Having made a huge batch of Vegan Italian Meringue Buttercream in the process of writing up my recent blog post, I needed to put some of it to good use.  Clearly cupcakes were in order.

Chocolate cake with vanilla icing is a classic combination, and difficult to resist.  I turned to Rebecca August’s excellent Chocolate Midnight Cake recipe as posted in the Vegan Meringues — Hits and Misses Facebook group.

Some of these beauties went off to a bake sale, but the rest stayed home to share with friends.  They were so popular and so delicious that I may just need to make another batch.

When making these, have your pans ready to fill as soon as the batter is mixed, and be prepared to bake them all at once.  Your cupcakes will be best if they go into the oven as soon as possible after mixing.

Chocolate Midnight Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 1/3 cup canola or other mildly-flavored oil
• 1/3 cup aqua faba (the liquid drained from a can of chickpeas or other mildy-flavored beans)
  
• 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
• 1 cup hot, brewed coffee
  

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
2. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners and set them aside.  If you won’t be able to bake all 24 cupcakes at once, divide the recipe.  These cupcakes will have the best texture when the batter goes into the oven immediately after mixing.
3. Sift flour, sugar, salt, cocoa, salt and baking soda into a medium-sized bowl.
4. Add oil, milk, and aqua faba, and stir with a spoon until smooth.
5. Stir in hot coffee until smooth. The batter will be very thin.
6. Divide batter evenly into 24 muffin cups.
7. Bake at 350ºF for 18-20 minutes.  Check early and don’t overbake.  Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and they spring back when pressed lightly in the center.

When the cupcakes are cool, frost with vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream, (the recipe as written will make far more than you’ll need — halve it, and/or freeze the rest of the icing in an airtight container for another day).