Tuesday 16 February 2016

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Hey everyone :)


I've been wanting to make a batch of Red Velvet Cupcakes for a good few weeks now but every recipe needed odd ingredients and I do hate having to buy a massive jar or bottle of something and only need 1 tsp ... it's very annoying! But funnily enough this recipe I have chosen (one of Nigellas) is very simplistic and easy! YAY!

Firstly I want to say that the recipe states 24 cupcakes however I only got 15 ... probably because I put too much batter in the cupcake cases but who cares ... still 15 lovely cupcakes to eat :)

You can find her original recipe HERE should you want to check it out.

Ingredients:
250g plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g soft, unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
1 heaped tbsp of red food colouring paste/gel
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
175ml buttermilk
1 tsp cider vinegar

Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 170°C and line 2 muffin trays (I find these better than cupcake trays) with cases. As I said above I started off with 24 cases but only used 15. You can always put some back.
2. In one bowl - sieve the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and then stir with a spoon to mix everything together.
3. In a second bowl (or your food mixer bowl) add the butter and sugar and cream together until pale. Then add the vanilla extract and the food colouring paste/gel (unfortunately I only had 1/2 a tbsp as when I bought it I thought that would be enough). Mix again until incorporated.
4. With the mixer on slow, add some dry ingredients, followed by 1 egg, then dry, then another egg, then the rest of the dry ingredients.
5. Next add the buttermilk and the cider vinegar and mix until combined.
6. Divide the glorious mixture (jeez I sound like Nigella) into the cupcake cases and then bake in the oven for 20-ish minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tin and then place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.




Now Nigella's recipe used a cream-cheese frosting for the top of the cupcakes however I don't really like using cream-cheese frosting because I feel like you can't leave the cupcakes out because the cheese needs to be kept cooled or it goes off (maybe I'm wrong but cream cheese in a warm kitchen just makes me feel uneasy) so I opted for just a buttercream frosting (good old butter and icing sugar).

This is just a basic buttercream frosting recipe you can find them anywhere online or in cookbooks. You can then double or half or triple to make whatever amount you need.

Ingredients:
280g icing sugar (sifted)
140g butter (very soft, room temp)
2-3 tbsp milk (optional)
food colouring (optional)

Method:
1. Put the butter in the food mixer and beat until creamed.
2. Add a little bit of the sifted icing sugar and mix into the cream butter and keep repeating until all icing sugar is mixed in.
3. If you think the mixture is too thick (perhaps your thinking of piping) then you can add some milk to loosen it up. If you are planning just to smear it onthe cupcakes then probably no need.
4. (Optional) If you want to colour the icing just add a few drops of your chosen colour and mix in.

The only thing I will say is that they should be more red and that is a result of me having not enough 'red colouring paste/gel - so if you plan to make these be sure to have plenty before you start.

I also only iced 14 of the 15 and I crumbled one of the cupcakes up so I could sprinkle the crumbs on top as decoration.








Did you bake anything this weekend? Let me know in the comments below.



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