Written for Oppo Brothers
These vegan-friendly cupcakes are deliciously lemony, making them a perfect summer afternoon treat. Eat quickly before the ice cream melts!
Makes 12 cupcakes (and plenty of meringue for decorating)
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup almond milk (you can substitute this for any milk alternative)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Zest of 1 lemon
For the meringues:
• 120 ml aquafaba (chickpea water), chilled overnight in the fridge
• ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 125 g granulated sugar
Method:
Start by making the meringues. Preheat the oven to 100C and line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper.
Remove your chickpea water from the fridge before adding to a large bowl with the vinegar. Use an electric whisk to whip until it turns white and fluffy. You should be able to tilt the bowl sideways and the mixture will stay in place.
Next, gradually add the sugar in small amounts, whipping in-between. Continue this until all the sugar has been used and the mixture is glossy.
Use a piping bag to squeeze small blobs of the mixture onto the trays and quickly pull away after each blob.
When finished, place in the oven for 75 minutes. Once time is up, turn off the oven and leave inside for another hour before removing.
Allow to cool completely before using them as decoration for the cupcakes.
Now, we need to make cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with cases and preheat the oven to 180C.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
In a different bowl, add the vegetable oil, almond milk, granulated sugar, lemon juice and zest before using an electric whisk to combine.
Now pour this into the dry ingredients and use a low setting on the electric whisk to mix. You only need to do this for about 20 seconds or so, otherwise you’ll overwork it.
Spoon the mixture into the cases until they are about 3/4 full and place in the oven for 20 minutes.
Once the 20 minutes are up, use a skewer to check if they’re cooked. Simply poke into one of the cupcakes and if it comes out clean, you’re good to go!
Remove and allow to cool for an hour before decorating. Go crazy and let your imagination run wild, but make sure you serve with a huge scoop of Simply the Zest plant-based ice cream.