Second Adventure in Green Tea Cupcakes

This week I tried the Green Tea Cupcakes recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, since I still had some matcha powder that I wanted to use up. The green tea flavor is intense--you must be a serious green tea lover--but I thought that they turned out great. The cake, like all the cupcakes from this cookbook, is so moist, and, also like all the cupcakes in this book, is ready in a flash (Everything I've made from this cookbook has been essentially a one-bowl cupcake). The glaze was perfect, too, although I added more rice milk to the recipe because I really wanted a glaze--not a frosting--since I knew the perils of a too-thick frosting on a delicate green tea cupcake. The only thing that would have taken longer would be if I had made the pretty little fondant flowers that they made in the cookbook, which, needless to say, I did not do. Instead, I toasted slivered almonds and arranged them three of them in the center of each cupcake--it looked cute (picture forthcoming).

Vegan Green Tea Cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World)

Toast slivered almonds for about 4-5 minutes at 375, shaking the pan halfway through.
Lower the heat to 350. Line muffin tins.

In a large bowl, whisk together:
½ C soy yogurt
2/3 C rice milk
¼ t vanilla extract
1/3 C canola oil
½ t almond extract

Beat well to blend in yogurt.

Sift in:
1 ¼ C flour
1 t baking powder
¼ t baking soda
3-4 t matcha powder
¼ t salt
¾ C sugar

Beat a little longer to break up any large lumps.
Fill liners 2/3 full and bake 20 min.

Green Tea Glaze
With a fork, beat 2 T margarine to a fluff.
Mix in 1 C confectioners' sugar and 1/8 to ¼ t matcha powder to form a crumbly texture.
Slowly beat in 1 T rice milk, ¼ t almond extract, and a drop of vanilla extract. If icing is too thick, pour in an additional teaspoon of rice milk. (I added probably 2 or 3 more teaspoons of rice milk.)