I decided, in a fit of insanity, to pop both my Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and piping bag cherries in one fell swoop.
Okay, so I didn’t actually use a piping bag. I found Halloween plastic piping kits at Target in the $1 section, so I grabbed a handful and found that while the bags were useless (use gallon Ziploc freezer bags) that the tips weren’t terrible. I really should look into buying a real Wilson-style kit, though.

That wasn’t the insane part; making two double batches in one night was. (And boy, are my arms tired.)

With the cupcake recipes in Vegan with a Vengeance, I never had much luck with making pretty frosting. It always would taste awesome, but not look like the other vegan porn I’ve seen. The secret lies in the margarine. I always would scoop out Earth Balance and have a difficult time figuring out if it was too cold, too warm, etc. The solution? Sticks.

This is all well and great for those that have markets near them that sell Earth Balance sticks. I live in the vicinity of a Henry’s (I think they’re owned by Wild Oats), a Trader Joe’s, and Clark’s (a local, kick ass health food store) and none of these fuckers have EB sticks, but Henry’s does have EB shortening sticks (score!) Imagine my suprise when I find vegan margarine sticks at the regular supermarket – Nucoa. All of my frosting problems have been solved.

Since the move, I admittedly haven’t cooked or baked much. I only started cooking back in January, when I decided to go from a part-time health vegan to a full time actual vegan. I feel pretty awkward and clumsy in the kitchen, I don’t have a lot of skills or confidence but everything I attempt usually comes out great. I can’t wrap my brain around this, so I still feel like it’s a Christmas Miracle when I make something and it doesn’t suck. Check out my little Christmas Miracles below. I still think a baking fairy came in and decorated them while I was in a timeshift, but I ended up with more powdered sugar on the surfaces of my kitchen than actually in my mixer, so it probably was just me.

The first batches.

Cookies n’ Cream cupcakes, cookie vegan buttercream frosting

(I use Trader Joe’s Joe-Joe cookies, as my husband hates Newman-O’s with the fire of a thousand suns.)

Apple Cider cupcakes, vegan buttercream frosting, caramel brown rice syrup sauce