Red Velvet Cupcakes

Happy Valentine's Day!  Today is one of the most love-filled days with weddings, romance, flowers, candy and let's not forget yummy desserts!

Red Velvet is a classic go-to idea for this special occasion as it's festive color lends itself well to the vibrant shades of red and pink!  I know it probably seems like a cop-out to go with red velvet on this day, but I have to say I do love the flavor combination of the cocoa-esque cake combined with the rich, cream cheese frosting!  It was clearly a no-brainer for me as I've been craving them for a while now!

So one blog, in particular, I really enjoy following...she's a friend on an online cooking/baking community that I belong to and one of the reasons I love her blog so much is that she does these incredible comparisons!  Every once in a while, Bridget, from The Way the Cookie Crumbles, goes on a whim and compares some of the top-rated recipes for a particular item.  I think her sugar cookie comparison is, by far, my favorite!  But when it came to making red velvet cupcakes this time around, I wanted to do something different than my normal go-to family recipe (passed down by my Great Aunt Linda).  But there are so many out there and it was hard to choose, which drew me to Bridget's blog as I was 99% positive that she would have a red velvet comparison!

Sure enough, she did!  She actually took the time to compare 5 different recipes.  Seriously, if y'all have never seen her comparisons, you need to venture over there and check them out.  They really are fantastic and she is so thorough that even if you don't want to go with her top pick, you have enough information on the other recipes to decide which one would be best for you.

Anywho, she compared 5 recipes (all very popular among our foodie community) and chose Kelsey's version of Saveur's Red Velvet Cake (Kelsey is another friend of ours, from Apple a Day) as her favorite recipe.  So I decided to give it a shot....

This recipe was good, but if I may be honest, I will say that I much prefer my Aunt's recipe!  The texture of Kelsey's was really nice; they were moist and really baked up well.  But there was something missing with the flavor and I'm not sure what it was.  I followed the recipe to a "tee" but I think that the flavors of my Aunt's recipe are a little more predominant, which is why I love them!  For me, I like that cocoa flavor to come through a little more (and for some people, they'd rather not).  I know it's a personal preference just like some people hate red velvet!

I think I would make this recipe again; however I would tweak it a bit more to let that flavor shine!  All in all, it's definitely a keeper just not my favorite (sometimes you just can't beat a good ol' family recipe)!

Red Velvet Cake


Ingredients - Cake
2½ cups Flour
1½ cups Sugar
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
2 Eggs
1½ cups Vegetable Oil
1 cup Buttermilk
2 Tbsp. Red food coloring
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp. White Distilled Vinegar

Ingredients - Frosting
1 - 12oz. pkg. Cream Cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1½ Tsp. Vanilla Extract
3 cups Powdered Sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, and salt into a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar until well combined. Add in half of the dry ingredients and beat until smooth; add in the remaining dry ingredients and continue beating until the mixture is smooth (about 2 minutes).

Divide the batter evenly between 3 8-inch round cake pans, greased and floured.  Bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean (about 25-30 minutes).

Let the cakes cool 5 minutes, then invert each onto a plate, then invert again onto a cooling rack. Let cakes cool completely.

**For cupcakes, divide the batter into cupcake liners inserted into a cupcake tin.  Bake until a toothpick inserted int he center comes out clean (about 18-22 minutes).

To make the frosting, beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together in a large bowl until combined well.  Gradually add in the powdered sugar and continue beating until the mixture becomes light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

Put 1 cake layer on a cake plate, level off with a serrated knife, and spread one-quarter of the frosting on top. Set another layer on top, level, and repeat frosting. Set remaining layer on top, level, and frost top and sides with a thin crumb coat layer; repeat with a second layer of frosting and decorate as desired.

Chill for 2 hours to set frosting.

**For cupcakes, divide the frosting recipe by 1/4 as you won't need that much!

Yield: 1 8-inch, 3-layer cake or 20 cupcakes
Source: Adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles, from Apple a Day (originally from Cake Man    
             Raven)

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Caramel Apple Cupcakes - What's Baking Challenge

Recently, another foodie friend of mine, Carrie, mentioned she was interested in putting together a monthly baking challenge, so several of us got together and worked out all of the kinks and came up with a group called, What's Baking!  Each month, one person will be designated to pick a theme and each of us has to come up with our own interpretation and bake something yummy.  This is our first month and the theme chosen was Fall Cupcakes.

Seems easy enough, right?  Wrong.  I had a million ideas of what I wanted to do.  Pumpkin, of course, topped that list along with apples.  I wanted to do something different.  Something that I've never made before but something that would be easy enough for readers to follow along with and something that would be delicious.  I had narrowed it down to two ideas one being pumpkin and the other apple.  So I relied on my handy decision-maker, Chris!  Being a hard choice for him to make, we mutually agreed that the Caramel Apple Cupcakes would be a wonderful way to celebrate this challenge. 

