This weekend we celebrated my beautiful little girl’s first birthday party! She tasted cake and icing for the first time and repeatedly said “yum, yum!” It was a lot of fun. Her favorite colors are blue and yellow, so that’s how I chose her color theme. It was a lot of work prepping, baking and making her dress…but in the end, it all turned out. We all had a great time! Enjoy the pics! I made my vegan maple vanilla cupcakes and double chocolate espresso cookies. The maple syrup gives the cupcakes a different depth of sweetness than just all regular sugar, as well as a gorgeous golden color.
Maple vanilla cupcakes with vanilla “butter” cream frosting! I went all out for the kiddos and stuck to tradition for their sake. The cupcakes and icing are both vegan and deliciously sweet! It was for a special occasion though and didn’t want to make something too unusual for the kiddos. They turned out delicious and my Dad thought the icing was so yummy, it “tasted like ice cream!” For my much healthier icing, check out my Maple Cashew Cream Icing.
My daughter, Olivia, and I. It was an aqua blue and sunny yellow fashion bag theme. Here is her first handbag I made for her.
This is her very first party dress that I made for her! It turned out EXACTLY as I envisioned, so I was very happy and relieved since I didn’t have a backup plan! Ha!
Happy girl!
Sea of aqua blue and sunny yellow…perfect for a little girl 🙂
A fun way to present to the birthday girl…I separated her cupcake from the rest. 🙂
These are the little handbags I made for the little girls. I just displayed them in a bright blue basket stuffed with glittery yellow mesh fabric. It adds a fun touch, instead of just laying them on the table.
This is a fun way to also add some excitement to your party table. Instead of just laying the lollipops on the table, I wanted them to stand up and have a presence. So, I bought this styrofoam at Michael’s and some blue glitter paint and spray painted it. I tied little bows on each lollipop and stuck them in the styrofoam. Very inexpensive, but makes a really pretty impact!
One day she will be able to bake and cook with Mommy, I can’t wait!
Vegan Maple Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups organic granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 3/4 cup grapeseed oil for a less fat version, you can use half applesauce and half oil
- 1 1/2 cups regular unsweetened "lite" coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Madagascar vanilla extract makes an exceptional vanilla flavor
Instructions
- This makes a large batch of 2 dozen tall cupcakes or a Two Layer 9 inch cake.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin pans with decorative paper liners or grease and line with parchment paper rounds in two 9 inch round cake pans. For a taller cake, use 8 inch pans.
- Sift all the dry ingredients in a large bowl through a mesh strainer and whisk well.
- In a small bowl, add the syrup, oil/applesauce, milk, lemon juice and vanilla. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, slowly a little bit at a time and beat on low, just until combined. Do not overmix the batter or it can make the cake tough. Pour the batter into the lined muffin pans or cake pans.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes for cupcakes and 20-25 minutes for cakes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let them cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes onto cooling racks to completely cool before icing.
- For the icing, I just added two 4 oz vegan buttery sticks (1 cup total) (room temperature) into a large metal bowl. I then added 2-3 cups of vegan powdered sugar and beat until fluffy and added more sugar until it reached a light, fluffy consistency. I then added some vanilla extract and a couple tablespoons of almond milk. Beat until light and fluffy.
This was 1st time baking vegan. I went to 2 stores looking for vegan butter sticks. Couldnt find so I bought spreadable tub not knowing that has more liquid. It was fine until I added 2Tbsp almond milk, which made icing too thin. Was not able to fix even by adding more powdered sugar and vegan butter. The cupcakes were delish and frosting tasted great but was just too thin. Perhaps you can add a more specific note next to butter in recipe for future 1st timers.
Hi Rhonda! So glad you enjoyed the cupcakes! I do list that it is vegan buttery sticks, but I will note to not sub with any spreads. You should be able to find vegan buttery sticks at most stores. The most common brand is Earth Balance and I’ve seen it everywhere, I hope that helps!
Awww, what a cutie..she is such a adorable!! hugs and love!!
Very impressive spread! Happy birthday, Olivia! Aren’t you lucky to have a mommy to make you such wonderful food!
How amazingly creative you are! Gorgeous baby, gorgeous ideas!
