Day 834 -- Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Well, I guess it's time I made it blog official:

I am adopting a vegan lifestyle.

For those of you unfamiliar with this term, be warned.  When I describe it to you I will sound more than a little crazy.

Vegan has many different definitions, but most often refers to a person who consumes no animal products.  Generally speaking, this rules out eating all meat, eggs, and dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.) and a few other obscure things that are animal-derived.

I made this decision nearly three weeks ago, after thinking about the pros and cons long and hard.  I won't bore you with them now, although I'm sure you can come up with many of the cons yourself.  Someday when I have more time and energy, I may spend some more time going over why I chose to go vegan, but today is not that day.

So far, being vegan has been an incredible journey and amazingly easier than I ever imagined it would be. I have seriously loved every day and have not felt deprived or starving one single second.  In short, I feel better, have more energy, and feel like I am doing more to help the environment than I ever have before.  The number of resources that I have found online to assist me in making this transition has been overwhelming.  One natural consequence is that I have cooked more and better than ever before and am eating tastier meals in my own kitchen than I ever thought I could.

Which leads me to tonight's post.

This afternoon I decided to give a recipe All Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes a whirl.  I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical.  So far, everything I have tried has been excellent.  But, so far  I have managed to steer completely clear of baking.  You see, baking is a whole different animal.  When you eliminate eggs, milk, and butter, well, baking looks pretty grim, indeed.

But, I went for it.  I made the batter from scratch using flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, almond milk, vegetable oil, and vinegar.  The kitchen smelled amazing as the vegan-friendly cupcakes baked; 18 minutes they came out looking darn good.

The kids and I whipped up some frosting using some fake butter, powdered sugar, and some more almost milk.

I was disproportionately excited and nervous to taste these things.  But, I shouldn't have been because

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

They were phenomenal.  These things were not only tasty, they were the BEST cupcakes I have ever eaten.  Ever.  They were moist and chocolatey and heavenly and run-on sentence-worthy.

I am so thankful to be a part of this new and exciting journey and for all the fun I am having learning the ropes!

Thank God for my vegan chocolate cupcakes!

Lord, thank you for a fun adventure.  Thank you for a success tonight in the kitchen.  In your name I pray, Amen.

Comments

David R. said…
Check out Black Metal Vegan Chef on Youtube. It's pretty swear-y and kooky, but you might get some interesting recipes, too.
April 5, 2013 at 10:52 AM
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