Vegans — They're Just Like Us!

Haha, no, they're not.

Kidding! I'm not prejudiced against vegans. Some of my closest friends are vegans! It's just that, to an omnivore, veganism can be a little baffling. No cheese? Those two words next to one another do not compute. And to the voracious dessert consumer, the idea of baking vegan treats is downright preposterous. But over recent years, my omnivore friends have been dropping like flies (er, is there a more cruelty-free phrase? Dropping like acorns?) and I've adjusted my baking ways in order to properly celebrate birthdays and holidays so it doesn't look like I prepared 24 cupcakes that only I can eat ("It really wasn't on purpose! I thought you could eat eggs as long as they disappeared into something!").

This photo is just to show that it was perfect cupcake-baking weather.

When I first baked vegan cupcakes, I did look with disgust upon the apple cider vinegar (vinegar! Gah!) in the recipe, but to my surprise, I literally cannot tell the difference between these cupcakes and those that feature animal products. What's more, Pillsbury-brand frosting is totally vegan. That's reason alone to celebrate — a brand of sweet stuff that I already know and love can be accepted by vegans and omnivores alike.

In this recipe, there's an option to use all vanilla extract or to use some vanilla and some almond extract. I'd never tried the almond for these cupcakes, so I did this time and I kinda regret it. The cupcakes are supposed to be chocolate, and they look like they're chocolate, but they taste almost entirely like sweet almond. Bleh. I wasn't psyched about that. But otherwise they were vegan cupcakes fit for an omnivore! (Sorry, sorry.)