Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I can’t claim credit for the idea of making red velvet cupcakes for Valentine’s Day. It is predictable, but like a classic chocolate mud cake, it’s never old. Above all, when the bright red-hued cupcakes are frosted with the creamy off-white frosting and topped with little sugar hearts... they are look so beautiful that I feel I deserve a minute silence to honour what I have just created. Or perhaps it’s the same thing as all children looking beautiful to their own mothers.

You be the judge.

Red Velvet has only been introduced into Australia in recent years. It’s just a chocolate cake with LOTS of red food colouring. The taste however, is a little deeper than that. And no, it’s not the food colouring that gives it its distinctive taste, since I’ve used a “no taste” red colouring.  And the cream cheese icing is just the perfect pairing. They really go together like bacon and eggs.

I really can’t think of a reason NOT to make this... hmm... maybe apart from the fact that for the few hours afterwards, you might end up looking like you’ve just killed an animal with your bare hands. And oh, the batter is one of the most delicious I’ve tried. So go make these NOW, and save some batter in the bowl for you to lick off later J

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes: (this amount makes about 24 cupcakes)

2 ½ cups cake flour (to make cake flour: for every cup of plain flour, replace 2 tablespoons with corn flour)

1 ½ cups caster sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa – sifted

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 ½ vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk (or plain runny yoghurt or sour cream)

2 tbsp red food colouring*

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp distilled white vinegar

For the cream cheese frosting

300g cream cheese, chilled

100g butter, at room temp

2 tsp vanilla extract (you can use imitation vanilla here)

3 ¼ cups pure icing sugar, sifted

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Line muffin/cupcake pans with wrappers.

In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients; ie flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of the electric mixer, (or another large bowl if you are doing it by hand), mix together the rest of the ingredients until smooth.

*Note: don’t use the Queens liquid food colouring you get from the supermarket. The colour won’t be as deep. I use Wilton gel colours, which are concentrated. You can get it online or at speciality stores such as Wheel and Barrow, House or the David Jones food hall. For the Wilton gel colours, 2 tablespoons is equal to the entire 28g bottle. Mix it with a tablespoon of water before adding to the batter.

Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet, until you have a very smooth batter.

Fill cupcake wrappers 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean when pricked.

(So easy right???)

For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter together on low to medium speed on the electric mixer until combined and smooth (you can do this by hand, but unless you want to substitute it for going to the gym, I wouldn’t recommend it).

Add the icing sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. You will realise that adding the sugar will make the mixture floppier, don’t worry, it’s natural. Make sure you don’t over beat the mixture though, as it will turn soupy and you can’t get it back.

Decorate cupcakes per your imagination.

Recipe source: Adapted from Annie’s eats