Raw Carrot Cupcakes

No, they weren't supposed to be raw. In this case, raw is a bad thing. For Friday's cupcake adventure, I wanted to try the Carrot Cake Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero. When baking, I always set my timer 5-10 minutes earlier than called for. I tend to burn my baked goods, so I came up with this genius idea about a 18 months ago. It's worked marvelously thus far. When my timer went off for these wee gems, I stuck a toothpick in one and it came out perfectly clean. I did what any ordinary sane person would, and took them out. I let them cool for about 10 minutes and they had sunk a bit. I didn't think much of it, and offered the first cupcake to my most non-vegany friend. I honestly thought she was going to vomit.

"They aren't cooked!!" She exclaimed. So, I gave it a try and sure enough, she was right. I tossed them back in for an additional 10 minutes, and although they were done, they sure weren't pretty. They sunk and stayed sunk.

But, my friends, the flavor!!! WOW!!!! Dare I say they were better then Nanny Noodles famous carrot cake? Oh, I don't know! They came awfully close! Isa & Terry NAILED this one! I had intended on making the cream cheese frosting from the book, but I really didn't want to waste it on ugly cuppers, so I may recreate them tomorrow.

Dinner was rather disappointing for me. The kids had mini semi-vegan pizzas on english muffins (I had some Thomas' in the freezer that I didn't want to go to waste). Are you all sitting down? Kid 1 requested red peppers and boca crumbles on his!!! HECK YEAH!!!! I didn't even offer up any toppings as I THOUGHT everyone would turn me down. I used Teese mozzarella and I really liked the consistency. It shredded well and melted well. I did not try it, however. All 4 kids finished their pizzas happily.

The Dad and I had the Barley and Red Bean Bowl from Skinny Bitch. I also wanted to do something with the seitan I made on Thursday but didn't really have enough time to do what I wanted, so I just sliced it reallllll thin and tossed it in a fry pan with a little oil. It crisped right up and became rather jerky-like. I didn't think it was anything to write home about, but The Dad ate it all and said he really liked it.