Dairy-Free Ladybug Cupcakes

Well, tomorrow my little girl will be a year old. I still can't believe how fast time flies! Since she has a dairy intolerance and I wanted her to be able to enjoy a cupcake on her birthday, I made these dairy-free. As you can probably tell, we are having a ladybug party.

These cupcakes are a devil's food cake topped with buttercream. While they are dairy-free, they do contain eggs. If you need to replace the eggs, please use your preferred substitution method. I used green gel coloring to dye the icing.

I saw the decorating idea in the Martha Stewart Cupcake Book. I had originally planned to make the ladybugs out of fondant. Then I came to my senses! I had a million things to do for the party and our upcoming vacation. I didn't have time for fondant! I found my ladybug candy decorations at Oriental Trading, but there are a ton of Etsy shops and craft stores that sell similar items. You could even make your own chocolates and put them on top.

I used a Wilton tip #233 to pipe the icing onto the cupcakes. The trick is to let it pool a little on the cupcake before pulling up to create the grass. This way you have a proportionate amount of icing to cupcake. I also found that working from the outside edge and spiraling toward the center was the easiest way to apply it.

I hope you enjoy these! You may want to work in batches when piping the icing. It requires a lot of squeezing and your hands will probably get tired. If you have any questions or tips please let me know!

Don't forget to check out Cupcake Tuesday over at Hoosier Homemade!

Dairy-Free Devil’s Food Cake
(Makes about 24 regular cupcakes)

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line pans and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening on high for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add dry mixture and water alternately, mixing until well incorporated.

Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 3 minutes before removing cupcakes to wire rack to finish cooling.

Dairy-Free Buttercream

½ cup vegetable shortening
½ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups powdered sugar
½ cup coconut milk, shaken and well mixed before measuring

In a large bowl, mix together shortening, salt, vanilla, and 2 cups of the powdered sugar. Add in remaining sugar, 2 cups at a time and alternate with coconut milk. Add more coconut milk to thin and more sugar to thicken the icing, if needed. Beat on high speed for 10 minutes until light and fluffy.