Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

So, it’s the Year 3 cake sale day at school today and even if I wasn’t very keen on baking, it would be important to provide some cupcakes that my girls can safely buy and eat. Big S’s friends seem rather keen on the combination of chocolate and mint so here’s the recipe for basic chocolate cupcakes topped with mint butter-less cream. The problem was that when we dropped them off at school the whole place smelt of cows (manure on the fields i think!) so I am hoping they’re not chocolate and mint flavour with a top-note of ‘eau de vache’!

Basic Chocolate Cupcakes (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, peanut-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 18 cupcakes

• 350g self-raising flour
• 200g caster sugar
• 50g cocoa powder
• 200ml sunflower oil
• 300ml oat milk
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• optional: 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

– Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade/Gas Mark 5

– Mix together the oat milk, lemon juice, vanilla and oil. Set aside.

– In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Stir in the sugar.

– Add the bicarb to the wet ingredients and stir.

– Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix to thoroughly combine.

– 2/3 rds fill the cupcake cases and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

– Cool on a wire rack.

– Ice with this mint frosting…..

Mint Frosting/Mint Butter-less Cream (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, soya-free, peanut-free, vegetarian and vegan)

(enough for a batch of cupcakes)

• 1/4 cup vegetable fat, such as Trex
• 3/4 cup dairy-free spread, such as Pure
• 3 cups sifted icing sugar
• 1/3 cup oat milk
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 1 tsp green food colouring (optional)

– Whisk together the fat and spread until fluffy and well-combined.

– Add the icing sugar in 1/2 cup measures along with a splash of oat milk each time.

– Once it’s all combined, whisk in the peppermint extract and green food colouring.