Suburban Vegan Stories of Survival in the Land of Meat & Dairy

My second entry into the Earth Balance baking contest.

Chocolate cupcakes filled with coconut peanut butter frosting and covered with ganache.

Ingredients
Cupcakes:
3/4 cup Earth Balance Soymilk
1/4 cup brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coffee extract
1/2 cup sweetened cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Coconut Peanut Butter filling
2 tablespoons Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
2 tablespoons Earth Balance Shortening
1/2 cup Earth Balance Coconut Peanut Butter (creamy or follow directions below)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons Earth Balance Soymilk
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Ganache
4 1/2 ounces dark chocolate
1/2 tablespoon Earth Balance Shortening
2-4 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup Shredded coconut (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pan.
2. Whisk together Earth Balance soymilk, sugar, oil, and vanilla and coffee extracts.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make an indention in the middle of the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients.
4. When ingredients are just combined, add apple cider vinegar. Barely combine vinegar; you want there to be streaks throughout the batter.
5. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. For the coconut peanut butter filling: Add coconut peanut butter to a food processor and blend until creamy. It must be perfectly creamy or else that one little nut will find its way to the tip of your pastry bag.
7. In an electric mixer, combine shortening, buttery sticks and creamy coconut peanut butter. Add confectioners sugar, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of soymilk at a time. Mix on high for a couple of minutes.
8. When cupcakes are completely cooled, poke a hole in the center of each cupcake (I use the end of a chopstick). Fill a pastry bag with the peanut butter frosting, and fill cupcakes with as much as you can get in.
9. For the ganache: in a microwave safe dish, melt chocolate for 1 minute. Remove and stir until it is all melted, add shortening. Depending on how bitter your chocolate is, add 2-4 tablespoons of maple syrup until you get the desired sweetness. Cover each cupcake with ganache. Sprinkle shredded coconut, if desired.