The adventure of trying to make a house a home that we built for our family of six plus some craft, home décor, recipes & any family fun we might have.

Wednesday 11 April 2012

DAY 3 - Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

Today see's us halfway through our Cupcake Journey, so when I started this I really wanted to try and make Red Velvet Cupcakes. During the last few years I've heard about Red Velvet cakes and I wondered what ingredient made it sooooooooo red. So while I was searching I came across this recipe at 'tasted by two' by Sydney couple Zina and Felix. I was really surprised to find out that the special ingredient was red food colouring, so all this time I'd been missing out on making Red Velvet Cake because I wasn't adding food colouring.

I fell in love when I did an image search for cupcakes. I wanted to make this because the picture looked good, yummy while also looking pretty. The recipe came from Manhattan's well known Magnolia Bakery. When they were in New York they saw a long line leading into the bakery. I'm really grateful that they shared their recipe, this marvellous picture and the story behind how they discovered it.  I was drawn to this picture straight away and I knew I had to try to replicate it. I had to race out and buy a pipping bag because you guessed it mine is in storage. I tired using baking paper and a plastic bag to pipe the icing onto each cupcake but neither method worked. So here's the recipe for these little beauties.

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients:
3 ¼ cups of plain flour
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups caster sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons red food colouring
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ cups full cream milk
1 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Grease and lightly flour 2 cupcake pans.
2. In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar on a medium speed until its very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. In another small bowl, whisk together the red food colouring, cocoa and vanilla. Add to the creamed mixture.
5. In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the milk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, don't over beat.
6. In another small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well.
7. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.
8. Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
9. Bake the cupcakes, switching positions of the pans halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
10. Cool the cupcakes in the pan 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack before icing.



Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
300g cream cheese (spreadable cream cheese or mascarpone are both fine)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups icing sugar, sifted

Method:
1. With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. Pour in icing sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Fill a piping bag with icing and spread over each cake. Big and swirly is the key.

They look pretty. The kids and adults will love them. They are worth the wait.


So if you missed the previous cupcakes you can find them here and here. Come back tomorrow and you'll get to see my Strawberry Yoghurt Cupcakes.

Megan

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