It’s dark, damp, cold. And the weekend doesn’t seem to be looking any brighter. Before cupcakes that is!
We’re in the mood for spiced sweetness and thought we’d share a recipe for divine Chai Latte Cupcakes courtesy of the Post Punk Kitchen (photo courtesy of Vegan Menu).
And if you’re hosting a cozy get-together with pals or just feeling particularly arts-and-craftsy try your hand at some custom-made cupcake wrappers (try here and here for ideas)…or drop $12 for a dozen fancy laser-cut ones from Paper Orchid (Ivy Vine pictured right).
So this weekend, take a load off, do some baking, or have someone do it for you, maybe spend some time on your meditation practice in this brief lull before all hell breaks loose for the holiday season!
Recipe after the jump…
CHAI LATTE CUPCAKES
Ingredients
1 cup soy or rice milk
4 black teabags or 2 tablespoons loose black tea
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup plain or vanilla soy yogurt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of ground white or black pepper
For topping:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or ground mace
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 and line tin with cupcake liners. In a small saucepan heat soymilk till almost boiling, add tea bags, cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 10 minutes.When ready to use stir teabags and thoroughly squeeze to insure as much tea is dissolved in milk as possible.
In a large bowl wisk together oil, yogurt, sugar, vanilla and tea mixture until all yogurt lumps disappear. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and pepper into wet ingredients. Mix until large lumps disappear; some small lumps are okay. Fill tins full and bake about 20 to 22 minutes until a sharp knife inserted comes out clean.
Make sure cupcakes are completely cooled before adding topping, or the sugar will melt and not look pretty or powdery.
To assemble, sift confectioners sugar over cooled cupcakes first, then mix cocoa, cinnamon, and nutmeg together and sift onto each cupcake. Enjoy!
