Since becoming a yoga instructor, I’ve learnt an awful lot about how important it is to keep your body healthy. Even though it’s always nice to enjoy a piece of cake now and again, what if there was a recipe for a cake that you could eat whenever you want (within reason) and without the guilt?

Here is my recipe for deliciously light and fluffy vegan vanilla cupcakes with a creamy vanilla vegan butter cream icing with sprinkles….

Ingredients for the Cake

• 200g Self Raising Flour
• 200g Granulated Sugar
• 115g Vegan Butter (at room temperature)
• 240ml Dairy Free Milk
• 1 ½tsp Baking Powder
• ½tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 ½tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (not essence)
• Multi-coloured sprinkles – as many as you want

Ingredients for the Butter Cream

• 115g Vegan Butter (at room temperature)
• 350g Icing Sugar
• 1 ½ tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tbsp Non-Dairy Milk
• 3 or 4 drops Natural Blue Food Colouring
• Touch Of Sprinkles

Method for the Cake

• Set the oven to 180 degrees C and line a cupcake-baking tray with paper cupcake liners.
• In a clean, dry bowl add the vegan butter and beat for 5 mins.
• Add the sugar to the butter and mix until texture becomes light and fluffy.
• Add the vanilla extract (make sure not to use essence) and stir.
• In a separate bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt, bicarbonate of soda and sprinkles (to your taste) and mix with a spoon.
• Add the dry flour mixture to the butter and beat until smooth.
• Add in the milk and mix together until all the ingredients are combined.
• Using a tablespoon, spoon the mixture into the paper cupcake liners until they are ¾ full. This will allow for the cupcakes to rise in the oven.
• Once all the liners are filled, place them in the oven for 25 minutes, or until they spring back to the touch.
• Once they are ready, remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave to stand in their baking tray for 5 mins. After 5 minutes, remove the cupcakes from the baking tray and leave to stand on a wire cooling rack until they are completely cold.

Method for the Butter Cream

• Whilst the cupcakes are cooling, now is the perfect amount of time to whip up some delicious vegan butter cream.
• In a clean, dry bowl add in the vegan butter and beat for 5 minutes.
• After 5 minutes, add in the icing sugar a tablespoon at a time – trust me you’ll want to do this part slowly as the icing sugar can end up everywhere, if you go too quickly.
• Mix well with a spoon and add the blue food colouring, vanilla extract and the milk.
• Mix well again until all of the ingredients are combined and pipe onto the top of your cold cupcakes.
• Sprinkle some multi-coloured sprinkles on the top to finish and there you have it, my deliciously fluffy vegan vanilla cupcakes with vanilla vegan buttercream.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this recipe; let us know what you think in the comment box below.

Much love,

Jennifer

xxx