Vegan Orange Candy Cupcakes

Directions

Step 1

First make the candied peel. Take one medium sized orange and juice it

Step 2

leave the juice to one side. Now peel it or grab another orange if it’s too fiddly to deal with the slightly squash orange you have left and peel it. Cut the peel into stripes about 3 mm wide. Then cut them again to about 1 mm long. You can make them bigger or smaller if you prefer. This is just what I did. Boil the peel for 30 minutes on a medium heat and then put aside to dry. Put them in a small non-stick frying pan with 1/3rd cup brown sugar and cook on a medium heat for about 7 minutes. Stir as you go – the sugar will first melt, and then bubble. It will turn a very dark brown colour – take it off the heat and spread it on some parchment to dry. It should go rock hard. If it doesn’t, pop it back in the frying pan for another minute or two. Once the peel is cool it should be very hard. Pop it into a clear plastic bag and bag it with a mallet or rolling pin to break it up into small pieces.

Step 3

Now make the batter for the cupcakes.In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, and soda together

Step 4

Melt the margarine (microwave for 30 seconds or so does this nicely)

Step 5

Pour the juice from one orange into a one cup measuring cup…and top up with non-dairy milk

Step 6

Add the cider vinegar, the melted margarine and the milk/juice mixture and the orange extract

Step 7

Mix to combine.Stir in the peel.

Step 8

Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then finish cooling on a wire rack.

Step 9

We’ve left these plain so you can see the candied peel glistening through the cake, but you could top with orange and chocolate flavoured buttercream if you prefer!