Egg and Dairy Free Vanilla Cupcakes

Bakingyummies

Cupcakes, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart.
- Twitter



These pretty looking cupcakes don't look vegan at all, right? Believe me, they are :)

And you wouldn't miss the eggs. Not much really.



This recipe was long overdue. Ever since I shared the recipe for Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes, which has been one of the most popular recipe on my blog, I got a couple of requests for a vanilla version. So you see, I wanted to share one since then. But all the recipes that I tried for a vegan vanilla cake wasn't up to the mark. They either called for egg replacer powder which is not accessible to everyone (what's the point of such recipe?) or condensed milk. The addition of condensed milk just gives a sticky, gooey and overly sweet mess. I don't understand how do people eat that stuff. Plainly speaking, I didn't like the taste, the texture...nothing.

I had almost given up hopes of finding a vegan vanilla cake recipe that lives up to my expectations.



However, sometime back I laid my hands on this wonderful book that's a treasure trove of cake recipes. It's by Rachel Allen and she is one of my favorite bakers. I have been an ardent follower of her TV show Bake on TLC and have watched the innumerable repeat telecasts :D (I am not affiliated to her in any way and neither is this post sponsored, this is just my opinion). So when I saw this cookbook of hers at a book store, I bought it immediately. It's got a small note on the cover, 'Every cake you'll ever need!' - so apt.



The texture of these cupcakes is soft and moist. In fact, they were rising in the oven like crazy, making them light and airy. The cupcakes are topped with an icing made with soya spread and powdered sugar which gives as light a frosting as one made with butter. If you want, you can replace the spread with butter.



Make 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients
For the Cake
225 grams / 8 ounces self raising flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda bi carb or baking soda
1/4 teaspoon regular salt
200 grams / 7 ounces caster or superfine sugar
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
275 ml / 9.5fl ounces soya or rice milk
75 ml / 3fl ounces sunflower or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Icing
125 grams / 4.5 ounces soya spread
350 grams / 12 ounces icing sugar or confectioners sugar
pinch of regular salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
gel food color (optional)

Method
For the Cake
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tray with paper liners or grease and flour the tray.

In a bowl, sieve together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk the dry mixture using a hand held whisk until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended, about a minute. Add the caster sugar and mix again.

In another bowl or measuring jug, beat the vinegar, milk, oil and vanilla extract using the same hand held whisk.

Create a small well in the dry ingredients and pour all the wet mixture at once into the dry ingredients. Fold the mixture with a spatula until all the ingredients are combined completely.

Divide the batter evenly among the cups. Bake in the preheated oven until the cupcakes are golden brown and are springy to the touch, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Place the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and place on the wire rack to cool completely.

For the Icing
In a bowl, add the soya spread, salt and vanilla extract. Add one-third of the icing sugar and mix on medium speed until the sugar is incorporated well. Add the other one-third of the icing sugar and mix on medium speed until the sugar is incorporated well. Scrape the sides of the bowl in between the additions.

Finally add the last one-third of the icing sugar and mix on medium speed until the sugar is incorporated well. Increase the speed to maximum and beat until the frosting is light, airy and fluffy. If using, add the gel food color drop by drop until you get the desired food color, beating after each drop is added.

Using a spatula, spread the icing over the cupcakes or pipe the icing on the cupcakes.

Storage Suggestions: When stored in an airtight container or a ziplock bag, unfrosted cupcakes can be stored at room temperature for upto 2 days, in the refrigerator for upto a week or frozen for upto 2 months. Frosted cupcakes can be stored in the refrigerator for upto 3 days.

Happy Baking!!!



37 comments

  1. I'm an indian too and I had the same problem as yours and you encouraged me

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  2. Can I use oat milk as my child can't have soya ???

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    1. You can use use oat milk Marsha. However, do remember that the flavor and texture would change up to some extent.

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  3. Are you sure about self rising flour, baking soda and baking powder? Doesn't self rising flour already have rising ingredients?

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    Replies
    1. It does have. However, since we are not using eggs here, we require extra raising agents for the lift.

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  4. This recipe with a little less vanilla and cocoa powder is WAAAY better than you other vegan chocolate cupcake recipe!

