Let me just say, I'm a vanilla girl. Don't get me wrong, chocolate is great! But when I had to give up gluten & dairy I really just missed good old vanilla cupcakes. I tried a lot of recipes but they were too dry or too grainy or too plain or too... well, gross. So I got to work! It took me awhile to perfect but I'm SO proud of this recipe and I really think you'll love it. So far I've gotten great feedback from my "taste testers" (most of whom aren't gluten free OR vegan). Enjoy!

Some vegan recipes are a bit complex, or use a few too many ingredients for more liking. I wanted to see what would happen if I paired a chocolate cake recipe down to almost nothing. Result- a really nice sponge cake made without specialist ingredients and easy for a baking beginner. for my party piece I scribble the recipe down on a paper napkin to share with others.

We had a potluck at work on Friday and I wanted to impress. I knew I wanted to work with pumpkin but I wasn’t sure what to bake! After much research I decided on Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes with a Spiced “Cream Cheese” Frosting. I tested the cakes a few days before using whole wheat flour… My cupcakes turned into MUFFINS! Oh no! Good thing I had enough regular flour to bake with. When I baked the dozen for work I was so proud. My cakes rose! (Something that is very hard for vegan treats to do). The cream cheese frosting was a tad difficult for me, iI ended up using what felt like a ton of powdered sugar to help it set, but it turned out perfect. Ready to celebrate the holidays?

This was my first foray into vegan cupcake-baking, and, according to the reviews of all of my friends who tried the finished product, they are more moist and delightfully sweet than any egg-and-milk-filled competitor. This cupcake is a throwback to every one's favorite childhood (or adult!) combination of bananas topped with chocolate and peanut butter. And while there may be several steps, there are several substitutions along the way that make it easy to adapt for the cook on the go!

These nutrient dense cuppies are quick and easy to make! You don't need an oven to do these, only a food processor and a fridge. They contain exciting super foods that work wonders for you body! Eat them without guilt.

My love for chocolate, bananas and island vacations were the inspiration for this fabulous recipe. I threw in all my favorites to create a piece of holiday vacation in a decadent little tin that stands alone like an island. Moist cupcake with solid chocolate pieces, filled with the richest pudding filling I've ever experienced, covered with sweetness of fruit cream frosting and topped with crunchy chips to give everyone a little bit of what they secretly want!

This moist, rich cake showcases how olive oil can make a great combination of sweet and savory when it's paired with fresh rosemary. Early on in the design of this cake recipe I was really liking where this cake was going but I knew I cold take it further. I remembered how olive oil tends to go seamlessly with pasta dishes so why not use the same type of flour for an olive oil cake?

This vegan Plum Cake recipe is based on a traditional pflaumenkuchen, or German plum cake. I broke with tradition a little and enhanced the plums with a spash of rum and a dusting of sugar and cinnamon. I wanted the intense fruit flavors to be well balanced by a flavorful cake so I used the power of yeasted cake to add flavor depth in the cake department. Yeasted cake also has the benefit of utilizing gluten bonds for binding which frees us from needing to use any fancy egg replacers. I purposely designed this cake to be on the dense side because I felt that it helped to showcase the plums.The result is a fruit forward plum topping baked into a cake that can hold it's own. Black plums are preferred due to their high level of sweetness. Feel free to make this cake using any combination of other stone fruits you may have on hand.

This Vanilla Cupcake recipe makes light and airy vegan cupcakes that have a soft, tender crumb due to the addition of arrowroot flour as well as apple cider vinegar. Vanilla extract and a touch of almond extract tie it all together. These cupcakes utilize the quick bread method which involves mixing your dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls, then mixing them both together at the end. This is a really easy way to make great cakes that have tender and spongy qualities. The drawback of this style is you have to be careful if you adjust the amount of sugar; more sugar will tenderize the batter, negatively affecting rise. These cupcakes are a little under sweet for my taste but if you're going for an elaborate frosting job no one will notice. If you increase the sugar in this quick bread method by even 1 Tablespoon, the cupcakes won't rise enough so it's not recommended. Use these cupcakes as a base for other flavor variations by switching out some of the flour and/or flavoring extracts. If you're looking for a cupcake that's a little bit more sweet and full flavored check out the Vanilla Cupcakes - Cream Method.

This Vanilla Cupcake recipe makes soft vegan cupcakes that utilize the cream method which involves beating or creaming Vegan Butter or margarine and sugar together, beating in an egg replacing liquid then mixing in the flour and remaining liquid at alternating stages. This results in a cake that has a more substantial mouth feel and less crumbs partially due to the gluten in the flour becoming more activated from the mixing. This method also provides a more substantial rise that is less inhibited by sugar than cakes made via the quick bread method. This cupcake requires more preparation and is less tender and spongy but more flavorful due to the Vegan Butter or margarine and slightly increased sugar. Use these cupcakes as a base for other flavor variations by switching out some of the flour and/or flavoring extracts. If you're looking for a cupcake that's a little bit more fluffy and less sweet check out the Vanilla Cupcakes - Quick Bread Method.

This Parsnip Cake recipe is carrot cake's long lost brother, featuring parsnips which are slightly spicy and astringent. Parsnips are teamed up with pineapple, golden raisins, non-diary yogurt and a touch of cardamom to make a vegan cake that's lighter and spicier than carrot cake but every bit as tasty. Like carrot cake, Parsnip Cake should be liberally frosted with Easy Cream Cheese Frosting or a variant thereof for best results.

Pumpkin Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts during the holidays. This recipe variation pairs pumpkin with Easy Caramel Sauce for a great way to end a feast. It also features barley malt syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon and ginger powder to help marry bold pumpkin flavor with vegan creaminess. I recommend opting for non-hydrogenated vegan cream cheese so you can avoid trans fats. This vegan cheesecake also goes great with a dollop of Vanilla Ice Cream.

New Englanders seem to get inordinately excited for Fall every year, and while they claim it’s the foliage and the seasonal Starbucks drinks, I’m pretty convinced it’s all the baking they’re suddenly inspired to do and consume.  Mass consumption of sugary, fattening, delicious baked goods isn’t an alien concept to me, even though I hail from San Francisco, the land of health food and hippies.  My heritage is largely (no pun intended) German, and if there’s any bit of culture my German-American relatives have retained, it’s their love for two things above all else: (1) beer; and (2) cakes.