My first vegan cupcakes....

I wanted to try this recipe from the Love and Olive Oil blog site, it is a vegan almond cupcake with a blackberry buttercream (which I made with butter, so that's not vegan). The whole thing together is very yummy.

Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream
Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup almond meal (I made this by grinding 1/2 cup slivered almonds with 1/4 cup confectioners sugar and processing until flour like.)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used just under 1 cup)

1/3 cup oil

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 vanilla bean (seeds only)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Blackberry Buttercream:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, room temperature

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons fresh blackberry puree, strained

1/2 vanilla bean (seeds only)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add sugar and mix. Whisk together oil, coconut milk, vanilla bean, and almond extract. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until relatively smooth. Fill cupcake liners with a scant 1/4 cup of batter (should be just under 2/3 of the way full). Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

For frosting, cream butter in electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Slowly add 1 cup sugar and beat until smooth. Add blackberry puree and mix until combined. Add remaining confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and beat until well incorporated. Add vanilla bean and extract and mix at medium-high speed until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.