Red Velvet Valentine's Day Cupcakes

In honor of Valentine's Day, I wanted to try my hand at making some red velvet cupcakes. After scouring the interwebs for the most delectable looking red velvet cake, I decided to use this recipe from the fabulous Bakerella, with a few modifications. Namely, upping the cocoa and vanilla, and substituting some of the oil for butter. I think it is my southern genes coming through, but it pains me to make a cake with no butter.

Here is what I ended up using:


Red Velvet Cupcakes
 
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs at room temperature
1  cup oil
1/2 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 ounce of red icing color- the super concentrated stuff. It's not pictured below I added the rest of that little bottle before moving on to the icing color. If you just use the regular food coloring, you will need about two of those little bottles.

• Cream together butter and sugar, add oil and mix for a couple of minutes until it is all nice and combined.

• Sift together your dry ingredients to get them nice and fluffy. I usually do this over a paper plate to make for easy pouring. 

• Add buttermilk and vinegar to the mix, then add the eggs one at a time.

• Add the vanilla, followed by the dry ingredients and food coloring. Mix until just incorporated.

• Scoop out your mix into lined muffin pans. If you are more careful with measuring than I am, you can probably get 24 cupcakes out of this batter. I ended up with 23.

• Put your little ruby colored cakes into a 350 degree oven and let them bake for about 10 to 15 minutes. My oven is terrible and always runs hot. So you may need to cook them a little longer if you are lucky enough not to have an oven from the 1970s.

Holes in my little cupcakes from repeated toothpick testing- sign of a very impatient baker!

 

• Let these cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
• When I took them out I noticed that the oil had soaked through the liners, making them appear translucent. Next time I will add a bit of apple sauce in place of some of the vegetable oil and see what happens.

Cream cheese is the traditional frosting choice, but you could always do a butter cream or whatever suites your fancy. Whipped cream would be really delicious with these, since they are so delicately flavored. I opted for cream cheese, because it is my absolute favorite frosting. Ever.

I don't follow a strict recipe for cream cheese frosting. It is extremely forgiving. I have had it break on me only one time, and that was a sad, sad, day. This is the frosting I used for these cupcakes-

• 8 ounce brick of cream cheese, slightly softened,
• 5 ounces of softened butter
• a little more than a teaspoon of vanilla. 
• Enough confectioner's sugar to hold it all together, somewhere between 1.5 and 3 cups.

Mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add your vanilla and then slowly add your sugar until the frosting reaches your desired consistency and sweetness.  Don't forget to sift your confectioner's sugar. Little clumps in your otherwise dreamy frosting are no bueno.

Serve as is or you can give your cupcakes the glam treatment. I added fondant hearts (my first attempt at fondant anything) and sugar pearls. I also added some cupcake wraps I fashioned out of clearance scrapbook paper.

These cupcakes came out so moist and delicious. I think they are even better after sitting in the fridge overnight. Go make some for your honey. If you are without a honey this Valentine's day, make them for yourself, and then you won't have to share any, which is good, because I know you won't want to.