Vegan chocolate / banana / caramel cupcakes
Our monthly cooking club decided to cut me (and my stomach) a break this month. The theme was “All the cheese is in the movie” aka, we’d watch an overly cheesey movie but make all the food dairy free. I enjoyed the evening and think everyone liked the challenge. I decided to make some vegan cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. It’s a great cupcake cookbook. I need to use it more often.
I’ve made the chocolate vegan cupcake recipe before (they were fierce!) so I knew that would be perfect. The cupcakes have a pretty round dome and are very moist. It’s a very good cupcake.
I also had this banana caramel sauce that was given to us as a gift. I knew I wanted to use that. Then I decided to try the chocolate banana mousse that is also in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. So I decided to make a chocolate cupcake with a slice of banana and some banana caramel sauce in the middle, topped with banana chocolate mousse and banana caramel sauce. That’s a mouthful!
The mousse is made with tofu which made me a little nervous. I’m weird about tofu. I love the Tofutti products, especially the Better than cream cheese and the Tofutti cuties. But, for some reason, working with tofu just kinda grosses me out. I think it’s the texture on my hands. I’m weird. I know. This mousse is amazing. It’s not as light and fluffy as the mousse my Mother in Law makes (which Hubby LOVES), instead it is quite dense and actually perfect for piping on top of a cupcake. It was very good and you would never have guessed it’s dairy free.
Vegan chocolate cupcakes – from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside a few minutes to get good and curdled.
Add the sugar, oil, vanilla, and almond extract to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain.
Pour into liners, filling three-quarters of the way. Put one PB cup into each cupcake. Bake 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Vegan chocolate banana mousse – from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
1 (12.3 oz) pkg extra-firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup plain soy milk
2 Tbsp agave syrup or pure maple syrup – I used 2 Tbsp sugar because I was out of maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (12 oz) pkg semisweet chocolate chips
1 very ripe banana
Crumble tofu into blender. Add milk, agave, and vanilla. Puree until smooth.
Add banana and puree until smooth. (leave this out for just chocolate mousse)
Melt chocolate in double boiler. Allow to cool 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the chocolate to the blender and blend until combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides a couple times.
Transfer mousse to airtight container or a bowl covered with plastic wrap.
Chill for an hour (or longer).
To Assemble cupcake:
12 chocolate cupcakes
chocolate banana mousse
banana caramel sauce
1 banana
After cupcakes are completely cooled, use the cone method to remove some of the cupcake.
Pipe a tiny amount of mousse into cupcake. Add a banana slice and replace “lid” of cupcake.
Pipe mousse onto top of cupcakes. Drizzle with banana caramel sauce.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
How cool! These look delicious!
This totally takes me back to childhood. We ALWAYS used fresh rhubarb from our backyard to make yummy breakfast treats!
I think I will have to make these for my parents next time they visit. They will LOVE them!
Those look amazing! I’m always on the lookout for new rhubarb recipes, the season for it is so short in Western Ma, that I tend to buy WAY too much and stick in the freezer..
I have never had rhubarb before, but these look great!
They’re so pretty – I love family recipes!
I never know what to do with Rhubard, but these looks awesome!
divine. i want one. right now. pretty please?? 🙂
I love your recipes, lactose free and awesome, I will def. have to try this. Ps. we should team up and do something lactose free together in solidarity!
Thanks everyone – seriously if you have rhubarb hanging around. Make these. You won’t regret it.
I’m a little lost. The ingredients list mentions 5 c. rhubarb (and you break it into 3 c. for the filling and 2 c. for the sauce) but I don’t see in the step-by-step instructions when/where/how the 2 c. of rhubarb are used. Please help!
Thanks!
alexandjess – thanks for catching my mistake. I added the instructions about the sauce into the post, but you make the sauce by boiling 2 cups cut rhubarb, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/3 cups water. The rhubarb for the sauce can be cut in large chunks because it all falls apart anyways.
Your sisters made the rhubarb rolls and stuffed dates yesterday for our Memorial Day cookout. They were delicious!!!! Can’t wait to have another piece tonight for desert. I have a new recipe for potato salad that is delish….let me know if you want me to pass on.
i made these tonight and they went awry for a series of reasons that were my fault and won’t go all into…. one thing i did though was use half rhubarb and half strawberries, which sounded delish but i didn’t cut the sugar enough and i think that also made things more watery. my question though, is whether by ‘shortening’ you specifically mean something like crisco or whether you just mean butter or margarine or anything like that. i used butter and didn’t see how i could get away with a little ‘stirring’ before rolling. i tried to cut it in with a pastry blender, but in the end maybe that was too much action for the dough as it seemed a little gummy after cooking….
i’d appreciate any advice!
natasha – I use Crisco for the dough. I think that’s what my dad always uses as well. Hopefully that is what caused the gumminess. Sorry they didn’t turn out for you.
My family has been making these for years. I have used butter or margarine to cut into the flour mixture for the dough and have never had a problem. I always roll my dough out into a rectangle and when I cut the rolls they NEVER look as neat as the ones you have pictured! I have added strawberries but only in the sauce. My mom liked to add red food coloring to make it look more rosy. We bake for 20 minutes before pouring on the sauce and then another 20 minutes. I have to make it every spring in honor of my mom.
my grandma recipe calls thesr soringtime rollypoly, and can ad what ever frozen berries you have , frozen is the least messy
sorry thats springtime rollypolly