Today is Canada Day so for my friends in the Great White North, happy celebrating. South of the border (so strange to say that in New England!) we’re gearing up for the big Independence Day weekend. Thought I would make another set of cupcakes to make the occasion, and no better excuse to make red velvet. As always, managed to drip a drop on the floor and one of the cats walked through it, leaving a nice trail of what looks like blood at first glance. Eeks!
Ingredients
for the Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2 ounces red gel food coloring
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
for the frosting
12 ounces (1 1/2 packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
pinch of salt
5 cups confectioners sugar
sprinkles for decorating
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a mini muffin pan with paper baking cups.
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside.
In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3-4minutes. 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. 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. Note: if you have never made red velvet cake, the color is shockingly red… it’s supposed to be that way, obviously.
In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Yes, it will fizz! Add it to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Fill cupcake lines 2/3 of the way full and bake cupcakes for 12-15 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting, cream the cream cheese, butter, salt, vanilla and vanilla paste in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. When the cupcakes are cool, frost them generously and sprinkle with festive decorations.
