Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I have made vegan vanilla cupcakes over and over again and it has done nothing but get worse and worse. It is rubbery and gooey and the cupcake patty won't come off without half the cupcake coming off with it. I have absolutely no idea why; when I make the vegan chocolate cupcake, it turns out perfect all the time, which is pretty much the same recipe but with 1/3 additional cocoa.

HELP!!

Has anyone else ever experienced this and realised what it was that they were doing wrong?? The recipe is as follows;

1 cup bakers flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy milk
1/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Everytime, it turns out bad. I have tried adding 2 tablespoons of cornflour. Disaster. It slightly turned out OK with an additional 1/3 cup of self-raising flour, but still weird and doughy. I really am at the point of giving up but I am desperate to master it. Why would it stick to the cupcake patty? Why would it taste rubbery or flourery?

HELP HELP HELP!!

The cocoa powder acts as an acid and that affects the crumb and the lift, thereby making your cake more to the desired effect. You say it's gooey or just rubbery? It looks like the recipe's proportions are off, and maybe even switching the baking soda out for the baking powder {making baking soda 1/2 tsp instead and so on} would help with the lift. The gooey, rubbery bit sounds like over mixing, no disrespect intended since you said you've made them tons of times. I also read that the sugar and the flour should be about the same in weight, and the liquid should match the dry in weight as well, but I do not have proper estimations of that myself.

I really think you should up the sugar, mix just to incorporate so there aren't any big lumps, and switch the baking powder and baking soda. I always try to pay attention to the batter, and if something is off, the cake will likely be as well, but at least then you can fix it. I'm an amateur but these tips always help me since I started with the same problem with all but chocolate cake.

Best of Luck!

I dunno, that seems like a low amount of flour to the amount of sugar and liquid to me (e.g. Golden Vanilla Cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World has 1 1/4 cups flour to 1 cup milk and 3/4 cup sugar) . Where is this recipe from?

Regarding it being rubbery, that sounds like overmixing, or are you using bread flour instead of cake flour?

Also, have you checked your oven temperature is correct, and are you preheating so it comes to temp before you put them in, and testing them with a toothpick to make sure they're done before you remove them from the oven?

That recipe you have listed is the vanilla cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, minus 1/4 cup of flour and 2 Tbsp cornstarch (corn flour). I'm also curious about where you got that recipe. Definitely increase the flour to 1 1/4 cup, and add 2 Tbsp cornstarch/corn flour. Also, not sure what you mean by "bakers flour" (I don't know where you're from?), but you should be using all-purpose (plain flour), NOT self-raising and definitely not bread flour (strong flour). If you are using cake/pastry flour (or some other ultra-fine/low protein flour), you should include another 2 tbsp flour in addition to the 1/4 cup and the cornstarch/corn flour.

I have tried adding an additional 1/4 flour and 2 tbls of corn flour to no avail, although admittingly I did mix it with a beater. I do that with the chocolate so I thought the same would apply. I understand there are also techniques such as waiting for the milk to curdle, something my soy milk does not do, so I was just advised elsewhere to try almond milk as it works better.

I will keep you updated on this cupcake foe of mine and appreciate your effort to respond!

don't use a beater! a wooden spoon should do. good luck!

I'm still unclear what kind of flour you're using? It really can make all the difference. Also, do you scoop the flour then level, or spoon it into the cup and level? (With this recipe, you should be scooping.)

[quote="sara_artist"I understand there are also techniques such as waiting for the milk to curdle, something my soy milk does not do[/quote]

How long are you leaving the soy milk to curdle? You need to give it at least 5 minutes, you could try adding an extra 1/2 tsp of apple cider vinegar of curdling isn't happening for you.

Definitely stop using the electric whisk, a fork should be fine.

Also where do you live? I'm in the UK & I find that using Doves Farm Organic white flour as opposed to a plain white supermarket brand flour makes a huge difference to my vanilla cupcakes.

I use Laucke Wallaby Bakers flour (i'm in Australia), a standard flour used universally for baking. I place the flour (as it is in a large bag) in a large container and scoop it into the measuring cup. It is quite astonishing how the tiniest of errors can ruin the cupcakes...

...and wooden spoon it is!

There is a little bit of curdle but nothing that could really make you think that it is separating. I actually think it could be the soy milk brand I am using. I will try a better and more expensive brand and leave it in for five minutes to test whether it actually separates. :) I'll also try a fork too

I wonder if it could be the flour. On the website it states (emphasis is mine)
They say it is a strong flour and good for breads which makes me think it is closer to what we would call a bread flour in the US. Is it possible to try it with a different flour?

I just use home brand plain flour from either Coles or Woolies, and never have problems. I change the soy milk I use all the time and never have issues with curdling if I give it time. I would advise against trying almond milk though- I'm not sure if it's different in the US, but I've never had any luck getting that stuff to curdle here. It can be an expensive waste!

It could possibly be the flour then. Ill try a basic coles plain flour and will give milk extra time to curdle. Damn these delicious cupcakes... :(

haha, i use the woolies homebrand plain flour, same as erinnerung. 95 cents for a kilo, makes fabulous cupcakes. i would also listen to poopie and just use the vctotw golden vanilla cupcake recipe. and hey, chat to us aussies on the aussie chat thread in the square.

to address the cupcakes sticking to the paper liners, i often spray the insides of the paper with a bit of cooking oil spray before filling them. it helps.

that "Baker's" flour is for strong breads, not cupcakes, I believe.