recipe will also work for two 9" cakes. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, check cakes, and continue baking until done.
  • To make ahead: Cakes can be made in advance. Once totally cool, wrap each cake in plastic wrap and then wrap in foil, being sure to seal totally. Refrigerate until ready to frost.
  • For less sugar: you can use less frosting between the layers and make a "naked" cake.

Recommended Products

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 slice

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 759Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 69mgSodium: 468mgCarbohydrates: 116gFiber: 3gSugar: 92gProtein: 7g

calculated nutrition information may not always be accurate

© Rachael Ng | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Cake

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sugaredandstirred on Instagram and hashtag #sugaredandstirred

Other recipes you might like:

Dairy-Free Banana Chocolate Cake
Healthier Banana Nut Bread
Glazed Orange Almond Muffins

Filed Under: Cake, Dairy-free, Vegan Tagged With: banana, cream cheese frosting, dairy-free, hummingbird cake, pineapple, vegan buttercream, vegan frosting

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Meet Rachael

Hi! I’m Rachael, a home baker who creates dairy-free, indulgent treats. As a sweets lover and former candy addict, I believe we shouldn’t have to give up everything we love in pursuit of wellness. That’s why I create delicious and approachable desserts that you can enjoy, in moderation, no matter your goals! Because, let’s face it, sometimes you just need a giant slice of frosted cake, sans guilt! Read More…

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