Thank you so much! That’s so sweet of you! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
This is so, SO adorable!! I can’t believe you made that dress for your daughter–it’s so cute!!! (So is she!!) And I love the spray painted styrofoam–so clever! What a beautiful spread of yummy looking desserts 🙂 I’m curious–where did you get your cupcake holder and the little cake-stand looking thing that’s holding the cookies?
Thank you so much Erika! You’re so sweet! I’m just relieved her dress fit so well because I didn’t use a pattern, just measured her, lol! The “cupcake holder” I got at Pottery Barn, but it’s actually a candle holder, but it makes a great cupcake stand, huh! It’s made out of iron so it’s really sturdy and nice, I can’t stand those ugly cardboard cupcake holders so I use this instead and it works great. The cookie stands I got at Hobby Lobby 🙂
Oh WOW that is impressive! I must have missed the section where it says you are a sewing goddess…and cool! I thought it looked like a rather unusual cupcake stand 🙂 Good to know you can buy cookie stands at Hobby Lobby–I never thought to look! Thanks 🙂
You are way too kind..no goddess, lol! I just love to sew as much as cooking!! I love challenges! Thank you so much 🙂 Oh, and FYI, they also had pink and white of the stands. 🙂
Happy Birthday to your little girl! My son also turned 1 that weekend. TIme sure does fly. She’s adorable and the party cupcakes, lolli’s, and decorations are beautiful. I love how your daughter is dressed to match. How precious!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I had a blast making her dress and it was her dress that inspired all the other decor! 🙂 Yes, it’s so bittersweet how fast they are growing up, huh? I just want to pause time. Your little boy is darling! By the way, we are both on the virtual vegan potluck! 🙂
That’s awesome. This is my first year doing VeganMoFo and VVP!
Those cupcakes look so gorgeous!
Thank you!
Your daughter is so cute, and I love everything about the layout for the birthday party! The cupcakes sound amazing as well…yum!
Thank you so much! It was a wonderful time!
Congrats my friend, I have given you The Inspiring Blogger Award 🙂
Check it out here: http://gobakeyourself.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/quick-easy/
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you so much Uru!! I’ll go check it out!! Thank you!
Congrats to your lovely daughter! She is a cuty hey! 1 year old! Yiepie! You made beautiful things for her party! I love it all! 🙂 You should be ry proud mommy! 🙂
Awww thanks Sophie! I am and I really appreciate that! I put in a lot of hard work but the outcome was worth it! 🙂
Love this special occasion treat. Looks so good! Happy birthday to Olivia!
Thank you Somer! It was a blast making everything for her! 🙂
Brandi! Everything is SO beautiful! The cupcakes, the party, the pictures and especially your little girl! You are SO creative!
Aww thank you so much Heather!! You are so sweet!! 🙂
How beautiful, LOVE the aqua and yellow and Olivia is a living doll, so beautiful. You are so talented the dress and bag and cupcakes and decorations are all gorgeous!! Happy Birthday to Olivia, she is adorable, everything you made is stunning and those cupcakes, yes I wish I could have one!!!
Wow, thank you SO MUCH! She deserved it all and I had a blast making it all, although a bit crazy and stressful at times, lol! The cupcakes sure were delicious and Olivia thought so too. It was so fun to watch her dig in 🙂
Your daughter is so beautiful and is so lucky to have a wonderful mom! Love the birthday party table. Blue and Yellow- elegant and fun! I love the handbags and the cupcakes look delicious! You do know that you probably could have your own birthday theme business : )
Aww you’re so sweet Judy! Thank you so much for the wonderful compliments!! 🙂 I truly appreciate it!
OMG, Brandi! Your daughter is so adorable!!! and I LOVE what you did for her party! OMG! You are amazing! I love the dessert table, the lollipops (I am so doing this!) and everything, wow!
You make children’s clothes and hand bags?! What? How do you find the time? Do you have an etsy shop?
OMG, you need to check it out! It’s where people can sell the things they make! http://www.etsy.com/
Awwww what a cutie, Happy birthday!!!!! I bet she absolutely loved her gorgeous little cupcakes, you are such a cool mum 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you so much Uru! She did…she was in icing heaven lol!