It’s actually shocking and amazing to me that I’ve even made these cupcakes this week if I’m being perfectly honest with you. Let me start by saying that the Neapolitan cake from last week had me deciding that I wanted to make cakes/ cupcakes based on classic and nostalgic flavours (so I’m sorry to disappoint you if you were expecting any of the following to make an appearance:
(fun side note: I found this photo by googling “hipster ice cream flavours” – so if you looked at this photo and thought “Hey Hibiscus Beet – my favourite flavour!!” you just might be a hipster. If you’re now insisting that despite that, you’re not in fact a hipster, then just know that you’re only digging yourself deeper with your denial, as denial is one of the signs. i.e. You most definitely are a hipster. Just embrace it.)
or other equally crazy flavours like garlic or horsemeat – no, I am not making that up – see other crazy flavours here). If the intention was to recreate throwbacks to childhood then I would be remiss if I didn’t include a Tiger Tail flavoured option. I most definitely remember this flavour from my salad days. The reason I remember it oh so well? Because I thought it was the epitome of ghastly/ atrocious/ vomit-inducing (insert favourite disparaging taste-related synonymn here) flavour in the universe. It combined two of what I considered to be the absolute worst tastes/ ingredients – black licorice (which I now absolutely love, who knew?), and artificial orange flavoured things (real oranges and orange juice were fine, but flavoured orange? *shudder*. I still feel this way).
“Naked” (aka unfrosted – avert your eyes!) Tiger Tail Cupcakes
Now many of you may have already known this, but when I started Googling Tiger Tail ice cream, I discovered that this was apparently just a Canadian thing (see here). I have to admit that that makes me feel somewhat unpatriotic for my lack of love (read: irrevocable and intense hatred) for this flavour as a child. When I shared this tidbit of Canadiana with Kevin, he of course already knew this, thus deflating my thinking I was sharing groundbreaking/ earth-shattering news. However, Kevin is a crazy person for whom this was one of his favourite ice cream varieties as a youngin, so what does he know? 😉 .
So why, you may ask, would I subject myself to recreating this flavour in cake form? 1) As I said, it’s most definitely a classic, so I guess there’s that, 2) Once I realized it was Canadian, it just felt wrong not to include it and finally (and most importantly) 3) I now love black licorice/ anise flavour. And although I still hate artificial/ made in a laboratory orange flavour, since I was obviously going to be completely in control here (yeah – I’m the boss!! Take that Tony and Angela 😉 ), I would have jurisdiction over the level of orange fakery that I would allow to enter these cakes (hint: it’s none).
In true Tiger Tail ice cream form, I made orange cupcakes through which I swirled anise flavoured cupcakes, and then repeated this visual panache for the icing as well.
Oh Tiger Tail, now that I’ve “tail”-ored you to my liking – I may have finally found a way to love you.❤️
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients: Orange Cake
- 1 3/4 cups + 1 tablespoon cake/pastry flour (or all purpose is fine too)
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, room temperature
- 2 egg replacer
- zest from 1 medium sized orange
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon orange oil or orange extract
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 3/4 cups carrot purée (this is for colour mostly, if you omit this, then reduce the flour by 1/3 cup)
Directions: Orange Cake
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- On low speed of a hand mixer, slowly add in the vegan butter a few cubes (or blobs if you’re me) at a time, mixing until there are no huge chunks left.
- Add egg replacer one at a time, blending between each addition.
- Add in the vanilla, orange extract and orange zest, mixing to combine.
- Alternate adding the puréed carrot and almond milk in a few additions, mixing between each addition.
- Set aside while making the anise flavoured cake
Ingredients: Anise Cake
- 1 cup soft licorice
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups cake/pastry flour (or all purpose is fine too)
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, room temperature
- 2 egg replacer
- 1 tablespoon charcoal powder (this is just for colour, so if you don’t have it, feel free to omit)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon star anise extract
- 1/2 cup almond milk
Directions: Anise Cake
- Start by creating an anise paste (some of this will be used in your icing as well). In a small saucepan, combine the soft licorice and water and bring to a boil. Simmer on low until a paste forms (about 8-10 minutes). Allow to cool slightly before puréeing in a food processor or blender to until completely smooth. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- On low speed of a hand mixer, slowly add in the vegan butter a few cubes (or blobs if you’re me) at a time, mixing until there are no huge chunks left.
- Add egg replacer one at a time, blending between each addition.
- Add in the vanilla, anise extract and 1/2 cup of your licorice “paste”, mixing to combine. Mix in your charcoal powder if using.
- Add the almond milk in a few additions, mixing between each addition.
Ingredients: Orange Cream Cheese Icing
- 1/3 cups vegan cream cheese
- 1/3 cups vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon orange oil or extract
- 1 tablespoon puréed carrot (for colour)
- zest from 1 medium sized orange
- 1 1/2-2 cups icing sugar
Directions: Orange Cream Cheese Icing
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy.
- Beat in the orange oil/extract, puréed carrot and orange zest.
- Slowly add the icing sugar until you get the desired spreadable consistency and sweetness you want.
Ingredients: Anise Cream Cheese Icing
- 1/3 cups vegan cream cheese
- 1/3 cups vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon star anise extract
- 2 teaspoons of charcoal powder (again, this is only for colour, so feel free to omit)
- 1 1/2-2 cups icing sugar
Directions: Anise Cream Cheese Icing
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy.
- Beat in the star anise and charcoal powder.
- Slowly add the icing sugar until you get the desired spreadable consistency and sweetness you want.
Directions: Assembly
- Preheat oven to 325F. Line two 12 cup muffin pans with baking cups (or just grease).
- Either starting with your anise cupcake batter or your orange batter, alternate by adding a spoonful of one cake batter, top with the second batter and repeat. If desired, use a toothpick to slightly swirl the cake between layers.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool while preparing the frosting.
- To get the “swirled” frosting look, take a piping bag fitted with a star tip and spoon the orange frosting into one side of the bag and carefully spoon the anise frosting on the other side of the bag. As you pipe the frosting onto your cupcakes the colours will swirl together.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Hi Amber. I used to love tiger tail ice cream as a child. I was just watching Cupcake Wars and suddenly thought of how good a tiger tail cupcake would taste. I’ve been vegan since 2004 and assumed that any recipe I found online would need to be veganized. By a happy coincidence you’ve already done that for me! I am so looking forward to trying these!
by Melissa January 1, 2020 at 03 : 04So glad you found this then 🙂 If you end up making it, let me know how it turns out!
by admin January 1, 2020 at 04 : 45