It was the perfect timing

It was the summer of 2008. I had just returned stateside from a six month stint in Europe, and was once again vulnerable to the everyday charms of American civilization. Like cupcakes.

My mother egged on my newfound fascination with drip coffee and 32 oz. sodas from Sunoco when she left a copy of the infamous Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World on my pillow. It was the perfect timing.

I had my own big kitchen in Providence. I had more than a handful of friends with upcoming birthdays. I had a demanding work and class schedule that required copious amounts of procrastination. And, perhaps most notably, I was vegan with a vengeance.

I took to the kitchen, and despite its lack of fancy baking equipment, was able to whip up a few first successful batches of cakes. Granted, the tops collapsed in on some and they weren't the prettiest things to look at, but a quick dousing in hundreds-and-thousands always saved the day. I brought my first babies to a friend's birthday party only four days after our mutual arrival to the states. After her first bite, her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "Carrie, these are the best...cupcakes...i have ever...had!"

That's when I knew. It can be done, and it can be done well--vegan baking, vegan eating, for that matter, can be the best one has ever had. To hell with butter, eggs, and milk. We really don't need that crap--in our bodies or in our cupcakes.

And so vegan cupcakes take over the world. Or at least Providence, for that matter.

This blog is an attempt to chronicle the adventures in my kitchen, which typically involve sticky messes with coconut icing and rainbow sprinkles, always involve embarrassing air guitar jams to (vegan!) rock, and never involve any animals.

And the playlist begins...