Red Velvet Cake

Guess what I made? Certainly not a particular cake that is the colour of love. Not a cake that is associated with a certain holiday dedicated to lurv. Okay, I did. Red velvet cake can not be denied right now. As I said, it is love time.

I have made red velvet cake before but thought I would try out a different recipe. This recipe from smitten kitchen uses a lot of cocoa powder in terms of red velvet cake. It actually made the cocoa have a purpose and taste in the cake but still kept that tangy flavour that red velvet cake is known for. It's a very moist and a deep red cake. Perfect for lovin'.

Red Velvet Cake

From smitten kitchen

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar.
 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place teaspoon of butter in each of 3 round 9-inch layer cake pans and place pans in oven for a few minutes until butter melts. Remove pans from oven, brush interior bottom and sides of each with butter and line bottoms with parchment. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring. (Take care: it may splash.) Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds. Divide batter among pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes. Then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting. Makes 3 9" cake layers*

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese

2/3 cup butter

1/4 tsp vanilla

3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until it is creamy and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar in 1/2 cup portions. Beat until combined. Frost the cooled cakes.

* I opted to make a smaller cake and it made 3 6" cake layers and about 12 cupcakes. The cake layers had to bake for about 30 to 35 minutes and the cupcakes were only about 20 minutes.

Graveyard Cupcakes

I have a bit of a confession. Actually, more like an obsession. When I like something, I love it. Case and point: The Town. Have you seen this movie? No? Go now! Possibly one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I plan on setting up a campaign for Ben Affleck to win the oscar for best director and actor. He was nothing short of perfect. He is very close to my heart, literally:

People always ask what is in my locket so I finally put something in. After scouring through my EW (entertainment weekly, great magazine), I came across these little gems, and by little I mean perfect size. So came the locket of Damen Salvator and Ben Affleck.

Right, forgot about Halloween. Point is, I love it. Christmas is my number one but Halloween is definitely second. The cookies, candy, cupcakes, costumes, and various of the C's, it is great. The perfect reason to bake away. And I did.  

Instead of using my usual chocolate cupcakes, the Barefoot Contessa chocolate cake and the one used in my birthday cake stepped in. It works just as well as cupcakes and is just as delicious. So perfect! I think its the coffee. You can't taste it but coffee makes everything better. Fact.


Graveyard Cupcakes
Cake from Barefoot Contessa

cupcakes

1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee 

cream cheese frosting

8 ounces of cream cheese, one block

1/2 cup butter

4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla

sugar cookies recipe and instructions here

cupcakes Preheat the oven to 325º. Line 24 cupcake pans with liners. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. In smaller bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry until just combined. Add the coffee and stir just to combine. The batter will be quite thin, don't worry! Divide the batter amongst the twenty four cupcake liners. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, alternating halfway through. Using a cake tester, poke the middle to make sure it is cooked through. Let them cool in the pan for ten minutes then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

*If making this ahead of time, put the cupcakes in a container so they don't dry out.

frosting Using a mixer, save your arms, and beat together all of the ingredients until smooth. Add your desired food colouring. This makes a bit more then necessary for the cupcakes. Spread on as much as desired and decorate!

Easter Carrot Cupcakes

This Easter just flew by. In the past couple days I have eaten ungodly amounts of mini eggs and jelly beans, nearly a dozen cupcakes, three lemon tarts and the reese's peanut butter eggs are a blur at this point. Don't get me wrong, it was all delicious but my brain and body are just like jello. 

In that bright and healthy note, here are cupcakes! They actually are pretty healthy though. As healthy as a cupcake can be. In one of the new cookbooks in my possession, I tried this little number and they are delicious. Only problem was the nutmeg. I went against my better judgment and put it in. Nutmeg is great but it isn't for carrot cake, in my mind. My mother doesn't think it is for anything, she resents the stuff. If you like nutmeg, all the better for you but I would just swap in more ginger next time. However, the green sprinkles are to die for. I loved the crunchy top!

