Sweet tooth saturday: fauxstess cupcakes

Way back when I first cracked open Vegan with a Vengeance, the recipe for Fauxstess cupcakes (aka imitation Hostess cupcakes) caught my eye. At the time I was in a super nomadic phase of my life and didn't own an electric mixer, which is something of a must for this recipe. Eventually I did settle down a bit and get a mixer. And then this weekend I finally got around to making Fauxstess cupcakes:


Not bad, eh? There were some problems with the consistency of the white icing, but overall they are a convincing visual facsimile, no? As far as taste goes, these do actually bear a surprising resemblance to the cupcakes you find in gas stations across America. The batter gets a pretty thorough beating compared to the typical cupcake, which seems to produce a slightly denser crumb. The filling is full of artery clogging junk, much like the real thing, but the topping is definitely superior, as it's a nice chocolate ganache and not some sort of chocolate flavored concoction of icing sugar, water, and coloring.

Final verdict? This recipe is a little involved, but the novelty factor can't be beat (not to mention that the cupcakes are pretty darned tasty).