One of my recent favorites to bake is cupcakes. I went through a whole cupcake phase earlier this year, and as I re-visit each cupcake I'll start to post them on here.
Now...I used to be a skeptic when it came to red velvet. I don't really know, I guess part of it was the uncertainty of what red velvet was. I mean...it's kind of a supernatural color. And I'm a huge chocolate girl...so that also was a demerit for the red velvet. Then..a couple years ago I took the plunge and tried a piece of red velvet cake and found out what I was missing! Red velvet I feel like is an often misunderstood cake flavor. It's a class all of it's own. I like that. And...as a redhead I feel obligated to enjoy things of the red variety.
So with that, I delved into trying red velvet cupcakes earlier this year. Because why not? In a way this has become my signature cupcake. It's a nice, moist cupcake with a (not too) sweet cream cheese frosting. (Side note: Amy's Bread in NYC makes a nice red velvet cupcake but with a buttercream frosting...). I have cream cheese issues, which I'm slowly getting over - but really do like this cream cheese frosting! These were some of the first items that I've sold, and also a standard housewarming/birthday present for many of my friends. Today I completed a batch for a friends birthday this evening.
I have photos documenting the adventure which I will post later. Somehow, in cleaning the apartment the other day, I "temporarily relocated" the cable to download pics from camera to computer.
So...red velvet cupcakes.
Fairly standard. I mostly follow the below recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen, 2007 & the Food Network
- Serves:
- 24 frosted cupcakes (medium size cupcakes)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cream Cheese Frosting: And filling if you choose to fill them! More below on that...
- 1 pound cream cheese, softened
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
- Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish (Since I fill my cupcakes I actually garnish with crumbs from the cored cupcakes instead of the suggested garnish)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 
minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the
sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.
Garnish with chopped pecans and a fresh raspberry or strawberry.
Cook's Note: Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip.
A few tweaks that I make:
- I think there is too much oil. Often times when there is oil in a baking recipe I feel like it's too much - thus, I used 1 1/3 cups of oil.
- I also ALWAYS add some additional vanilla. Always. I love vanilla. Soon there will be a post about making your own vanilla...hopefully it will work!
A few other notes:
I am all about filled cupcakes. When I found myself with some...extra free time I decided to figure out how to fill my own cupcakes. So, I tried a few methods listed online. One of the primary listed methods is referred to as the "cone method". I hate the cone method. The theory is you take a paring knife and cut out a small cone from the middle of the cupcake. I find it messy, time consuming and just kind of annoying. I went out and got an extra piping tip with a nice size whole, stick that in the middle of the cupcake and core the center. It works for me.
- Frosting: If you've never frosted a cupcake with a piping bag I suggest you go out to the store now and get a piping bag (12" or 14" is a good mid-size, I have an 8" which is good for some fillings but too small for frosting and I use a 16" or 18" when actually frosting cupcakes) and some different tips and give it a go. It makes the frosting of cupcakes a much quicker and easier process.
Enjoy!!
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