vegan buttercream icing

I've been promising a lot people that I'd share this recipe with them, so here it (finally) is! This is my go-to recipe for vegan cupcakes. It's versatile and delicious and, like always, super simple. The ingredients are also easy to find which is a nice change for a vegan recipe. There's no 'essence of organic butterfly tears' in this recipe. You're welcome.

You'll need an electric hand mixer.
Yields enough icing for 12 cupcakes.

1/4 cup nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening

1/4 cup nonhydrogenated margarine (I use Becel)

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoons flavour extract

1/8 cup plain soy milk

1. With a fork, cream shortening and margarine together with a fork.

2. Add the sifted icing sugar 1/4 cup at a time. Mix using electric mixer until all sugar is used.  (You might adjust the amount of sugar according to your desired sweetness)

3. Add soy milk and flavour extract and mix on low-medium speed until fluffy (usually about two minutes, adjusting for room temperature and other various 'acts of God')

I usually let it sit in the fridge for 20 minutes or so before I frost my cupcakes with it. It stays fluffy, but it just seems to gain and maintain a some stiffness if it's been chilled before hand.

So that's it. Go nuts with different flavours and colours. You can basically add any flavour extract and colour you want, and the result will always be awesome.

Enjoy!