It’s about once per year that I make something “Red Velvet-y”. OK, maybe twice per year. That usually coincides with my best friend’s birthday, because she is crazy for red velvet anything. This year, I went with Red Velvet and Vanilla Marbled Cupcakes, Double Vanilla Frosting with festive sprinkles. Recipe makes a ton of cupcakes (like 25 or so) so if you need to feed a crowd, here you go!
Ingredients
for the Red Velvet part of 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 Vanilla part of the cupcakes
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons table salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened but slightly cool, cut into 12 pieces
3 large eggs
3/4 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
for the frosting
16 ounces (2 packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla paste
1 tablespoon vanilla powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
5 cups confectioners sugar
1-3 tablespoons milk (optional, if the frosting is too thick)
You will also need decorations as desired. I used muted non-pareil sprinkles.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two standard muffin pans with paper baking cups. This recipes makes 24 or maybe even 28-30 cupcakes.
Make your cake batters, starting with the red velvet. 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. Let sit while you make your vanilla batter.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar on low speed. Add the butter, 1 piece at a time, and combine until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the eggs, 1 at time, and mix until fully combined. Add the milk and vanilla, increase the speed to medium, and mix until the batter is light, fluffy and free of lumps.
Now, add half red velvet and half vanilla batter to each cupcake liner, so that they are 3/4 full. With some I added the red velvet first and topped with vanilla; in some I did the reverse. In some cases, I tried to swirl them together a bit and in same cases, I had two spoons, trying to do half and half vertically. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean, about 20-22 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, sale, vanilla paste and vanilla powder in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the sugar bit by bit and beat until smooth. When the cupcakes are cool, frost them generously with a piping tip and bag. Garnish with decorations as desired.
