Vegan Cranberry-Orange Cupcake Recipe

Another family Thanksgiving tradition, along with Cherry Delight, is cranberry sauce, so I took that inspiration and made these Cranberry-Orange Cupcakes.  They turned out lumpy but delicious.  

As always, if you don't have coconut oil and/or rice milk, feel free to replace them with a suitable analogue (for example, vegetable oil/soy milk).

Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid

1 cup demerara sugar (or raw sugar)

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 ½ cups rice milk (warmed to room temperature)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon pure orange extract

zest of one orange

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sliced cranberries (fresh or frozen)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin pan with 12 paper baking cups.

Beat together the coconut oil and sugar. Mix in the rice milk and cider vinegar. Add the orange and vanilla extracts. Add the orange zest, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well combined.

Slowly incorporate the flour taking care not to over mix.

With a spatula or spoon, stir in the cranberries.

Portion out the batter into the pre-lined muffin pan.  I ended up with a bit more batter than I needed to fill the cupcake cups; fortunately, the batter is egg-less so you can lick the bowl as much as you want.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  (Mine took about 30 minutes, but I think my oven has issues).

I topped my cupcakes with this Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe, and for a bit of added decoration, I put a sugared cranberry slice on top.

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Pear-Apple-Cranberry Chutney

Well, I'm addicted to chutney.  I might have to start a support group, but before I take that drastic step, I decided to make some more chutney.

This recipe is based on my old recipe but without ginger and groundcherries (because I didn't have any). 

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp chile flakes

1 cup diced yellow onion (approx. 1 medium onion)

3 cups pear - cored and diced (approx. 2 medium pears)

2 cups apple - cored and diced (approx. 2 medium apples)

2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)

1 cup unsweetened apple cider

1/3 cup cider vinegar 

1/3 cup demerara sugar (or light brown sugar)

1 tbsp curry powder

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

1/2 cup raisins or golden raisins

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Zest of one orange

 

Preparation

 

In a sauce pan heat the oil and add the chile flakes. Be careful not to burn the chile, just toast it long enough to flavor the oil. Add the onions and sweat until soft. 

Gradually add the diced pear and apple. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the cranberries.

Add the apple cider, cider vinegar, demerara sugar, curry powder, and pumpkin pie spice mix. Stir to combine. Add the raisins, salt, pepper, and orange zest (if you're using a grater, be careful of your knuckles). Bring the mixture to a simmer and allow to reduce for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

I used a mild yellow curry powder but feel free to use a spicier blend if you wish.

Apple-Cranberry-Groundcherry Chutney

First off, I don't know how I made it almost 33 years without this chutney.  Sweet, bitter, sour, tangy, and slightly spicy, it is absolutely fantastic.  Now here's the story behind the chutney:

In the not too distant past, I became the proud owner of a bag of groundcherries.  I wasn't very fond of the flavor, so I decided to make them into a chutney.  I did some research, found a mango chutney recipe that was a suitable base for my recipe, and got to work.  As it turns out, the foundational recipe bears only a passing resemblance to the chutney that I made, but that's just the way I roll.

The chutney is fairly mild but has surprising depth.  The sweetness of the apples and the tangyness of the cranberries makes this a perfect accompaniment for naan bread, toast, or Quorn fillets, or you can eat it straight out of the jar - which is probably what's going to happen to the batch that is currently chilling in my refrigerator.

If you can't get groundcherries, feel free to replace them with one cup of cranberries or diced apple (or cherry, if it floats your boat). 

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp chile flakes

1 cup diced yellow onion (approx. 1 medium onion)

1/8 cup minced fresh ginger

3 cups apple - peeled, cored and diced (approx. 3 medium apples)

1 cup groundcherries (aka cape gooseberries)

2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)

2/3 cup unsweetened apple cider

1/3 cup cider vinegar 

1/3 cup demerara sugar (or light brown sugar)

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

1/2 cup raisins or golden raisins

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Zest of one orange

 

Preparation

 

In a saute pan heat the oil and add the chile flakes. Be careful not to burn the chile, just toast it long enough to flavor the oil. Add the onions and sweat until soft. Add the ginger sauté for 1-2 minutes.

Add the diced apple. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the cranberries and ground cherries.

Add the apple cider, cider vinegar, demerara sugar, curry powder, and pumpkin pie spice mix. Stir to combine. Add the raisins, salt, pepper, and orange zest. Bring the mixture to a simmer and allow to reduce for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

I used a mild yellow curry powder but feel free to use a spicier blend if you wish.

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