Agave Nectar Cupcakes

So, a few posts ago Caitlin put a picture of me with my agave nectar cupcakes. I used the recipe from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World," and made coffee buttercream icing (using the recipe that is listed on the powdered sugar box). I couldn't find a way to avoid sugar in the icing, but I'm going to continue trying!

A note on the ingredients: agave nectar is a syrup made from the same plant tequila is made of. It's very sweet, and can be used as a honey substitute (although it does not taste like honey beyond being very sweet). I'm not sure how it compares to honey in nutritional value, but it is easier to digest than refined sugars. I also used whole wheat pastry flour for the flour, so the cupcakes were a bit mealier than traditional white flour cupcakes, but very healthy!

Anyway, here is the cupcake recipe from the cookbook...

Ingredients:

• 2/3 Cup Soy Milk
• 1/2 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2/3 Cup Agave Nectar
• 1/3 Cup Canola Oil
• 1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 Tsp Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 Degrees
2. Mix soy milk and vinegar and allow to ferment for five minutes
3. Beat agave nectar, oil, and vanilla extract into the soy milk/vinegar mixture
4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
5. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients
6. Line cupcake tin with cupcake liners
7. Fill each liner 2/3 of the way full with cupcake mixture
8. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean

Yield: 12 Cupcakes

For the icing! I don't know the proportions, but it calls for milk, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and butter. Because I'm vegan, of course, I used margarine and soy milk instead of butter and milk. However! because I am a cheap college student who can't afford real vanilla extract (the cheap ones all seemed to have corn syrup) I decided to replace vanilla with coffee! I bought a cup of decaffeinated coffee (although I'd recommend espresso for those of you who aren't faint of heart) and used that instead of the vanilla. I also skipped the milk part and added more coffee, just because the coffee wasn't very strong. I'd recommend cooling the coffee before adding it to the icing mixture.

Well, enjoy! They're delicious.