Cupcakes are a favorite for many. However, most people think that a vegan lemon cupcake is high in calorie. This is not true. I will share with you a low-calorie vegan lemon cupcake recipe that you can indulge in without feeling guilty.
The Ingredients
- ¾-cup non-dairy milk
- 1-tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 flax egg (optional)
- 2-cups oat flour
- ½-cup rice flour
- ¾-cup organic sugar (or use maple syrup)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- A pinch of salt
- ¼-cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (or any vegetable oil you prefer)
- Grated lemon rind
- Thinly sliced lemons for garnishing
Note
You can use all-purpose wheat flour for this recipe, but I promised you a healthier version, right? Oats flour does not bind well on its own, so you have to mix with rice flour. If you can’t find rice flour in your local store, you can make yours at home. It’s easy. Just soak some rice grains overnight and grind them in your usual grinder (or even a coffee grinder) in the morning to a floury consistency.
Alternatively, if this is too much work for you, just mix the oats flour with all-purpose wheat flour in the same proportions. However, if you don’t have a problem with cupcakes falling apart, go ahead and use pure oats flour. Just remember to purchase the gluten-free version.
The flax egg helps to bind the flour further and creates a spongy effect. We use flax eggs to replace chicken eggs in our vegan recipes. You can make them at home or buy them from your local store.
Vegetable oil is our vegan replacement for butter. Several non-vegan cake recipes prefer vegetable oil too instead of butter. This is because oil makes them light and fluffy while butter tends to make cakes dense. So that’s a win-win for our vegan lemon cupcake recipe.
The Procedure
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a stand mixture, sift in all the dry ingredients and mix well. Now add all the wet ingredients and whip on medium speed for just a minute or two. Avoid over-whipping at this stage, or else your vegan lemon cupcake will be gooey.
Scope the mixture in lined cupcake pans and bake for 10-15 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Let them cool before your garnish with lemon slices and serve.
An Interesting Twist before Serving
Another twist to these vegan lemon cupcakes is adding lemon curd.
To make lemon curd, boil 1-cup lemon juice, 1 lemon rind, a pinch of salt and ¼-cup sugar in a heavy bottom pan. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with a tablespoon of non-dairy milk. This is the thickening agent. Whisk until the mixture thickens.
If it’s too thin, you can add more cornstarch. If it’s too thick, add more milk. But remember the mixture thickens further once it cools.
Now add 2 tablespoons of vegan butter and stir to dissolve. Sieve the mixture into your storage jar and let it cool. You should have a stable cud consistency once it’s cooled and you can pipe it onto the vegan lemon cupcakes before serving.