Hot Toddy Cupcakes

Afternoon tea....just got interesting!  I don't really know why I decided to make these but am sure glad I did. I absolutely love hot toddies, never even heard of them until my first winter in Ireland many years ago and they quickly became my favourite winter tipple. The flavours of lemon, cloves and whiskey are so simple but just perfect in a warm drink, and, I started to think, perfect for a cupcake.

These really turned out well, and amazingly taste just like a hot toddy!! So often flavours in a cupcake can get 'lost' but not here, the lemon, cloves and whiskey all come shining through. The cloves are possibly just a tad too strong though, I added 1/2 tsp but think that 1/4 tsp would be too little. Next time I may try something in-between. They are so very yummy though, the texture is perfect - really nice and light and definitely an 'adult' only cupcake ;-)

Hot Toddy Cupcakes:
120ml soy cream
60ml rice milk
2 Tbsp Irish whiskey (I use Jameson)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (sieve out seeds and pulp)
zest of 1 lemon
175g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp cornstarch (cornflour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves *see blurb above
80ml vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
160g caster sugar

Whiskey Buttercream Frosting:
40g vegetable fat (shortening)
50g vegan margarine
270g icing sugar
1 Tbsp Irish Whiskey
zest of 1/2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a muffin tin with paper liners. Mix together the soy cream and rice milk then stir in the whiskey and lemon juice. Now, it will curdle big time, not just get flaky looking but thicken up and look positively revolting!! That's all ok - you want that to happen :-) Set aside. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, soda, salt and cloves and set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oil, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and the soy cream curdled mixture until very well blended and sugar seems to be dissolved. It shouldn't look curdled any more. Add the dry ingredients to this and whisk until just blended and no lumps remain. Fill muffin tins until almost full up, you will probably have some batter left over, I get 14 cupcakes out of this. Bake in preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until golden and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to fully cool.

To make the frosting, soften the vegetable fat first with a fork, then add the margarine and whisk well until well blended. Add half the icing sugar and all the whiskey and mix well. Add the rest of the icing sugar and mix well. You may need a touch more whiskey and or icing sugar. Just keep adding what you need until you get a smooth spreadable frosting. Now stir in the lemon zest.

Frost each cupcake as you like - I decorated with whole cloves, even though you have to remove them before eating I thought they looked very cute!

Recipe loosely based on Vegan Cupcakes take Over the World's Golden Vanilla Cupcakes and frosting :-)

♥