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sunflower cupcakes
thehamptonsvegan

Summer Sunflower Cupcakes

Chocolate vegan cupcakes decorated with vegan buttercream frosting piped like a sunflower for your summer dessert table. Blooming beauties!
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Course: Dessert, Snack
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

cupcakes
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar organic
  • 1 cup vegan mayo
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup cold water
Frosting
  • 1/2 cup vegan shortening I use Spectrum or Nutiva
  • 3 - 3 3/4 cups vegan powdered sugar any organic powdered sugar is vegan
  • 1 - 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 - 6 tablespoons soymilk or other non-dairy milk
  • yellow food coloring like Watkins all vegetable food color or use a pinch of turmeric
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (to represent seeds in the center) like enjoy life chocolate chips

Method
 

CUPCAKE DIRECTIONS
  1. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a small bowl mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a large bowl beat together sugar, mayo, and vanilla.
  4. Beat the flour mixture into the wet mixture in thirds, alternating with the water until blended.
  5. Divide the batter evenly among cupcake tins.
  6. Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 3 minutes in tin on a wire rack. Then remove the cupcakes from the tin and finish cooling them completely on a wire rack.
FROSTING DIRECTIONS
  1. Cream shortening in a large bowl.
  2. Add sugar and beat well.
  3. Add vanilla.
  4. Add milk a little at a time, beating well until desired consistency.
  5. If necessary, add a little more milk if too thick or a little more powdered sugar if too thin.
SUNFLOWER DESIGN DIRECTIONS
  1. To create a sunflower design you will need a piping bag or decorating press with a petal tip. See the image in the notes.
  2. Lightly frost each cupcake with a thin layer of frosting.
  3. In the center of each cupcake score a circle with a toothpick or knife point about the size of a quarter or a little smaller to use as a guide.
  4. Mix in yellow food color to the rest of the frosting to achieve the desired shade.
  5. Spoon frosting into a piping bag or decorator press with a petal tip
  6. Starting at the outside circle, squeeze out a petal all the way to the edge of a cupcake. Continue this all the way around the circle.
  7. Now put another layer of petals on top of the first layer and end just a little shorter from the edge of the cupcake so some of the first layer still shows.
  8. When two layers are completely around the cupcake, fill the middle section with the mini chocolate chips to represent the seeds.

Notes

frosting tips to create sunflowers

tips for frosting sunflower cupcakes