Friday 13 February 2009

RED VELVET VALENTINE'S DAY CUPCAKES

What better for a kiddies' Valentine's day party than Red Velvet cupcakes? I will forego the traditional cream cheese frosting for a classic buttercream because this will hold up better and pipes beautifully. I wanted huge swirls of buttercream and little candy heart sprinkles.

I think this will go over well with the kindergarteners because it has all the elements of fun food: it's tiny, sweet, buttery, full of sprinkles and hand-held! Bib took a mini cupcake and scraped off all the frosting (as usual); leaving behind the cake. She didn't even taste the cake; nor was she interested in tasting it. Bebe ate the whole thing and nodded approvingly.

The recipe for Red Velvet cupcakes makes 24 regular cupcakes, but I wanted mini ones for the kids so I made a batch of 24 mini cupcakes and the rest of the batter filled up the remaining 14 regular-sized cupcake molds for the adults.

The batter mixes up easily and yes indeed, it uses a full 2 ounces (a huge bottle) of red food colouring. The resulting batter looks quite ghastly, but after it bakes, it deepens into a deep red.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
from The Artful Cupcake, by Marcianne Miller
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter or shortening, room temperature (I used butter, of course!)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 oz red food colouring
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 t vanilla extract
1 T distilled white vinegar
1 T baking soda

  1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare the muffin pans with shortening or nonstick spray. Bake without paper cups to get smoother sides. [I used paper liners]
  2. Cream together the butter/shortening and sugar until well blended and light and fluffy
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend well after each addition
  4. Make a paste with the food colouring and cocoa. Add the paste to the butter/shortening mixture and blend thoroughly.
  5. Add the salt and buttermilk to the mixture
  6. Add the flour, vanilla, vinegar and baking soda in that order, mixing after each addition
  7. Pour the batter into the pans, filling at least halfway. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  8. Remove and turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

I frosted with a 1m Wilton tip using a double batch of this classic buttercream recipe.

30 comments:

Snooky doodle said...

these look so cute and colourful. Delicious!

oneordinaryday said...

Love the picture!
Michelle
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/

Elyse said...

the perfect valentine's cupcake! they look just beautiful (and quite delicious, too)!

Manggy said...

Oh Biiiiib :) Ah, (some) children! I for one need that perfect balance of frosting and cake-- and these look perfect! :)

Maria said...

Cute cupcakes!! I hope you have a great V-day!

giz said...

How pretty are those!!! I love them.

Sara said...

So pretty - Happy Valentine's Day!

Cakebrain said...

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day!

Anonymous said...

I agree, there's no better cake than Red Velvet on Valentines Day. These look so sweet and delicious! :)

Lot-O-Choc said...

Ooh wow these look good
I made red velvet cakes for valentines day as well (:
Hope they all enjoyed them!!

Brilynn said...

Although I'm not the biggest fan of red velvet, those cupcakes are gorgeous!

I recently made your chocolate playdough, I'd had it bookmarked for ages to try and only just got around to it. My hands are too warm to be a pastry chef! It took me quite a few tries to get a rose made without it melting, but the end result was pretty. Thanks for the recipe!

Dewi said...

Such a happy and cheerful valentine's cake. I never made red velvet cake, sounds really velvety.
Cheers,
Elra

Ivy said...

The cupcakes look beautiful. Happy Valentine's Day.

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Red is the way to go today really! They're adorable!

Julia said...

Beautiful cupcakes!

Anonymous said...

How lovely! been wanting to make rvc,your post gives me the extra push I need ;)

The Chic Cakery said...

Yay! Your Valentine's Day cuppies are so cute! I've never tried to make red velvet from scratch. I think I'm afraid I'll be grossed out from adding the red coloring. I'm such a weirdo. :)

Love the cookies, too! Super cute.

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

Aww they're cute! I bet they were YUM!

Selba said...

Oh... so cute!

Anonymous said...

Isn't it sad.. I've never had red velvet cake = ( The cup cakes are adorable, I hope you had a fantastic V-day!

Screamin' Mama said...

I've never tried red velvet cake before but your photos inspired me. Thanks so much for posting the recipe.

Cakebrain said...

thanks for the kind words, everyone! I know, I hadn't had RV cupcakes before either. I had nothing but rave reviews from the kiddies and parents. Bebe said the cupcakes were all gone and the grownups said they were amazing! yay!

test it comm said...

Those cupcakes look good! What a nice shade of red.

the decorated cookie said...

oh my gosh, I just want to reach in the screen and gobble them up!

Premyscakes said...

They look very much adorable and colorful.

Daisypicker5 said...

Ahhh I made a red velvet cake this weekend and really liked this recipe http://www.howcast.com/videos/139827-How-To-Make-Red-Velvet-Cake but I actually want the make the cake into cup cakes... Who knows maybe i'll make valentines day cup cakes next year :)

Aaisha said...

I love the look of the crumb on this cupcake. I'm guessing it's because it uses all purpose flour rather than cake flour? I've tried two recipes before this - the Magnolia red velvet and the Martha Stewart red velvet. Both used cake flour, but the texture was just too... mushy. I like when you can see and feel the crumbs. Do you sift the flour? I'm going to try these out this weekend. Thanks for the recipe!

Cakebrain said...

Aaisha,
you know me...too lazy to sift if I don't have to! ;)
I didn't sift the flour because it didn't tell me to sift it in the instructions and the AP flour does give the cake more structure I think. Hope you like it!

Anonymous said...

Does 't' stand for teaspoon and 'T' mean tablespoon? I wanna make sure i get this right cuz i want to make this for my dads birthday this weekend!

Cakebrain said...

Anon,
Yes, t=teaspoon and T=tablespoon

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