Meet Joanne! + Golden Vanilla Cupcakes with Avocado Buttercream
Joanne amazes me. She cooks, bakes, blogs, takes beautiful photos, and cracks me up with every post. She also runs marathons and is a MD/PhD student in NYC. Whenever I read Joanne’s posts over at Eats Well With Others, I wish I had lived in, or at least visited, NYC at some point in my life. And had been a spunky food blogger in college. Unfortunately, food blogs didn’t exist in 1998. Or blogs in general, really. I’m pretty sure no one had invented avocado buttercream, either. . .
Everyone in my life is always a bit dubious when I tell them I’ve baked something that’s good for them.
That’s mostly because I lie used to be that girl who substituted applesauce in for butter and whittled oil down to a mere tablespoon even when the original recipe called for multiple cups.
Until one fateful day. When I stopped.
And conveniently “forgot” to mention it to anyone.
Oops.
It was a batch of red velvet cupcakes that did it.
I was bringing them into class for a friend’s birthday and I wanted them to be perfect. So I said, “Eh…I’ll just leave all the oil in. Just this one time.”
And the thing about full-fat baking is that you think it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Until you try it.
Those cupcakes were fawned over like no other cupcakes I’d ever baked.
I remember my roommate reaching for a second cupcake saying proudly, “Well, the things Joanne bakes are never that bad for you.”
I averted my eyes. Looked at the ceiling. Then at the ground.
Started mumbling about the weather. Or baseball. Or some other topic about which I know absolutely not a thing.
I’m pretty sure she still hasn’t forgiven me. She certainly hasn’t gone back for seconds on anything I’ve baked since then.
Then again, she also sees how much butter I go through in a week. So, really? I don’t blame her.
I am not going to tell you these are good for you.
But given that they have no butter and no eggs and are topped with a frosting that is chock full of avocado and healthy fats and omega 3’s?
I am totally going to say that they are the lesser of two evils. And may even lower your cholesterol. True story.
They’re also so incredibly moist and delicious that no one will be able to tell that they’re vegan.
Shhh. It’ll be our secret.
PrintGolden Vanilla Cupcakes + Avocado Buttercream
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1 cup almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
For the buttercream:
8 oz very ripe avocado meat
2 tsp lemon juice
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
Whisk the almond milk and vinegar in a mixing cup. Allow to curdle for a few minutes.
Beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. Sift together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the wet ingredients, mixing until just incorporated and no lumps remain.
Pour into muffin liners and bake for 20-22 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Makes 12.
For the buttercream:
Mix together the avocado and lemon juice until smooth. Little by little, beat in the powdered sugar. Add in the vanilla extract until combined. Dye with food coloring if, like mine, your frosting is an extremely unappealing shade of green.
Makes enough to ice at least 2 dozen cupcakes.
Cupcake recipe adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Joanne at Eats Well With Others
Buttercream recipe adapted from Joy The Baker, who got it from Alton Brown
Karly — June 3, 2011 @ 2:29 pm
Hahaha! Your poor deceived friends! ;)
So, talk to me about this avocado frosting. Does it taste like avocados? Or does it taste like frosting? I just can't imagine what it tastes like, but I see it all over the place now.
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Natalie @ Perry's Plate — June 3, 2011 @ 4:06 pm
I was thinking the same thing, too, Karly. I'm so curious how it tastes!
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Beth — June 3, 2011 @ 5:10 pm
I'd follow Joanne anywhere, and definitely to a great blog like this!
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Joanne — June 3, 2011 @ 6:02 pm
Thanks so much for letting me guest post Natalie! The buttercream definitely has a hint of avocado to it, but I don't think you'd be able to tell it was avocado without already knowing to look for it. It's definitely more like swiss meringue buttercream than anything else…but still not quite. It's a unique experience!
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Natalie @ Perry's Plate — June 3, 2011 @ 6:08 pm
Thanks, Beth!
Thank YOU Joanne!
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bonnie — June 3, 2011 @ 9:32 pm
love joanne and I would devour anything with avocados, but throw in a layer of golden vanilla cupcakes..ahh sweet!
sweetlife
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April — June 3, 2011 @ 10:08 pm
As the (self-proclaimed) queen of cupcakes (at least in SW TX), I must admit I am quite skeptical about the avocado buttercream. Skeptical, but VERY intrigued!
Shout out to the vegan cake though! My go to chocolate cupcake recipe just happens to be vegan and they are the best out of about 5 different recipes I tried!
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Healthy Mamma — June 4, 2011 @ 3:09 am
I was hoping this was the Joanne that was guest posting here! So funny, I saw the pic of the cupcake and was like 'No, can't be Joanne.' Then read the 'my friends are dubious when I bake sweets' and giggled. This is so wonderful. I love the cidar vinegar, almond milk, lack of eggs and especially the avacado! Who would have thought?!
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Jolene - EverydayFoodie — June 4, 2011 @ 4:15 pm
Avocado butter cream!!! That is WILD!
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Magic of Spice — June 6, 2011 @ 11:41 pm
Oh wow, what an interesting idea for a frosting…I like :)
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