Easter Carrot Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from America Test Kitchen Family Baking Cookbook

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3 large eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 cups grated carrots 

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.  Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugars together in a medium bowl until they turn thick and creamy, 1 to 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and slowly whip in the oil until thoroughly combined and emulsified, 30 to 60 seconds. Sift half the flour mixture over the batter and gently mix in. Repeat once more with the remaining flour mixture and continue to whisk the batter gently until most of the lumps are gone, don't over mix. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the carrots. Divide the batter amongst the cupcake liners. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the tins halfway through baking, don't over bake! Remove cupcakes to cool on a wire rack. Once completely cooled they can be frosted. Makes 19 cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting 

8 ounces cream cheese, slightly softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

Beat the cream cheese and vanilla together in a bowl. Sift in the sugar and then mix until combined. Don't overmix or it may become runny. If it does though just add a bit more sugar and pop it in the fridge. 

Assemblement

Cupcakes and frosting, obviously
1 jar of green sugar sprinkles
57 mini eggs or jelly beans

I believe I just created a word but onwards. Take the cooled cupcake and a layer of cream cheese frosting evenly over the entire top of the cupcake. In a shallow plate, pour the green sugar. Dip the cupcake in the sugar and move it around until it is completely coated. Then arrange 3 mini eggs on top to make it look like a little egg hunt field.

Pink Velvet Cupcakes

Red, blue, green or any type of velvet cake is something that I have wanted to make for a long time. Yet the occasion never really came up and if it did I forgot until it was over. Genius, I know. Well, I was tired of waiting and just had to make them right now.

After searching all over the internet on my favourite websites and in all of my cookbooks, I ended up choosing my first option anyways. These cupcakes are from Joy the Baker who found it from Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. People seem to go crazy for coloured things. Don't know what it is. They could be served anything and if it was suddenly dyed and they are intrigued. I happen to be one of them. 

Pink Velvet Cupcakes 
From Joy the Baker 

*The only thing I changed with these is that I used pink gel food colouring. There was less than a drop left of my red food colouring and they were out of it at the store so I had to improvise. The resulting colour was very pink to say the least!

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp Pink gel food coloring mixed with 2 1/2 tbsp water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Turn mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated. In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color. Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth. Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar. Turn to high and beat a few more minutes. Spoon batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
 
2 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, cold (I used room temperature)
scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

Beat the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-slow speed until it comes together and is well mixed. Add the cream cheese all at once and beat on medium to medium-high until incorporated. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes, or until the frosting becomes light and fluffy. Do not over-beat as the frosting can quickly become runny.

My Favourite Chocolate Cupcakes

Choosing a favourite anything is quite difficult because there are so many possibilities. But these cupcakes, after several trials, are my favourite chocolate cupcakes! Cupcakes and cake in general should be moist in my mind. I really hate the word moist by the way but I have to use it. Granted other chocolate cupcakes are good but none seem to compare in flavour or texture to these. Also the whole one bowl type deal really appeals to me as I have a tendency to send ingredients and utensils flying. There for the less materials used, the better.

My Favourite Chocolate Cupcakes

From Marth's Cupcake Cookbook

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cups unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

2 large* eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 tbsp canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 350º. Line regular muffin tins with muffin paper liners. In a larger bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, buttermilk, canola oil, vanilla and water. Beat until smooth and combined by scraping the sides and bottom thoroughly. Divide batter evenly into 18 lined cups, about two thirds full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Put tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tins and let cool completely on wire rack. They can be stored overnight at room temperature** or frozen up to two months, in airtight containers.

* Large eggs are the standard usually for baking unless otherwise stated.

** I once had them for three days and they were fine but they weren't frosted yet.

Cream Cheese Frosting 

From Marth's Cupcake Cookbook

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

6 ounces (3/4 cup) cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups confectioner's sugar sifted

1/4 + 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time then vanilla. Beat until smooth and combined, scrape bottom and sides to ensure all is mixed in. Colour as desired and frost away. It can be refrigerated for up to three days in an airtight container. Bring to room temperature before using and beat till smooth.

Assembling

Take a cooled cupcake and spread on frosting with a butter knife. I usually swirl it. Then place a 1 inch heart shaped sugar cookie on top.