Red Velvet Cupcakes

As promised, here's the update on my Red Velvet cupcakes. They didn't turn out to be dramatically red since I didn't have enough food coloring to go around. I was going to make 20 cupcakes and pass them out on Valentine's day... but had to cut the recipe in half since a 1 ounce/2 tablespoon bottle of red food coloring here costs almost 6zl!!! Sigh, i waited 4 years for PiP to start selling food coloring, and when they did, i don't even want to pay for them. Ah well... artificial coloring isn't good for you anyway. So these cupcakes were supposed to be topped with a cream cheese frosting but the Polish cream cheese i used just turned the mixture into liquid. It was already past 10pm so I had to improvise and made buttercream frosting instead... it was yummy nonetheless ;) What makes Red Velvet cakes different from the rest isnt just the color-- buttermilk is used instead of milk, which gives it a slightly tangy aftertaste, yum yum yummmm. I think I'll try making these again without the food coloring and with more cocoa powder...maybe even use strawberry buttermilk! If it turns out alright, it might even become the base of all my future chocolate cakes/cupcakes, woohoo! ...I'm so easily amused.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
from pinchmysalt.com
makes 20-24 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 oz. red food coloring (4 tablespoons / two bottles)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar [i used a little less than 1 cup]
  
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature [maślanka in Polish]
  
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside [picture 1].
   
3. In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside [picture 2].
4. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes [picture 3].
   
5. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go [picture 4, 5].
   
6. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula [picture 6, 7, 8].
7. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Yes, it will fizz [picture 9]!
   
8. Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine.
   
9. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake cups with cake batter (they should be 2/3 - 3/4 full). (You may not fill all the cups, I ended up with 20 cupcakes) [picture 10].
   
10. Place muffin tins on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check early and don’t overbake!
11. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting
from recipezaar.com
[since I'm not a frosting person, i cut this recipe in half and frosted 10 cupcakes with some leftover. If you like LOTS of frosting on your cupcakes, this original recipe should be enough for 12]
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, or less
  [add one 1/2 a cup at a time, sweeten to taste]
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl combine butter, sugar and salt. Beat till blended.
2. Add the milk and vanilla and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth and creamy. [add more milk to reach desired consistency]

Red Velvet Cupcakes