My husband Eugene and I celebrated Valentine’s Day (well, evening) in the kitchen baking Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. While I frosted all of ’em, he was too busy snacking on the frosting. . .hahaha!
For last night’s experiment, I tried the Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe from the Brown Eyed Baker. It’s just so awesome of her to share her lovely recipes. In fact, her blog is my go-to blog for recipes to try. Not only are her recipes yummy to read and yummier to make, her photographs are beautiful.
INGREDIENTS:
For the Cupcakes:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons red food coloring
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons distilled white vinegar
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 ounces butter, at room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
You might’ve noticed the red M&Ms at the bottom of the picture above. I considered decorating the cupcakes with M&Ms, but changed my mind.
I started off creaming the butter and sugar until it was fluffy, about 3 minutes. Then I added the egg and switched the mixer to HIGH.
In a separate small bowl, I mixed the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food coloring.
It ended up as a thick paste.
I added this red thick paste to the creamed butter.
I mixed it on MEDIUM until it was thoroughly mixed. Everything will be red and if it isn’t, you’ll need to mix it some more.
Then I put the mixer on LOW. I added half of the buttermilk and half of the flour. I stopped the mixer to mix everything with a wooden spoon, then continued adding the leftover milk and flour. The mixer was on HIGH while it was mixing everything.
I added the salt, baking soda and vinegar, then continued mixing the batter.
Here’s how my red velvet batter looked like.
And here’s how the cupcakes looked after it was baked at 350°F.
After baking the cupcakes, I whipped the butter and cream cheese on HIGH.
After about 5 minutes, I switched the speed to LOW while adding the powdered sugar and finally the vanilla. Once combined, I changed the speed to MEDIUM HIGH until the frosting was light and fluffy.
Our Valentine’s evening experiment: Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting
