Clementine Cupcakes

Slowing down is one of the hardest things for me to do. I'm so used to having every minute of my day filled up and even though I get stressed, I kind of enjoy it. I like having purpose. So now, having time to just sit at home and do nothing is really bizarre. It was an adjustment at first, but now I'm finally relaxing into just reading a book, doing crossword puzzles or listening to music while I can! I started a new book- Tinkers- and it's amazing so far. New Years Resolution: read more books for fun.

With all this spare time, I can finally experiment a little more with baking! I'm not exactly sure why, but my family tends to go crazy buying clementines in the winter. I decided I would put them to better use than just sitting in the fruit bowl...

These cupcakes are the perfect mixture of sweet and tart and are just so pretty! Because of the usual holiday overload of decadent sweets, I decided to make these super low-fat. However, if you don't like the texture of low-fat desserts (think less fluffy but more moist), you're welcome to sub out the applesauce for more canola oil.

Clementine Cupcakes with Clementine Vanilla Glaze

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp clementine zest (about 4 clementines)

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups soy milk

1 tbsp egg replacer

3 tbsp applesauce

1 tbsp canola oil

3 clementines, peeled

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350º and line or grease a cupcake tin. 

2. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, zest, baking powder and soda and salt.

3. In a cup, whisk 3 tbsp of the soy milk with the egg replacer. Puree the three clementines in a blender until liquified, then pour only 1/4 cup of the puree into a small bowl and mix it with the "egg," milk, applesauce, vanilla and oil.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners- about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup clementine puree
2 tbsp soy milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl and slowly add in the powdered sugar. Whisk until smooth.
2. Once the cupcakes are done baking, dip just the tops into the glaze for about 10 second each so that they can absorb the sugary goodness. Let cool on a baking sheet and serve with a clementine slice on top.*

*I attempted to make caramelized clementines by slicing them and coating them with 2 tbsp of oil and 1/4 cup of sugar and baking them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 400º. I'm not sure if they ended up completely caramelized, but they taste delicious and look good on top of the cupcakes! You can try this if you want and maybe vary the method a little.

These would be excellent to bring to a New Year's Eve Party! It's always good to bring your own dessert if you are vegan, because otherwise you just have to cry silently in the corner while everyone else eats cake. It's pretty sad. These will save you, I promise.