Holiday Flavors & Baking for BARCS!

I can't imagine living in a place without all four seasons (although maybe I should amend that statement...wtf 70 degree days in December?!). Yes, I complain about being cold during the winter, but I love snow. And although I can't remember the last time I experienced a truly white Christmas, with lights sparkling in at least a couple inches of snow, it is one of the things I associate with the holidays in my head. Snow, Christmas lights, and peppermint. 

The peppermint part is a little weird since I don't really like it any other time of the year. But in December it just clicks and I want to eat it. I've had visions of the perfect peppermint/chocolate/white chocolate cupcake dancing in my head for a few years, but for some reason its never come to fruition until now. Just in time, and for a good cause!
 
I recently started volunteering at BARCS, the Baltimore City animal shelter. It's great, and hard, and wonderful, and sad all at once because I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to all animals, so I want to take all the pooches and kitties home with me. Even though I just started doing this, it's apparent that BARCS really benefits from its colossal number of volunteers and fosters. So when I learned about this opportunity to bake for BARCS, (thus combining 2 of my top 5 favorite things!) I was totally psyched.

Here's the deal (if you don't live in Baltimore, you can skip this part. Maybe donate to your local animal shelter instead!):

Each holiday season, W. 34th Street in Hampden puts on an insanely awesome Christmas light show. It's a really cute block and a must see if you (like me) love Christmas lights. It just so happens that one of the BARCS volunteers lives on 34th Street and has opened her house to the public during the month of December. In addition to lights and holiday cheer, BARCS volunteers will be on hand to provide hot cocoa, baked goods, dog treats, and cat toys in exchange for donations to the shelter.

So, as I mentioned earlier, this seemed the perfect opportunity to wield my spatula for a good cause (you know, as opposed to all the evil causes that hold bake sales) and I plan on contributing some sort of baked good each weekend. So if you're in Baltimore, stop by weekend nights (or every night during Christmas week) for a couple pepperminty cupcakes. And if you're not nearby, whip up a batch at home and enjoy whilst snugging all your animal friends!

Holiday Flavor:
Peppermint Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

1 c. almond milk

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

⅓ c. canola oil

¾ c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. peppermint extract

1¼ c. flour

2 TBSP cornstarch

¾ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

⅓ c. crushed candy canes (or other crushed hard peppermint candy)

For the icing:

¼ c. Earth Balance margarine

¼ c. vegetable shortening

½ c. unsweetened cocoa powder

2½ c. powdered sugar

2-3 TBSP almond milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

12 candy cane stubs for decoration (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line your cupcake tins.

Combine almond milk and apple cider vinegar, and set aside to curdle. In a separate large bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add the canola oil, sugar, and extracts to the curdled milk and whisk to combine. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until just combined, with no large lumps remaining. Fold in crushed candy cane pieces.

Fill each liner about two thirds full (a ¼ c. measuring cup does nicely), and bake for 20-22 minutes, until the cupcakes are nice and golden, and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the cupcake tins for 10 minutes, and then move each cupcake to a cooling rack.

While the cupcakes cool, make your frosting. With a stand or handheld mixer, whip together the margarine and shortening until fluffy. Add the cocoa powder in two batches, and the vanilla, mixing until both are incorporated. Add the powdered sugar in ¼ c. increments, alternating with splashes of almond milk when the frosting gets too dry. Once everything is added, whip the icing for about 5 minutes (the longer you whip, the fluffier your frosting will be and the more compliments you will get!).

Make sure your cupcakes are completely cool before you even think about icing them! Otherwise you’ll have a big melty mess on your hands. Once they’re cool, proceed to spread or pipe the icing onto your cakes (I pipe using a jumbo star tip). Stick one peppermint stick piece into the top of each cupcake for extra holiday flare.