Lemon polenta cupcake with blueberries

The last three months have been pretty uninspired in the kitchen.

It seems that Stevie took up and left with his bags and my zest for most things.

I was quite happy to put it all on hold until we were together again, but four weeks turned into eight, and now it's been almost twelve...

While I have been eating well, (although admittedly it's not quite the same eating by yourself), I have taken strike action regarding baking...

It was one part protest and one part self preservation...

However yesterday, finally feeling defeated by this separation, but buoyed by the relief of surrendering to what is, I decided to bake.

I completely winged the recipe, but I think they turned out really well. Lemon, polenta and blueberries make very good friends :)

I've already eaten three, see what I mean about self preservation!?

One of those was eaten at about 5 this morning, as I watched the Italy vs Spain game - good, (if early breakfast), bad game :(

I'm freezing the rest for future snacking, (never tried this before).

Makes about 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 Tbs applesauce

1 1/2 Tbs oil (I used canola)

1/2 cup raw sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup rice milk

1 cup polenta

1/2 cup spelt flour (any flour would be fine)

1 tsp baking soda

Zest & juice of 2 lemons

1 1/2 cups blueberries (I used frozen)

Method

1.Mix applesauce and oil in a large mixing bowl until well combined.

2.Add sugar and mix, adding a little bit at a time.

3.Add vanilla essence and rice milk, mixing well.

4.Slowly add the polenta, flour and baking soda, combining well, before adding more.

5.Mix in the juice and zest, till a nice smooth batter is created.

6.Coat the blueberries with a handful of extra flour, and stir them into the batter.

7.Fill a cake tin or cupcake liners with the batter and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C/395F for about 18 minutes.

Lime & Coconut Birthday Cupcakes

As you can see, I was very excited to get "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World", as a birthday gift..As soon as I lay eyes on the recipe for these cakes, I wanted to make (eat) them..

So, party cupcakes they were..

There was some recipe tweaking of course.

More lime juice, some lime pulp, more coconut cream, and some other little things here and there..

They were D*E*L*I*C*I*O*U*S :D

Carrot-Pineapple-Coconut-Macadamia Nut Cupcakes

What happened to the cupcake girl?

It seems when I do bake cupcakes these days, rare as it is, I fall back, on this familiar favourite.

From my adaptation of Isa Chandra's carrot-coconut-ginger-macadamia nut cake recipe, from VWaV..

Non vegans & vegans alike seem to love these..

I ate three the day I baked them!

Carrot, coconut, pineapple & macadamia nut cupcakes

Every good vegan loves "VWaV"..
I really, really want to love it.. I try hard.. and although I like a lot of the recipes in it.. I'm not smitten..
But, there is always at least one exception to any rule..
And for me, these are it..

These cupcakes make me overlook my overall VWaV noncholance, and testify to it's fabulousness..
I swear I would buy the cookbook, just for this recipe :D

Every vegan and non alike, I feed these too.. comes back for another, and another.. and finally the recipe..
My sister-in-law to be, had heard about them, because my brother had been pestering her to make them..
He was in town for a few days, so I made a batch, and gave him a box to take home to share with his finance.

I swear the addition of pineapple, takes these above and beyond..
They are just little parcels of tropical goodness! :D

So make these- and try adding the pineapple chunks..
[Fresh would be nice.. but usually I just use a whole tin of chopped pineapple.. ]
And tell me these aren't some of the best little cupcakes you've eaten :D

St Pats Naked Irish Oatmeal Cupcakes

If you squint your eyes, and look really, really carefully, you can see I'm Irish..
Some of my great(etc+) grandparents came to Australia from Ireland, 211 years ago.
There could also be green blood, a wee bit closer, somewhere in there, but that's not yet known..
My husband says he's Irish American- so far it seems to me, we're probably similarly nano-decimal-Irish.. but then, he does have a cool Irish name.



When we were in Portland, OR, last october, I had many delicious slices of Irish Oatmeal cake (vegan), from New Seasons [truly the friendliest store around!]..
It came close to being my favourite cake -ever..
So, being St Pats day and all, I decided to try to make my own version.

I found this recipe, and veganised it, subbing:
1/2 canola oil for the butter (oops, it should have been 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup granulated evaporated cane juice - instead of white sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup - instead of brown sugar
2Tbs ground flax seed, mixed with 2Tbs water - instead of 2 eggs
1 1/3 wholemeal flour - instead of white

I also added:
1/2 cup of applesauce, along with the oil
1/2tsp baking soda, along with the baking powder
Omitted the salt
1/2 cup rolled oats, just before spooning into liners

I didn't make the topping, because I was unsure of a condensed milk sub, and anyway, I was planning on doing a vanilla buttercream frosting..
Which I tried, but it was just too rich and sweet for my liking.
So, naked they stayed.

While these were yummy, they didn't touch on the bring-you-to-your-knees-delicious-ness of the Portland cake.
Gotta keep on trying :)