Golden Vanilla Cupcakes (Vegan)

They say that "canola oil makes never-fail cupcakes with a light texture. Margarine can be a little trickier to work with, but the buttery flavor, golden color and delicate texture it gives the cupcakes are worth the effort." I tried it with the canola oil and it turned out wonderful! Very moist, spongy, fluffy and airy, indeed. So far, the best vegan vanilla cupcake recipe I've ever made! I'm inspired to do all the recipes from the book!

1 C soy milk, unsweetened
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch (potato starch, OK)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (increase salt to 1/2 teaspoon if you're using oil instead of margarine)
1/3 cup canola oil or 1/2 C margarine
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I should do it short of 3/4 but not quite 1/2...a little too sweet with frosting on it)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a measuring cup, set aside a few minutes to get good and curdled.

If using margarine: sift flour, cornstarch, bp, bs, and salt into a large bowl and mix and in a separate large bowl, cream butter and sugar for 2 minutes until light and fluffy, but don't beat past 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and other extract then alternate beating the soy mixture and dry ingredients, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times.

If using oil: beat together the the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts in a large bowl. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until no large lumps remain.

Fill cupcake liners two-third full and bake for 20-22 minutes until done. (20 min for me)

Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Makes 1 dozen, from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World