The Cupcake I Dared to Eat

The other day I got a package in the mail from my sister. The one I'm sort of talking to at the moment. Inside were some cupcakes and a note saying “Try these, they're good.”

Now, gobbling up those cupcakes was not quite the no-brainer you might think it would be. That's because my sister is a vegan. Which, in case the term is unfamiliar, is basically a vegetarian with the difficulty factor cranked up. She started it sometime during high school and, well, the family all thought it was going to be yet another phase but she's stuck with it. She has books and websites and all sorts of things about it – it's like a whole different subculture, really – and aside from the fact that she won't touch anything even near meat she's not pushy about it or anything. And, you know, I don't mind a good vegetarian dish every now and then (I also don't mind a big hunk of meat dripping with goodness every now and again, either.) and, thanks to my sister, I've been to some very fine vegan restaurants in my time.

But I draw the line at vegan baking. They just, as a general rule, don't taste right. It has to do with the lack of eggs. Not having that binding ingredient in the dough makes the cake or bread or whatever it is taste chewy and gummy instead of the crisp airiness I associate with fine baked goods. I've tried to make them myself using apple sauce and unsaturated, transfat-less shortening, you know, the works, and, I'd like to think I'm not exactly a novice when it comes to turning out a tasty desert. Even at those vegan restaurants, I've had fine sherbet and the like but I've learned to steer clear of any cake-like substances.

So, it was with some trepidation that I extricated the first cupcake from its wrapping (My sister's following in the long family tradition of arts and crafts, it seems. She'd taken an ordinary cupcake...um, cup and decorated it with all sorts of swirly paint and sparkles. By hand, no doubt. Just really nicely done. The card was done in pretty nice calligraphic style, too.) but, hey, a cupcake is a cupcake. And just like cookies, I follow the rule – if you see it, eat it up quick.

And, you know, it was a damn tasty cupcake. I wouldn't have guessed it was vegan if I hadn't known it came from my sister. The consistency of the cake was just right – moist and giving while still springy and crisp with just the right touch of sugary sweetness. It was the icing that impressed me, though, as it was light and creamy, not unlike the vanilla buttermilk frosting I make myself. Just a nice, homemade cupcake. And I've since sent my sister a letter back saying as much.

I'm not quite sure why my sister sent them to me – she's generally only nice to me when she wants something. You know, some favor or whatever. But, from what I gather from my mother, my sister got herself a vegan cooking book – all about making cupcakes – and she's been working away the past few weeks in her kitchen to perfect the recipes therein. And she's, quite rightly I'd say, proud of what she's accomplished. So, I'd like to think she sent them to me to show off. Not in a bad way but as, perhaps a peace offering of sorts. A way of saying that, yeah, we haven't always gotten along in the past but we're still family and in our family we share what it is that makes each of us special. Just a “hey big brother, look what I can do.” kinda thing.

So, the cupcake was sweet but the chance that my sister might just being trying to change – as I am, if not in the same way – was even sweeter still.