Hello!

I have my first request for vegan cupcakes. I want to make sure I am following all the rules and understanding the pricing. They are requesting vegan with no oil or dairy. I have looked up a few recipes that call for sun flower oil, vegan butter and cocount milk. Are all these items acceptable as vegan - no oil - no dairy rules? Also I am seeing pricing, in particular, for the Earth Balance vegan butter that is $113 for 4 sticks of butter. That seems insane to me, but then again I have never baked all vegan before. Does this seem reasonable or am I missing some detail? Also do you typically add on to the total price of the cupcakes for the extra footwork takes make all vegan? They are requesting 150 cupcakes with 50 of them being vegan! Thanks so much for any info!

You're fine with coconut milk as as substitute for the milk, not sure if it's an okay buttermilk substitute though (acidity and such). As for oil, do you mean regular vegetable oil substitute or butter sub? If you want a regular oil (liquid) sub, try applesauce. I use it in place of oil and it comes out fine. :)

And $113? did you forget a decimal point? 4 sticks (or a pound of butter) even the expensive stuff isn't that much. Make sure it says "for baking" otherwise it's just regular margarine (which I think is mostly vegan anyways). Check your local health food place for alternatives, they may know of or have other replacements for regular butter.

I don't know what you would do for an egg replacer, never tried those.

Is your icing vegan too?

I used coconut oil and it made the cupcakes so nice and moist.  Earth Balance is expensive but any vegan replacement is going to be.  Absolutely yes, add on to the price of the cupcake for the vegan ones.  Most people who order vegan know there is a cost difference so that shouldn't be an issue but explain the cost difference to be sure they understand.  I believe I added $2 per cupcake more for the vegan ones but I didn't have to do 50.

Vegan isn't no oil, so I don't know what you mean by that. It's no animal products, including eggs or milk. If they don't want oil there's a lot of recipes that you'll have to eliminate.

There are a bunch of vegan butter substitutes that are basically hydrogenated oils in stick form. There's a type of Blue Bonnet margarine that has no whey in it, and that's the one that's okay for vegan baking. Whey comes from milk, so it's on the no-no list.

Earth Balance isn't $113 for 4 sticks, so don't worry about that!

Thanks so much for the replies! This is similar to what I came across the other day for butter. https://www.google.com/shopping/product/15012434481801332756?q=vegan+butter+earth+balance&biw=1366&bih=673&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.&bvm=bv.101525188,d.dmo&tch=1&ech=1&psi=U2fkVdqdEcXXeMrciKgB.1441032021835.17&prds=paur:ClkAsKraX5kKki2-eKW0LMPxhFn68UMfCNMHnR0QiNEAbr0x6W08KwCieRMD-Jx2fnDUCzwVCagFpw3BiqbNxRKorTrct_ntfrHbUNQTvkwcoQELarkdL0lpPhIZAFPVH72ohWJP2BYUs1TsaW6hK_67y8Y7EA&ved=0CDwQqSs4FGoVChMIsLuX-cbTxwIVgtQeCh2twwdx&ei=sGfkVbCjAoKpe62Hn4gH

Though I have made a few grocery trips to inquire and they certianly are not that much in the stores! So I must be reading the listing incorrectly.
I will be doing vegan frosting as well. So $2 per cupcake more would be reasonable? I really am new  vegan traditions so when a self proclaimed vegan said no oil or dairy, I thought that to be a normal vegan request. I have since asked for additional information of their specific needs so hopefully I will have some clarification soon. Thanks so much again, you were all very helpful!!

Wow, regular cupcakes around here go for $3 and over.  Vegan should definitely be more.

Yeah, no oil isn't a "vegan" requirement, that's a whole other request outside of just vegan.  And as costumeczar mentioned, many margarines have whey or some type of milk derivative added.  As an extra note, you'd need to avoid anything containing gelatin, as that is not vegan or vegetarian.  

Veganism is usually: no eggs, no dairy (no milk or cheese), and in some cases, no honey.  It depends on the vegan.

That Amazon listing must be for 80 pounds of Earth Balance!! It's more like $4-5 in the store.

I just got an email that my post is being held for consideration, but I have a feeling it's because I included the name of the website previously linked? 

Yeah, no oil isn't a "vegan" requirement, that's a whole other request outside of just vegan.  And as costumeczar mentioned, many margarines have whey or some type of milk derivative added.  As an extra note, you'd need to avoid anything containing gelatin, as that is not vegan or vegetarian.  

Veganism is usually: no eggs, no dairy (no milk or cheese), and in some cases, no honey.  It depends on the vegan.