My Favorite Christmas Gift 2007: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

I have been a vegetarian for years, but I have always had trouble trying to be a vegan because it is so difficult to give up certain food products used in baking ... mainly eggs and milk. But after baking come of the recipes that Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World contain, I can see how people can be vegan. This cookbook contains dozens of recipes that are even better than dairy-containing cupcakes. I am not quite sure how they do it, but the authors of this book have compiled recipes that make my mouth water, including but not limited to: chai latte cupcake, green tea cupcake, banana split cupcake, Brooklyn vs Boston creme pie cupcakes, apple cider cupcakes, and s'mores cupcakes.

Currently in my oven are twelve delicious chai latte cupcakes. I have ten minutes to go before they finish baking, and then the cooling process before I add the delicious vegan fluffy butter creme icing. My house smells like a Starbucks chai latte. So for avid chai drinkers this is definitely the cupcake for you. For those of you who do not know how delicious chai is, let me explain. Chai is a black tea that has essence of Cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves. These cupcakes include those spices and other ingredients which make them vegan.

From what I can gather from looking at these recipes for hours, milk is replaced by plain or vanilla soy yogurt, and soy milk. And eggs seem to be replaced by canola oil. Other than that these recipes do not include anything that should be too hard to find in the average kitchen. Some recipes contain applesauce, flavored extracts, baking powder, and baking soda. Although the authors do jokingly remark that any baking soda will do but they prefer to use the one that isn't used to absorb odors from your refrigerator.

Vegan cupcakes appear to cost just as much as non vegan cupcakes, however they decrease dairy allergens and the fat content may be slightly decreased... (although the cookbook does not contain any nutritional information, I believe you would be saving some fat found in whole milk and egg yolks). They are definitely worth a try. If you have a diabetic in your family, instead of using splenda, there is a recipe that replaces sugar with a simple light agave syrup that has less sugar but does not sacrifice any taste. And if you are a gluten-free family, there are a few vanilla gluten "freedom" and chocolate gluten "freedom" recipes.

I recommend any vegetarian or omnivore to try these, because trust me you will be surprised by how tasty these little dairy-free cupcakes can be. My boyfriend is currently picking at the chai latte cupcakes that just came out of the oven, and from his face I can tell he is surprised that they taste so good. So being a good girl payed off this year, Santa brought me what I can honestly say was the best present of 2007.