Vanilla chai cupcakes

Like the chai drinks enjoyed in coffee shops and teahouses, these cupcakes combine distinctive Indian spices and sweetened milk... in this case, soy milk. Top each vanilla-scented cupcake with a single clove.

Vegan vanilla chai cupcakes
(small batch)

1/4 t. baking powder
1 T. rice vinegar
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 t. baking soda
1 t. Ener-G egg replacer
dash of salt
1/8 t. each ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom
scant 1/4 c. oil
2 T. unsweetened soy yogurt*
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 c. soy milk

For the frosting:
1 chai tea bag
1 1/2 T. soy creamer, scalded
1 T. soy margarine
1 T. non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1/2 c. powdered sugar
optional: 6 whole cloves, for garnish (don't eat these!)

Preheat oven to 325 F. Whisk the baking powder into the vinegar and set aside. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, egg replacer, salt, and spices. Add oil, soy yogurt, vanilla, and vinegar mixture. Stir gently. Drip in the soy milk little by little until just combined (you might not need all of the liquid). Pour batter into cupcake pan, filling each well 3/4 full. Bake approximately 15 minutes, or until a sharp knife inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

To make the chai frosting, steep the tea bag in the scalded soy creamer. Set aside to infuse. When the tea is cool, whip together the soy margarine and vegetable shortening. Add the powdered sugar. Remove tea bag and add the soy creamer to frosting. Whip.

When cupcakes are cool, pipe frosting on with a pastry bag or just pile it high with a spatula. Garnish each cupcake with a clove.

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*I strongly prefer plain, unsweetened soy yogurt in baking, because it's just a cleaner palette, so to speak, and it gives me more options. I can add sugar if I want to, or add vanilla if I want to. In this recipe, sweetened soy yogurt is okay, but reduce sugar by 1 tablespoon. Vanilla soy yogurt is also alright, but omit the 1/2 t. vanilla from the ingredients list (also reduce sugar if it's sweetened vanilla soy yogurt!).