Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

Tuesday was Chloe’s 2nd birthday so we had a little soiree. I ordered doggie pupcakes for Chloe and her friends and baked dark chocolate, peanut butter cupcakes for our 2 legged friends.

Photo By: S. Duquet

The doggie pupcakes surpassed mine in beauty, but my first  vegan cupcake adventure was a rousing success.  I used the tried and true cake recipe from “The Joy of Vegan Baking” by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. The recipe makes the most moist, light and amazingly soft cupcakes.

The doggie pupcakes are displayed in the photo on the top tier and the human variety are displayed on the bottom tier.

I began making  peanut butter frosting and realized that I had doubled the wet ingredients but not the dry ones and it was being really beligerent. The frosting was oily and dense, not at all what I had envisioned. I felt stuck with a frosting I was not proud of and was running out of time.

Like a life preserver from no-where, the answer was right there… frost the cupcakes with plain old, delicious peanut butter. I bought this uber creamy peanut butter to use in the frosting as an ingredient. I was mixing scads of vegan butter, peanut butter and powdered sugar to make a peanut butter frosting for the cupcakes. Why not just leave out all of the other ingredients and focus on the flavor you are looking for; less ingredients, more tastiness?

Photo By: S. Duquet

So that is exactly what I did. This silky peanut butter became the most flavorful and scrumptious frosting. The peanut-tyness was intense and perfect with the dark chocolate cupcakes.

This realization seemed so profound to me because this is exactly how I have been experiencing veganism over the past two months.  The shift to an all plant-based diet has required thought and  mindfulness. Everyday it seems like a new insight is unearthed that I did not realize I had. It is like excavating the real me and how I truly feel about nourishing my body.

It is about real foods that have exceptional flavor. It is about savoring gorgeous, soulful food with nutritional benefits.  It is about trimming the fat in your mind and letting go of all the unnecessary ingredients in your food and  your life. It is about reuniting with your true self, with real food in its most basic and perfect state and welcoming home this self.

Let’s leave out the unnecessary and nourish our bodies and minds with  beautiful, sumptuous foods that have been nurtured by nature. Lets love the food we eat and eat all of the foods we love.

And all of this over some botched frosting. This is a strange and wonderful journey. I am enjoying every moment of it.

Photo By: A. Ducher

Chloe had a fabulous birthday and zonked out with her new baby.

Have a delicious day full of discovery.

Tags: compassionate eating, dairy free, dark chocolate cupcakes and peanut butter frosting, going veg, trying vegan, trying vegetarian, vegan, vegan challenge, vegan cupcakes, vegan dessert, vegan experience, vegan peanut butter frosting, vegan wannabe