Red Velvet Re-visited

Hello from Caroline of Coeur De La! When it comes to celebrating birthdays I am a firm believer in paying attention to the smallest of details. It's the little things that make the sweetest impact. My sister celebrated her 26th birthday recently and I wanted to give her a gift that could be enjoyed by everyone. When it comes to cupcakes, there is one cupcake that my sister absolutely loves ... a red velvet cupcake with a sweet cream cheese frosting. And, it just so happens that one of my sister's favorite wines is Cupcake's Red Velvet. Have you tried it? The wine is sweet, delicious, and the perfect wine for a girls night in...

Playing with the Red Velvet Theme I packaged the cupcakes in a red pastry box. When my sister saw her present she could not help but smile from ear to ear. And I could not help but smile as well, as I knew I would be enjoying a cupcake and a glass of wine with her.  So, when it comes to celebrating birthdays and giving gifts, I feel that gifts from the heart are always the most appreciated.

Tips for making Cupcakes that will wow anyone:

1. Frost your cupcakes like a pro and buy a pastry bag with tips included (you can find a great selection at Sur La Table)

2. Find cute cupcake liners, as the smallest touches are always noticed

3. Package your cupcakes in a cute pastry box (I found my red box at Cost Plus World Market)

4. Play with a theme ... for me I chose Red Velvet

5. Find a recipe that is tried and true (my red velvet cupcake recipe was adapted from Paula Deen)

 photos © coeur de la

Happy Cupcake Making!!  - Bisous. Caroline

Red Velvet Cupcakes

adapted from Paula Deen

These cupcakes are incredibly moist, delicious, and paired with a sweet cream cheese frosting they are irresistibly good. You can garnish your cupcakes with walnuts, raspberries, or shaved coconut for a sweet finish.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1/2 cup of buttermilk room temperature (I cut the original amount in half)

2 large eggs at room temperature

3-4 tablespoons red food coloring (when using the amount from the original recipe my cupcakes came out pink ... so make sure your batter pops with color. For an alternative to red food coloring you can use beet juice ... 2-3 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your cupcake tin with your designated liners.

In a medium sized bowl mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a larger bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with an electric hand mixer. Slowly add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. I do this in small increments so the batter will not get too lumpy.

Divide the batter evenly into the 12 cupcake liners. I try to be as precise as possible so the finished cupcakes will all be an even height. Fill each 2/3 full. Wipe up any of the batter that you spill on your cupcake pan.  Place in oven and bake for 18 minutes. Again, all ovens differ and I originally baked mine for 22 minutes but they came out of the oven incredibly dry. 18 minutes turned out to be just right. Remove from the oven and let cool before frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package of cream cheese (softened)

1 teaspoon of lemon juice (I put lemon juice in everything)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2-3 cups confectioners' sugar (I personally like my cream cheese frosting to teeter on not being too sweet)

In a medium sized bowl use an electric mixer to mix together the softened cream cheese, the vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Slowly, I like to add the confectioners sugar. I do this in small increments as I like to taste as I go. You can adjust sweetness this way adding less if you like your frosting less sweet or adding more if you like your frosting sweet. Mix until frosting is smooth. When finished fill your pastry bag with you favorite pastry tip and get to frosting.