Molly had a really bad reaction to some sweets recently so I was trying to combine a nice treat with a cupcake. Vegan Orange Candy Cupcakes were born.
Candied peel, cooked nearly to burning added into a rich chocolate cupcake batter. Honestly it’s wonderful…dark…moist with a hit of orange. The candied peel gives a nice crunch as well as a flavour kick for these Vegan Orange Candy Cupcakes.
Free From: Dairy, Soya, Nut, Egg
Contains: Gluten, Citrus
Line your muffin tin so it’s ready to go!
Orange Candy Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 Orange You will use the juice and the peel
- 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 1/2 Cups Self Raising Flour
- 1 Cup Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/3 Cup Cocoa
- 2 tsp Orange Blossom Water or Orange Extract
- 1 tsp Cider Vinegar
- 6 tbsp Melted Non-Dairy Margarine
- 1 Cup (it will be a bit less because of the orange juice) Non-Dairy Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C, 340°C
- First, make the candied peel. Take one medium-sized orange and juice it.
- 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 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 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.
- Now make the batter for the cupcakes. In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, and soda together.
- Melt the margarine (microwave for 30 seconds or so does this nicely).
- Pour the juice from one orange into a one cup measuring cup and top it up with non-dairy milk.
- Add the cider vinegar, the melted margarine and the milk/juice mixture and the orange extract.
- Mix to combine. Stir in the peel.
- 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.
- We've left these plain so you can see the candied peel glistening through the cake, but you could top them with orange and chocolate-flavoured buttercream if you prefer!
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!
https://www.allergymums.co.uk/articles/Vegan-Buttercream-Frosting-Dairy-Free
Here’s the standard buttercream recipe – just add 1/4 cup cocoa, and 1 tsp Orange extract.
