Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red velvet cake is my favorite-well, one of my favorites-cake ever, which I usually have on my birthday, but since I decide to forgo it this year on my birthday I have reallllly been wanting to make it.

So I've been trying to convince my mother to let me make it for a few weeks now. But she, being the lady who didn't want me to enjoy life by letting me make a red velvet cake or aka mom, was obstinate about me not making a red velvet cake because my little brothers cannot eat red dye. I get that. My brother Noble will go nuts when he eats red dye and if you know Noble you'll understand why we need to suppress his energy as much as possible.
Mom then tried to tell  me that I should make the cake but leave the red dye out. Her words "the red dye doesn't add any flavor" and while that might be true that would just not be prudent. Before I could even contemplate that idea, it was out. Brown velvet cake. Not the same. 

THEN she tried to get me to put blended up beet root in the cake to make it red. Okay, ew. I'm sure it would turn out great...actually, probably not. No, that would not go down well at all with me. So I finally convinced her to let me pursue the red velvet  with the red dye. My excuse? Valentines day is coming up, and I HAVE to do a red velvet cake for Valentines.  And, not to sound like a complete jerk of a big sister, since my brothers couldn't scarf down these cupcakes in a few hours because of the red dye, they actually stuck around for awhile! Please believe me when I say I didn't make my favorite cake that my little brothers happen to not be able to eat just so I could eat them for days on end! I wouldn't do that....

Seriously though, these rock. The cream cheese frosting complemented these extremely moist and already flavorful red velvet cupcakes perfectly. 
And then I got fancy. Real fancy. Oh, you fancy, huh? Why, yes, yes I am. I melted some chocolate almond bark, put it in a zip lock bag, and made cupcake decorations. The end result was a Valentines day dream. 


*Seeing as though this was my first time making red velvet, I was unsure as to how much red dye I should add. Some recipes called for two whole bottles..I thought that was a little overboard. I ended up using just two tablespoons and they turned out a perfect red color. My fingers also turned out a nice deep red color. 


Red Velvet Cupcake:
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour 
- 1 teaspoon salt 
- 1 1/2 cups sugar 
- 1 cup canola (or vegetable) oil 
- 2 large eggs 
- 2 tablespoons red food coloring 
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
- 1 cup buttermilk 
- 1/2 cup hot (but not boiling) water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar


Frosting:
- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
– 2 tablespoons heavy cream



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. Sift together flour, salt, and cocoa in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Mix sugar and oil on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until combined. Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition. Mix in food coloring and vanilla. 

4. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. 

5. Stir together baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl. Add baking-soda mixture to batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds. Mix in the hot water until just combined. 

6. Pour batter into prepared liners. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 18 to 23 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks.

For Frosting:

1. In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, mix together the softened cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract. 

2. Add the confectioner's sugar in batches until the frosting comes together and there are no lumps. 
3. Add whipping cream until desired consistency is reached.
4. Put in piping bag and pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.

Fro decorations:

1. Put one block of almond bark (you can also use candy chocolate) in an open zip lock bag. Microwave for 30 second intervals until melted. 

2. Once melted, snip a tiny hole in the corner of the zip lock bag.

2. Now, almond bark hardens very quickly, which is why it is good for decorations but is awful when it hardens in the bag in that middle of making a decoration. So, working quickly, pipe out desired shapes onto wax paper. You will probably have to re-melt it a few times.

3. Let harden and then peel off and decorate cupcakes as you like:)

Dad's words when seeing the cupcakes: "Sarah, these look like they would be sold somewhere fancy..like Starbucks!" Starbucks....

- Sarah -