Red Velvet Cupcake

I tasted my first Red Velvet Cake at NYDC and it was love at first bite! The texture of the cake was soft and moist and the cream cheese frosting was simply delicious.

After that, I would find myself scouting through restaurant or cafe to see if they have a piece of this lovely cake listed.

I found one that looked pretty at a cafe but the taste was a complete anti-climate. The cake was super dry and it tasted as though I have poured one tablespoonful of baking soda directly on my tongue. For those of you who bake, you would know what i meant when after a bite of the cake you can feel as though your tongue is coated with this static dryness. It was simply ultra yuckiness to the max!

After that encounter, I have decided to bake the cake myself but first, I must find the recipe! hahaha. Searching for the "perfect" red velvet recipe was not an easy task as you will not know if that is perfect for you until you try baking it.

It was quite a turn-off for me when I realised the alarming amount of red food colouring that goes into making this cake! However, I was determined to find the one recipe that will not use too much of the red colouring.

After searching through numerous recipe sites and looking at various comments, I have decided to give Martha Stewart's recipe a go.

This recipe is almost perfect for me! The cupcake was moist with fine tender crumbs and because it uses oil instead of butter, the texture of the cupcakes was light. The fluffy cream cheese frosting is just THE PERFECT topping for this cupcake.

The recipe still calls for red food colouring but only half teaspoon was required. The cupcake colour is more towards redish brown rather than red, but I am happy with the outcome.

The cream cheese frosting was really fluffy and heavenly. However, it was rather soft and hard to pipe so I had to place it in the fridge for about 15 minutes to make it easier for piping.


Here is the recipe that I have used with reduced amount of Oil and sugar.


Red Velvet Cupcakes
Yields 20 regular size cupcakes

Ingredients
240g Cake flour
2 tbsps Unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tsp Salt
225g Caster Sugar (original 340g)
1 1/3 cups Vegetable Oil (original 1 1/2 cups)
2 Large Eggs at room temperature
½ tsp Red Gel Paste food colour
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Buttermilk
1½ tsps. Baking Soda
2 tsps Distilled White Vinegar

Cream cheese frosting
225g Unsalted Butter
340g Cream Cheese
300g Powder Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract (original 3/4 tsp)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together cake flour, cocoa and salt.



2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.



3. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 3 batches alternating with 2 additions of buttermilk and whisking well after each addition.



4. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl and add the mixture to the batter and mix on medium speed for 10 seconds.



5. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full.



6. Bake for 18-20mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean with just a little bit of crumbs sticking to the stick.



7. Transfer tin to wire rack to cool before frosting with Cream Cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Whisk together cream cheese and butter until creamy and fluffy.


2. Add sugar in 3 batches and continue to whisk until pale.


3. Add vanilla extract and mix to combine.
   

P. S. - I took some cupcakes to my office on Monday and my colleagues gave me 100 Marks for it! Yippee!! This recipe is a definite keeper !! :)