Pretty Cupcakes

I've been relying on the same 'ole vegan chocolate cupcake recipe for a couple of years now until now. Granted, the icing is just store bought Pillsbury vanilla, but it's the cake part itself that makes this so awesome. The recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World- which I strongly recommend you buy. But for now, here's your basic chocolate cake recipe (makes about a dozen):

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients:
1 c soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Okay, so firstly combine the soy milk and vinegar in a bowl all on it's own so it has time to curdle (this may sound gross but smell it when it's done- it's sweet!). While that's doing it's thing mix your dry ingredients in a smaller bowl (the one you put the soy milk in is going to be your main mixing bowl)

1 c all purpose flour
1/3 c cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Set that aside and go add these ingredients to your soy milk mixture and beat until foamy:

3/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (hint: this is the secret ingredient)
1/3 c vegetable oil (you can sub 1/3 c apple sauce if you'd like too)

Now slowly add in the dry ingredients until the big chunks are all out (small ones are fine). Add to your cake pan or cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes (or 15 if your oven is super old like mine and likes to burn your baked goods! lol)

Seriously- this is beyond delicious. You can also experiment with adding other flavorings in place of the almond extract but this, to me, is absolutely perfect.