So, despite my prediction, I did not win the recent VegFest Cupcake contest. I came in second. Now, I could be gracious and accept that my opponent and author of the awesome It Ain’t Meat Babe blog simply bested me with her dark chocolate almond cupcake.

But of course that is crap. What actually happened was that the 0.5 point she edged me out by was somehow rigged by bloodthirsty mafiosos who have a problem with oranges. Or else it was divine intervention by God or Satan or some other jerk just to punish me for being cocky.

But a promise is a promise….So, without further ado, here is the recipe for my Orange Chiffon cupcakes with Raspberry Coulis and Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting.

By the way, I’ll be bringing mini versions to Saturday’s NCVA potluck for those who’d care to try them 🙂

CUPCAKES:

Ingredients:

1 cup thawed frozen concentrated (you know what I mean) orange juice
1/3 cup neutral oil like canola or safflower
1/3 cup raw sugar
1 cup pureed sweet potato (I always make my own but canned does exist)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup corn flour (not corn meal, not corn starch – corn flour is yellow but has the consistency of flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake pan with paper liners. Using a hand blender (or a regular blender if you are crazy and do not own a hand blender), blend the orange juice, oil, sugar, and sweet potato for about a minute. The mixture will lighten in colour. Make sure there are no lumps of potato!

Whisk the remaining dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. When you’re sure the oven is preheated, pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold together until just combined. The key to fluffy cupcakes is minimal mixing (use a rubber spatula – it helps). When you’re using baking soda (rather than powder) it’s equally important to get the cupcakes into the oven as soon as possible after the batter is mixed.

Spoon the batter, which should be very “poofy,” into the cupcake pan and bake for 20 minutes. Ovens vary, so keep an eye on them. If you see even a hint of browning, take them out sooner. These cupcakes look and taste best when they are bright orange!

Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before removing them from the pan to continue cooling on a rack.

RASPBERRY COULIS

Ingredients:
2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
pinch salt

Directions (you can do this while the cupcakes are baking):

Puree all ingredients with hand blender. If you don’t like raspberry seeds, put the mixture through a fine sieve. Otherwise, just put the whole thing in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure the mixture does not burn. Remove from heat.

COCONUT CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients:
I/2 container Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
5 cups confectioner’s sugar
pinch salt

Directions:
Beat the cream cheese and coconut oil until light and fluffy – it may take a while since the coconut oil likes to stay chunky. Stir in the sugar and salt and beat again until light and fluffy (again, it’ll take 5 minutes or so). Spoon frosting into a piping bag or whatever you use to pipe frosting.

ASSEMBLY:
When the cupcakes are no more than lukewarm and the raspberry coulis is still fairly warm, spread about a teaspoon of the latter onto each of the former. Don’t use too much – the stuff is potent!

When both cupcakes and coulis are completely cool, pipe on the icing and top each cupcake with an inverted raspberry.

Happy Baking!