Crimson Cupcakes

I just realized that every one of the recipes is lemony (the muffins have lemons in the background), so I figured I needed to post something lemon free. Well, Nobody had a chance to go to the store before hand so the pantry was still pretty much empty, making it extremely hard to do anything. I decided I reallly wanted to try a red velvet recipe so I started getting everything together, but it turns out I only had about a half cup of flour and a tablespoon of cocoa, didn't have any chocolate extract, and I barely had any soy milk left. I still really wanted to make them though. I freaking broke down the whole recipe haha. I ended up using all-purpose AND self-rising flour, omitted the salt, baking powder, and soda, upped the vanilla and added some almond extract instead of cocoa, and halved the whole recipe so everything would work. Then, when I totally finished baking them and thought everything was going great, I realized I'd totally forgotten about the frosting. God really did not want me to make these cupcakes. It all worked out though, because my mom was on her way home and was able to stop by the store to get the stuff I needed. They turned out reallly well, I actually liked them better than my regular recipe:]. I even found a good cream "cheese"! :D It only made six, but hey, I'm not complaining. I'm lucky I even came up with one. Hopefully you have better luck than me:]

Serves: 6
Cupcakes:
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/6 cup oil
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 + 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Cream "Cheese" Frosting:
1/4 cup softened margarine (smart balance light or earthbalance work well)
1/4 cup vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese, it was amazing[:)
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle. Sift the flours, sugar, and cocoa into a medium-sized boal and mix. Add the oil, food coloring, vanilla and almond extracts to the curdled soy milk and whisk until well combined. Fold wet ingredients into dry, and mix until large lumps disappear.
Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way and bake for 18-20 minutes (be sure not to over-bake!). After a few minutes transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cream together margarine and cream "cheese" until well combined. Using a handheld mixer (or standard is fine), whip the mixture while adding the confectioner's sugar in 1/2 cup batches. whip until smooth and creamy, then mix in the vanilla.

**Refrigerate or chill frosting in the freezer for a few minutes to firm it up before you frost your cupcakes.**

**It would probably be a whole lot more convenient (not to mention the measurements would be prettier) if you doubled the recipe**

**Red sugar sprinkles look really good on top[: **