Maple Bacon, Lavender Honey, and Orange Zested with Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

Hi Everyone!

It's been forever since I've posted something, or even been on here. I now have 60 followers which is mind blowing to me. Thanks for all sticking around!

Although these aren't all vegan, they can easily be made vegan with fakin bacon and no honey. The bases of these are still vegan! I was lucky enough to find an entire bouquet of fresh lavender at Whole Foods to make these, so now I have a lot of extra buds to dry out for future baking.
These altogether took me about 4.5 hours to make, so only bake these when you have some time! Enjoy!

Here are the recipes:

Maple Bacon Cupcakes:

1/2 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of bacon grease (yes, seriously)

Once it's all blended, put evenly distribute the batter into the baking cups. Put a few pieces of bacon in the middle of each cupcake.

Brown Sugar Bacon:

Lay bacon out on a baking pan and broil on high for 5 minutes. Take it out, generously pile brown sugar on each piece and broil for another 5 minutes. Watch it carefully so the brown sugar doesn't burn the bacon and fill your kitchen with smoke. Oops.

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes
Take out, set to cool.

Maple Butter cream:

1/2 cup earth balance
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup maple syrup

Use a piping bag to put the frosting on the cupcakes, and garnish each one with a piece of maple bacon.


Lavender Honey Cupcakes:

1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup lavender simple syrup
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together
Bake at 350 for 18 minutes, take out and set to cool.

Lavender Simple Syrup:

1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh or dried lavender buds

Put the water and sugar together in a pot on high for 5 minutes. Add the lavender buds and stir together. Keep it on simmer for 10 minutes but watch it carefully because if it gets too hot it will start to turn into lavender candy. Do not let it boil!

Let the syrup cool in the refrigerator. Once it's cooled put the syrup in a food processor so the buds will mix with the syrup. (You can also use this syrup for tea!)

Honey Butter Cream:

1/2 cup earth balance
1/2 cup shortening
3 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup honey

I frosted the cupcakes with a knife instead of piping it only because it was really hot in my kitchen and my frosting wouldn't stay stiff. It ended up working out just fine anyways. Garnish each cupcake with a lavender bud!

Orange Zested Cupcakes:

1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon orange zest

Orange Chocolate Ganache:

1/2 fresh squeezed orange juice
1 table spoon orange zest
2 1/2 cups semisweet vegan chocolate chips

Over low to medium heat, combine the soy milk and the chocolate chips in a sauce pan and keep mixing it until they mix together.

Once this is cooled off a bit (but still melty) put about a teaspoon of this over each cupcake and spread it around until it covers most, or all of the top.

I tried to make candied orange peels to garnish for the tops of these, but it didn't turn out so well. I ended up following a recipe to make orange peel candy, and not candied orange peels which resulted in a pot of charred orange candy and a kitchen full of smoke. (the pot survived)

Happy Baking :)