At some point in the past year, I vowed to myself that Bean would never be the kid at the birthday party who had no cake. I would make her hypoallergenic cupcakes, so she wouldn’t feel left out.

Of course, I only ever remember this promise the night before we have a birthday party to go to. Sigh.

Last time, I ended up spending the morning running between Whole Foods (rumored to sell vegan cupcakes, they do not), various bakeries and coffee shops, before ending up at a vegetarian restaurant. The cupcakes were…dense, dry bricks of chocolate. Bean took half a bite and walked away.

I needed to up my game.

Chocolate is an obvious choice for vegan desserts. It hides so many flaws and you can attribute any gumminess or gooeyness (common problems when you can’t bake with eggs) to the chocolate.

Because Bean is only 1, I decided a marble cupcake might help take the edge off all that chocolate.

Like all my other recipes so far, this is an edited version of the Ultimate Marble Cupcakes.

 

1 2/3 c flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c Earth Balance Soy Free Natural Buttery Spread

1 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp Egg Replacer

2 tbsp warmish water

1/4 c So Delicious Unsweetened Cultured Coconut Milk (Coconut yogurt)

3/4 c and 1 tbsp Rice Dream Enriched Vanilla Drink (I’m sure any other dairy free milk would work just fine)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins with cupcake liners (the recipe makes about 12 cupcakes). In a small bowl, mix your warm water and egg replacer until the egg replacer has dissolved, set aside.

In a large bowl, mix all your dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Put the Earth Balance spread in a medium bowl and melt in the microwave (about 30 seconds). Mix in the sugar, whisk until it has formed a thick paste. Add in the Egg Replacer concoction, coconut yogurt, 3/4 cup dairy free milk, and vanilla.

Now, add the wet batter into the dry ingredients. Mix until it’s all combined.

(If you are Bean, this is when you lay down the whisk and start shoveling fistfuls of batter into your mouth. Hey, it’s vegan! No worries about salmonella! This is one of my favorite things about vegan baking. Well, vegan baking with toddlers anyway.)

Take 3/4 cup of the batter and put it into a separate bowl. Add the cocoa powder and 1 tbsp dairy free milk into that bowl. Whisk.

NOW. Spoon a tablespoon of the vanilla batter into a cupcake liner, top with a spoonful of chocolate batter, then top that with another spoonful of vanilla batter. Do this for all 12 cupcake liners.

Then, grab a toothpick or fork and attempt to get a pretty chocolate-vanilla swirl.

Now, bake for 20-24 minutes. (Mine only took 20 minutes.)

 

These cupcakes are delicious, and I can barely tell the difference between these and full-dairy/egg cupcakes. And, they may actually be better the next day. We are now on Day 5, and they are holding up spectacularly. Still fluffy and moist, with a perfect crumble.

You may be wondering, “where’s the icing?” I’ve told you about my vegan icing woes before, and they continue. I haven’t figured out a worthwhile recipe yet, and so I have none. These marble cupcakes were flavorful enough to stand alone, though.