Thank you everyone for all the support regarding the discovery of my food allergies. I appreciate it more than you know. I have discovered that it is not that hard to bake without eggs and butter. There are so many substitutes you can use as replacements. Godairyfree.org is a great resource, and I had trouble deciding what recipe to try first. I chose a spice cake recipe and made some cupcakes. The result: lovely dense spice cakes that were not lacking in flavor at all! I followed the recipe exactly, except for using oat flour instead of all purpose flour. I can’t wait to try more vegan recipes!!! I also had a lot of fun using my new decorating stencils to add style to my cupcakes. The stencils were my Christmas gift to myself!

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening (such as Earth Balance)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 8 or 9 inch square cake pan.
In a saucepan over medium high heat combine; the sugar, shortening, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground allspice, salt, raisins, and water bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Add the flour mixture to the cooled raisin mixture. Stir until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes.