(30 cupcakes on this tray; the other tray held 40)

…and they are starting with my kitchen!  We had a 1st birthday party on Saturday and I offered to make cupcakes for all of the guests.  Not only was I happy to do it, but it’s a good (sneaky) way to show non-vegans that vegan food is delicious and that you don’t have to give up yummy treats in order to be vegan.  It was quite the party, let me tell you!  About 65 people were expected, and 50 people actually showed up.  I’ve never seen a bigger birthday party in my life, but it really was a fun afternoon.

I used the chocolate cake recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking since it’s always turned out perfect for me. I ended up making three double batches, which yielded about 75 cupcakes.

For the frosting, I wanted to do half in vanilla and half in chocolate to make it look more interesting. I used the recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World because those recipes use a combo of shortening and non-dairy butter.  I thought the shortening would help the frosting last a little longer in the heat.  I doubled each recipe and had plenty.

The cupcakes turned out great and held up perfectly in the heat. The only thing that didn’t go completely my way was that the breeze kept blowing my banner over. Easy enough to fix, but the cupcakes holding the banner were pretty well trashed.  All of the decor was made from fondant, which I think was vegan.  I rolled it out and cut the shapes a week ahead of time to give it time to dry out.  The stars are held up with 16 gauge wire that I put in while the fondant was still wet.  It worked out great.  My piping could use a little work, though. 

a view from the top