Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes with Black Raspberry Buttercream Frosting (. . . I was "berry" surprised by Rubus 'Bristol'!)

I was out in the back yard yesterday and had an I Spy moment while walking the kids. Mother Nature had gifted us with canes and canes of black raspberries. Apparently we once lived on top of a berry plantation. Out of sheer laziness I had decided to not "bother" trimming back some overgrowth of the thistle-bearing sticks that for years have demanded some attention from the pruning sheers. They are the ugliest things, really. And in winter they stick out of the ground with their red stems like nobody's business. All over. I am forever walking by the ragged jumbles telling myself get to those sticks. Never made it this spring. 

Lucky us!

Whoa. So glad I let things "go" a bit. 

I researched Missouri Black Raspberries (and may I add here these berries are Dr. Thyme's all-time favorites, needless to say, he found these cupcakes irresistible) and discovered through the Missouri Botanical Garden a link explaining all you'd ever want to know about this lovely fruit.  

So the obvious questions began swirling around in my head: peach/berry crisp? vegan ice cream? jam? Cake! And "cake" won, actually cupcakes won. I attribute this cupcake thing to our weather of late. 

I now know what living in a rain forest must feel like. Having rain every day for the past week is not such a big deal. I mean dark skies, periods of storms on and off and on--it feels like the middle of winter if you were to ask my mood. During the day it's looked as if it were an hour before sunset. All Day. Pretty sure we're still in spring. 

Anyway, back to the cupcakes. Just the other day I said to DH, I'd love some funfetti cake. Simply uttering the word "cake" in this house will result in baking. 

Make sure you have funfetti on hand. As luck would have it, I did! (One never knows when sprinkles will be required.) And honestly, I don't care what this decorative confection is made from--they are so pretty! Now, would these cupcakes be as tasty sans the funfetti? Probably. But really, why not funfetti?

I had to work buttercream magic with the berries. I started out the same as usual, a bit of vegan butter, a bit of vegetable spread, then powdered sugar and then the berries. I had a lot of fun watching this turn my favorite color. The texture from using whole berries (seeds and all) made this some of the most delicious frosting I have ever thrown together. Having the berries in there somehow made me feel a little less guilty about chowing down on two of them last night! Two. I. Ate. Two.

(Of course I was motivated to jump on the treadmill this morning and manage four miles.)

Yay! 

More cupcakes for me tonight. 

Maybe only one. 

We'll see. 

Yum!

The lightening bugs are everywhere right now. Like the black raspberries. 

My raised beds are super healthy. In the front bed: corn, green beans growing up the corn with some parsley, tansy and zucchini. Then peppers, then eggplant. All of my tomato plants are doing phenomenally well right now. Fingers crossed. 

This HUGE mushroom appeared under one of my trees. Then another one appeared this morning. From what I know of mushroom lore, the brighter they are, the harder you'll fall. (Or die.) Pretty to look at, dangerous to eat. (Of course I never just "stumble" across morels in my yard. Dang it.)

Meantime, here's the yum!

Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes with Black Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

*makes 8-10 regular-sized cupcakes

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup spelt flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (or soy milk would work)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons funfetti (or more, just eyeball it)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a regular-sized cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Lightly spray the liners with nonstick baking spray. In a medium bowl, add the coconut milk and apple cider vinegar. Set this aside for about five minutes to allow the milk to curdle. While that's waiting, in a small mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients--whisk well to incorporate everything. Go back to your milk/cider and now add the oil, sugar, extracts--mix well with a hand held mixer. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well until a smooth batter forms. Add the funfetti and stir with a spoon. Fill the cupcake holders about half way, then bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for about ten minutes, then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely on a rack. 

Black Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

1/4 cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)

1/4 cup vegan shortening (I used Spectrum)

2-3 cups powdered sugar

1 cup black raspberries

1 tablespoon soy creamer

In a food processor, add the butter and shortening and about a third of a cup of the powdered sugar and dump in all of the blackberries. Pulse until the berries are fully broken down and the mixture looks fairly smooth (it won't be completely smooth because of the seeds)--just do the best you can. Add the soy creamer and then add another cup of the powdered sugar (not ALL of it yet!). Pulse a few more times until the sugar is incorporated. The frosting will be a bit runny still. Pour it into a medium mixing bowl and add the remainder of the powdered sugar, using a hand blender to incorporate it. Keep adding powdered sugar until you feel the frosting is the desired texture you'd like. I found that this frosting needed to chill before I piped it onto the cupcakes--it firms up nicely after a bit. Frost the cooled cupcakes, place in a container and store in the fridge. They taste so good just from the fridge!