pantone801

Red Velvet Cupcakes

// January 14th, 2010 // Food

I have been meaning to try these out for ages. A friend on facebook, Kate posted that she was making them, and I asked for the recipe, Kate (who live in Chicago) gave me a recipe by Paula Deen, and I have Australian-ised the recipe a bit.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla paste*

For the Cream Cheese Icing:
250g cream cheese, softened
125g butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
2 cups sifted icing sugar
Chopped pecans or fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish

Directions
Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled (Don’t over fill, nobody likes a muffin-top). Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before icing.

For the Cream Cheese Icing:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Garnish with chopped pecans or fresh raspberry or strawberry.

Cook’s Note: Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip. Vanilla bean paste is available from supermarkets, I like the Queen brand