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  5. This was a great recipe. Went down a treat at my local Green party meeting last night. I did two batches, first one according to the recipe and the second one with 50ml less soya milk. The second batch worked a little better maybe due to my oven. Thanks for sharing, will be making these again.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Volantra. I am glad you liked this recipe and thanks for sharing your feedback, it will help all the other readers and me :)

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  6. Just made these this evening and they were gorgeous! Will maybe use a little less vanilla extract next time in the sponge batter, but they rose beautifully and had a great texture.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Kimmi for sharing your feedback. I am glad the recipe worked for you :)

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  7. These were great! My daughter has egg and dairy allergies and I've been searching for something as good as regular cake...finally found it! Thanks!!

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    1. I am glad they worked for you :) Btw, I liked your display name :D

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  8. wow, your Egg and Dairy Free Vanilla Cupcakes recipe look so great, i will definitely give it a try this weekend. sure my friends will love it.
    do take a look at my vanilla cake recipes at http://www.eliterecipe.com/vanilla-cake-recipe-classic and tell me what you and your friends think about it.
    keep up the good work.

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  9. Looks great recipe, coukd you use Pure instead of Soya

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  10. Hi. Could I use almond milk instead of soya or rice milk?

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    Replies
    1. Hi, sorry for the delay...yes you can use almond milk.

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  11. I used coconut oil in these and they came out perfect! THANK YOU SO MUCH! for this recipe finally I have found a vegan cupcake recipe that is faultless and really you cant get any better than this you are truly AMAZING! I danced with joy after trying these! No more shitty cupcakes!

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    1. That is so good to hear! After the rigorous task of baking, photographing and preparing an entire post, it's feedback like this that uplift's a blogger's spirit! Thank you are you are welcome :)

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  12. Hi! Thank you so much for the effort you went to - I followed this recipe to the letter and the cupcakes turned out so well! The only change I made was to bake the cupcakes at a slightly lower temperature. I wanted to know whether I could try this recipe with self raising gluten free flour and whether it would work? And do you know whether I could bake it as a cake instead of cupcakes? Thanks so much!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Nicky! I am glad that the recipe worked for you. This recipe should work with a gluten free flour, though please remember that there might be difference in texture of the cupcakes. You most certainly can use this recipe for a cake.

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  13. Can I Use butter to replace oil?

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    Replies
    1. Yes you can Kelly. I would advise to melt the butter and use it once it is at room temperature.

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  14. This is literally the best recipe !!. I was panicking as I had a cake order where the customer requested no eggs and I was freaking out. For about 4 days now I've been searching for an egg free recipe and I found this one. Others that I did looked more like scones. These cupcakes came out so nice and fluffy. I used melted butter as opposed to oil and I used regular cows milk as I just needed it to be egg free.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Muadia! I agree...finding an eggless recipe for a vanilla sponge over the net is very difficult. Even the ones that I had found before this recipe, never worked. I am pleased that this recipe worked for you, keep baking and sharing :)

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  15. How much butter do you use instead of oil as i just need to make it egg free cupcake thank you Joan x

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    Replies
    1. The same measurement as the oil, use melted butter at room temperature.

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  16. Thank you for the recipe. It is absolutely delicious! I put less sugar than on the recipe but it was still great :)

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  17. I have made these twice now, once with chocolate soya milk and once with vanilla soya milk (to which I added 3 fresh blueberries). They were completely delicious. I have tried a lot of recipes but this one is not only edible but we haven't missed the egg in the cake at all. The only thing I have reduced in the recipe is the sugar, we also do not use white sugar, so i stuck my brown organic sugar in the coffee grinder which made much lighter cakes. I am going to stick with making other types of cake now. I might try using strawberry soya milk next time! You have made one 9 year old very happy, thanks so much for sharing such a great recipe.

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  18. Hi, I would like to make these for my nephew. However I dont think we have self raising flour in Norway. I would use normal wheat flour. How should I alter the recipe? Also, can I use dairy free butter for the icing instead of soya spread? Thanks :)

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    Replies
    1. I am so sorry Synnove to have not replied earlier. I was in the process of moving to a new home and that took a toll on everything. Coming to your question....you may use regular flour instead, use 1 teaspoon of baking powder instead of 3/4 tsp. You can use dairy free butter for the icing. Sorry once again.

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  19. Can I cook this as a six inch cake? If so how long should I bake it and would it take being covered in fondant icing ?

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    Replies
    1. Sorry for the delay....of course you can cook it as a six inch cake. Baking time would depend on your oven but roughly should take about 15 to 20 mins, start checking after 15 mins. I don't see a problem if you cover it in fondant.

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  20. Hi,

    Where can I find soya spread? Which brand? I live in Mumbai.

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