Because my friend Laura is getting a new island for her kitchen (yes, that is the bitter, coppery taste of jealousy, darn her!), she no longer needs her rolling butcher block counter. In her infinite generosity, she has bequeathed (the “handed down” meaning, not the “left in her will” meaning) it to me! WOOHOO! I now have two rolling countertops for my kitchen! I can roll them into new and interesting configurations every few days! Chris and I can have races!
Of course, this means we’re eating standing up at the moment, but it’s only temporary. We’re hitting up garage sales this weekend for stools of an appropriate height. We were also able to return the kitchen table and chairs we borrowed from Grandma & Grandpa E., oh, about 7 years ago, so thanks, Grandma & Grandpa!
In order to express my gratitude, I of course decided to make cupcakes. When I first bought Vegan with a Vengeance back in October ’08, I was entranced and intimidated by the ”Fauxstess Cupcakes,” Isa’s veganized version of the snack food I’ve always associated with what Dad and I called “gas station breakfasts” when I was a kid (usually enjoyed on the way to or from a camping trip or some other early-morning activity). I never quite recovered from the revelation that the originals had beef fat in them. I mean, really? Is that necessary? Well, I’m here to tell you it is not. After nine months of honing my baking skills (and the purchase of an accurate oven thermometer), I screwed up my courage and set to makin’ cupcakes!
Now, don’t get me wrong; these cupcakes take some doing. There are no less than three types of icing involved: the fluffy white filling, the chocolate ganache, and the white squiggles. That alone was time-consuming, but every moment I spent in my inferno of a kitchen was totally worth it. I followed the recipe very closely since it was so complicated. The only substitution I made was Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder for “black” because it was the darkest I could find, and the color and taste turned out beautifully. I also don’t have a hand mixer (another garage sale hope!), so Chris and I took turns whipping the fluffy icing, and it turned out every well.
I didn’t take pictures because they weren’t quite as pretty as I had hoped (my squiggles need practice, and my ganache should be smoother), so I’ve included an old picture of Isa’s for the same cupcakes.
Laura’s husband Jonathan can’t eat chocolate (is there really any point in living?, I ask you), so I whipped up a batch of jelly donut cupcakes from the Veganomicon for him. And when I say “whipped up,” that only refers to the fact that they took me approximately a third of the time the others did. Regardless, they were both pleased with this demonstration of my gratitude.
