29. Quick Yellow Cake

I was going to make myself a blueberry peach pie and found husband had eaten all the peaches. Avoiding a trip to the store, I took a survey of what I had in my baking cupboard and got to work on cupcakes.

This recipe comes from 'Instructions & Recipes for your KitchenAid Stand Mixer'. I altered it, because I do that. This is dairy free! Just the way I need it.

For dairy free cake batter you'll need flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, shortening, almond milk*, vanilla and eggs.

*As a side note on the almond milk, you could also try soy or coconut if you wanted. I have found soy milk makes cakes a little more dense than I like, and I've yet to try coconut milk.

This is a fabulous one bowl recipe, so throw it all in and mix it up. I lined my muffin tin and plopped a good 1/3 cup of batter in to each. Makes for HUGE cupcakes. Yum.

Pop in to an oven preaheated to 350 degrees and pull out your new flowery oven mitts. Oh, that might just be me. Couldn't pass them up at Ross though. $4 for the pair!

20 minutes in the oven and they should be about done. Just test them with a tooth pick and make sure it come out clean.

Place on to a cooling rack and make sure they're completely cooled before frosting. The frosting will become warm, start separating and look like a disgusting mess.

Is frosting supposed to be the fun part? I found this rather annoying. Probably because my little sandwhich bag I was piping frosting through burst and made a bit of a mess. I smeared it on with a knife. guess it's time for a pastry bag.

And it's time to eat! I think they're beautiful. They are so light and fluffy, the frosting is rich and just chocolatey enough. Check back for the frosting recipe tomorrow!

Quick Yellow Cake

adapted from 'Instructions & Recipes for your KitchenAid Stand Mixer'

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in your mixing bowl and give it a stir. Add shortening, almond milk and vanilla. Mix on low for about 1 minute, stop to scrape the bowl and add eggs. Mix on low for about 30 seconds to incorporate the eggs, stop to scrape the bowl then mix on a medium-high speed for about 1 minute.

Add 1/3 cup of batter to each cupcake paper and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Check with a toothpick to ensure they come out clean. Don't over bake or your cupcakes will be dry.

Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.