Chocolate Cupcakes (eggless)

This is a really easy recipe for delicious, moist and fluffy cupcakes. It uses neither butter or eggs and is quick to make.

I've made it a few times now over the last year, but first time blogging the recipe. It is not overly sweet (until you top it with an enormous calorific mountain of chocolate buttercream) ! It's become my first choice recipe for chocolate cupcakes.

Martha Stewart's chocolate cupcake recipe is great too - but makes a massive batch of approx 24, whereas this recipe makes me a perfect 10 (quantity - unfortunately not dress size) and is very easy to scale up or down.

The original recipe was vegan, from the book VEGAN CUPCAKES TAKE OVER THE WORLD and can be found here. Talking of which, I've just ordered a copy :-)

Incase you are wondering where those seriously cute chocolate buttons came from, it's a new mould to our collection. This particular silicone mould is my own design and is now available online. Makes super cupcake toppers - or wonderful buttons simply to munch. They also look awesome packaged as a gift ..... if you can bear to give them away !

There are three sizes of buttons in the mould and 18 cells (six of each size). With the larger cells, you cna use a teaspoon to put the chocolate in the cell - but a piping bag (or food bag) with the tiniest snip out of the corner is needed to fill the tiny baby button cells. The big cells are similar to a coat button and the smallest, baby buttons or shirt buttons.

RECIPE - Adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World

1 cup of milk

1 tsp cider vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup plain flour

2 tbsp cornflour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

good pinch of salt

Heat oven to 170deg C fan / 180deg C normal / 350deg F

Prepare your muffin mould or tin with paper cases

Put the vinegar into the milk and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. If really cold milk, it won't curdle straight away - so I zap it in the microwave for a few seconds.

Whisk the milk, other wet ingredients and sugar together.

Stir in dry ingredients and whisk until smooth (the odd small lump is ok).

Transfer into a jug and pour into paper cases to 3/4 fill. I found 10 was perfect - left some space at the top below the wrapper rim for frosting base. If you want your cupcakes a little higher (less buttercream), just make 9 instead

See Chocolate Mud Cake blog entry for the frosting recipe

Enjoy ! (PS - you're fighting Oliver for the beaters. I don't rate your chances !!!)

Oliver's quote of the day : "Mummy - don't forget the bit out the concrete mixer is mine!"

Concrete mixer being the beater from my gorgeous red Kitchenaid..... This is so NOT concrete !

Sarah-Jane Nash, August 2011 - www.siliconemoulds.com