Friday, March 4, 2011

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Sorry to take a while, but I’m now posting our treats from Valentine’s Day. I’ve never really been a huge fan of red velvet cake, but since it was Valentine’s, I wanted to give it a shot. The picture is awful, but they really are a bright, perfect red.

The first batch, made as is, was pretty dry, and not too great. So I used my trademark substitute for the second batch and tweaked some of the other steps of the recipe, and guess what? Perfectly moist, even after a few days. I made a quick cream cheese frosting, and these were so great after our dinner – perfectly sweet, but not too crazy rich.
Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 ½ tbsp butter, softened
¾ cup white sugar
1 ½ tbsp greek yogurt
1 egg
1 cup + 2 tbsp white flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup buttermilk
1 tbsp red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cider vinegar

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine buttermilk, red food coloring, vanilla, and cider vinegar.

Cream butter with sugar until mostly incorporated. Add in greek yogurt and combine. Add egg and combine. Add in the dry and wet ingredients in batches, starting with the dry, then wet, then dry, etc., ending with the dry ingredients.

Scoop equally into a thoroughly greased or lined muffin tin. I used the entire mini-muffin tin, and then about three of the regular sized tins. This batter is pretty smooth, and more runny that it might seem is okay, but it makes it so much easier to scoop equally, and it bakes up perfectly. Bake for 9 minutes (no longer for the mini’s, but closer to 15 minutes for the regular sized cupcakes). Let cool, and remove to cooling racks to cool completely.  Once COMPLETELY cool, you can frost.

Cream Cheese Buttermilk Frosting

2 oz softened cream cheese
1 tbsp buttermilk (we happened to have it on hand, but regular milk is fine, too)
enough powdered sugar to get the right consistency (I didn’t measure, sorry)

Beat the cream cheese with the milk until smooth, then slowly add powdered sugar, beating well after each addition, until you achieve the right consistency. I wanted it pretty thick so it wouldn’t just drip off the cupcake. Do NOT add too much milk if you want a thicker frosting, or you will be adding mounds and mounds of powdered sugar.

Spoon the frosting into a quart-sized plastic bag. Squeeze out all the air, then close. Snip the tip off of one corner, not too small and not too big, to pipe the frosting through. Pipe on as much frosting on each cupcake as desired. If it’s piped on correctly, and it’s the right consistency, it shouldn’t need any additional spreading with a knife. And don’t worry about frosting each one perfectly – I kinda like it when the frosting is a little different from one to one. Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles, or whatever kind you have. Store in a covered container.

Yummy! Not so rich that it hurts, but just the right amount of sweetness to round out the Valentine’s season. Perfect!

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