Paging through one of the first Christmas-oriented baking catalogs a month ago, I found one recipe in particular that held my interest. Upon first reading the name and skimming through the list of ingredients, I thought to myself, “Could they have made it any more un-vegan? This is one of those things that I don’t think could ever successfully be veganized.”
So I continued looking through the pages of useless cooking contraptions and increasingly repulsive recipes with this thought hanging in the back of my head. Reaching the back cover at last, I returned to this egg nog tea cake recipe (Eggs! Milk! Butter! The only thing that would have made it less vegan-friendly would have been bacon, perhaps!) and took a closer look. Why should this be any different from the other recipes I’ve converted in the past? It became a challenge I simply couldn’t turn down, so I took the bull by the horns and went for it.
My first change was in the final form it would take. I knew immediately that cupcakes would receive a much warmer welcome than some ugly, multiple serving loaf cake. Everyone deserves their own personal cake in the season of indulgence anyways, aside from the popularity of cupcakes in general. Making this conversion from an approximate total of two loaves yielded a copious amount of sweet cuppers; Exactly two dozen were to emerge from my oven from this one batch.
By no means is this recipe diet-friendly… But what good would anything egg nog be if it were ‘light’? I understand that it may appear to contain disturbing amounts of margarine and such, but just remember how many cupcakes this makes! It’s not so bad spread out, unless you find it hard to stop at one…
Not-Nog Cupcakes
Paging through a Christmas-oriented baking catalog during the holiday season, I found one recipe in particular that held my interest: eggnog bread. As I scanned the ingredients, it occurred to me how incredibly non-vegan this concoction was. The dense loaf was saturated with eggs, milk, butter, and of course eggnog. Converting this into an unlikely vegan variant was a challenge I simply could not turn down! A few failed batches later, the original quick bread was converted into cupcakes, and my kitchen was filled with a veritable army of lightly spiced, sweet holiday gifts. The resulting recipe was made to bring to a large holiday party, so it does make a whole lot of little cakes, but I am sure you won't have any difficulty finishing them off!
Ingredients
Nog Cupcakes:
- 1 1/2 Cups Vegan Butter
- 2 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 3/4 Cup Vanilla Vegan Yogurt
- 1 Tablespoon Flax Seeds
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- 3 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 1/2 Cups Vegan Eggnog
Caramel Topping:
- 2 Tablespoons Vegan Butter
- 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup or Agave Nectar
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Rum (Any Variety)
To Garnish:
- 1/2 - 1 Cup Sliced Almonds
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and line two dozen muffin tins with cupcake papers.
- In your stand mixer, cream the vegan butter with the sugar, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt. Add the yogurt and beat thoroughly.
- While the mixer churns, grind the flax seeds into a powder with a spice grinder, and whiz them together with the water. Introduce the flax mixture into the main bowl and stir to combine. The batter will probably be fairly lumpy at this point, but as long as you do not have any obscenely large clumps of solid margarine, it should be fine.
- In a separate vessel, combine your flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Slowly add these dry ingredients to the contents of the bowl waiting in your stand mixer, alternating with the eggnog until both are used up. Fully incorporate each addition, but be careful not to over mix.
- Pour the resulting batter into your prepared cupcake liners about ⅔to ¾ of the way full, and bake for 20 to 22 minutes. The cupcakes should not appear browned; so keep a close eye on them. They will be done when a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean.
- To make the topping, set a saucepan over medium-low heat. Melt the vegan butter with the brown sugar, corn syrup or agave, and salt, stirring until everything is dissolved and no longer grainy. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove your pan from the heat and add in the rum, stirring thoroughly. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes before spooning a dollop on top of each cupcake.
- Top with sliced almonds to cover as desired. The topping will continue to thicken and firm up slightly as it cools, but it should still remain soft.
- Serve within 24 hours, or the topping may begin to soak into the cake. It will still be delicious, just a little funny looking!
Notes
Recipe updated and printed in Sweet Vegan Treats by Hannah Kaminsky.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 351Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 199mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 1gSugar: 32gProtein: 4g
All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on BitterSweetBlog.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimations.