Product Review and Yummy Vegan Cupcake Recipe

Back in December, John's mom and I had a very nice shopping day together, during which, she took me to her local, enormous Spoons 'n Spice store. In addition to finding many handy tools, I purchased this great decorative Nordic Ware tea cake pan. A week or so before my recent surgery, I decided to test this lovely pan with a recipe I hadn't tried previously from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Cashew Butter Cardamom Cupcakes was the recipe I chose for the new tea cake pan. I had no idea I'd chosen such a winner because these tiny cakes were so moist and tasty that they didn't need any frosting. However, next time, I'll make the batter a tiny bit thinner because the pan has so many detailed depressions that didn't make it into many of the cakes. Other than that, I can tell you that the Nordic Ware pan worked terrifically. The cakes were evenly colored and very pretty. Next time, I'm trying a brownie tea cake in the pan.



The recipe made enough for the entire new pan and 24 traditional mini cupcakes.



As you can see, the resulting tea cakes were tiny. These light and airy treats were a huge hit with my friends (and with me!). The cardamom was fantastic -- an ideal pairing for the cashew butter.



I made a few big changes to the recipe, so here's how it worked for me:

Cashew Butter Cardamom Tea Cakes

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons almond milk (I used vanilla unsweetened)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons flaxseed meal
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup crunchy cashew butter
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup coconut flour, sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon orange zest

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease tea cake pan, making sure there are no big drops of oil in the depressions. Use cupcake cups in your cupcake pans, if you're using them.
2. Whisk together the almond milk, orange juice and zest, and flax meal until very well blended and frothy.
3. Mix in the oil, agave and cashew butter. Beat until well blended.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients for 1 minute.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and beat only until just mixed.
6. Fill the cake pan depressions 2/3 full with the batter (do the same for mini cupcakes).
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until a tester poked into the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean.

These won't take long to bake as minis. If you decide to make them full size, it may take up to 25 minutes to bake them.

Overall, I'd rate the Nordic Ware pan a 9 out of 10 (it's a bit heavy, but only because it's well made) and the recipe an 11+ for it's flexibility and deliciousness.