I mean, everyone loves cupcakes (they're all the craze right now) and who doesn't love a good caramel apple?!  So, I rounded up my ingredients and went off baking.  When they first came together, I was worried that they'd be more like muffins but the texture is very cake-like and the flavor is very apple-y and the caramel (and peanuts) on top made for a delightful translation of the real thing into a cupcake!  I know some have preferences of how they like them...some like 'em just the way they are with plain caramel and others prefer them "dressed" up a bit with chopped nuts, sprinkles, chocolate chips, a little icing drizzled over them....  So I decided to do a mixture of both the original style and some with chopped peanuts on top!  I can pretty much sum these up with one word: YUM!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups Flour
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Salt
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Apples, peeled and shredded
25 Caramels, unwrapped
2 Tbsp. Heavy Cream
Chopped Peanuts (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin/cupcake pan with liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar and sugar.  Add in the vegetable oil and vanilla, whisking in between each addition; mix until well combined.  Add in half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture, whisking until well combined.  Add in the remaining flour mixture and whisk until blended.  Add in the apple and mix in until it's incorporated throughout the batter.  **Be sure to to place the shredded apple in a dish cloth and squeeze the juice out of it so it doesn't make the batter runny**

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the cupcake liners with the batter almost to the top.  Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool.

In a double boiler, melt the caramel and heavy cream over med-high heat.  Stir constantly until it forms a smooth and creamy consistency.  Carefully spread the caramel over the tops of the cupcakes and top with chopped nuts, sprinkles, chocolate chips or whatever your heart desires!

Yield: 12 Servings
Source: Adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray

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Key Lime Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Frosting

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....ME...♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

Yes, that's right it was my b-b-b-birthday this week (Monday, to be exact)!  I'm sorry, but birthdays are a big deal to me because it's the one day that is truly yours and while mine was nothing special this year (I'll give you a hint: I'm almost 30 but definitely over 25), it's still a day to not be taken lightly and is a reason to celebrate life!

Unfortunately, I've lost some people very close and special to me over the last few years.  In fact, most of you don't know this, but just a couple of months ago, I unexpectedly lost my father at a young age of 52.  So it's extremely important, for me, to celebrate birthdays and another year of being on this earth with my family and friends!

I've had my eye on this recipe since Peabody posted about it last month!  I love, love, love key lime anything and I knew that I wanted to do a birthday cake (or cupcakes) with a key lime flavoring of some sort.  This recipe was perfect and up until then, I thought I was going to make a version of these Blackberry Cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting when, once again, Peabody posted about them back in January.  By the way, if you've never taken the time to check out Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, you really should! Everytime I see one of her new posts, I literally want to eat my computer screen!  Baked goods are her specialty and she always has a way of making them look so incredibly delightful!  I promise, you won't be disappointed.  Promise.  I'll even pinky swear you, cross my heart, yadda, yadda, yadda!

But I'm SO glad I decided to opt for this recipe because they were absolutely yummy in my tummy!  Haha! These little hunnies are nothing short of scrumptious!  While the original recipe called for a key lime frosting, I decided to go with a raspberry cream instead; I wanted to lighten up the flavor a bit for Chris' co-workers (just in case some weren't fond of key lime). Well, now you know my secret...when I make desserts, I keep some here for us and send the rest off with Chris to work (that way I'm not tempted all day long, every day of the week)!  The raspberry cream was a great complement to the key lime flavor and while they key lime was definitely prominent, it wasn't overbearing with a few adaptations I made!

Seriously, if you love key lime or lime, you gotta try these!  Once again, I promise you won't be disappointed.  Promise.

Key Lime Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Frosting

Ingredients - Cake
2 1/4 cups Flour
1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups Sugar
2 Egg Whites
2 Eggs
1 Tsp. Milk
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Whipping Cream
1 Tbsp. Lime Zest

Ingredients - Key Lime Filling
8 oz. Mascarpone Cheese, at room temperature
3 oz. Key Lime Juice
9 oz. Sweetened Condensed Milk

Ingredients - Raspberry Cream Frosting
1 cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
6 cups Powdered Sugar
3 Tbsp. Raspberry Juice (from a thawed bag of Frozen Raspberries)

Directions - Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the cupcakes, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in egg whites, beating after each addition. Add in eggs, beating after each addition. Add in lime zest and mix until well blended.

In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla and whipping cream. With mixer set on low, add in the flour mixture alternating with the milk mixture; beat well after each addition.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter evenly into a cupcake pan lined with foil or paper wrappers of your choice.

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center(s) comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool (about 10 minutes) and remove from pan to cool completely

Directions - Key Lime Filling
In a medium bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese, key lime juice and sweetened condensed milk and mix on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours to set.

To fill the cupcakes, gently cut a circle in the top of the cupcake at a 45 degree angle using a paring knife. Pop out the top, which should look like a cone shape and cut off the tip of the cone (you can eat that part) and set the top aside. Using a pastry bag (or resealable bag with the tip cut off) filled with the refrigerated key lime filling, carefully pipe the filling into the hole of the cupcake (be careful not to fill too high as it will squirt out when you put the top back on. When the cupcakes have been filled, place the coordinating top back on to cover up the filling.

Note: If you have a hard time finding mascarpone cheese, you can mix together 8 oz. of cream cheese with 1/4 cup of whipping cream to substitute it. You can also add in additional amounts of key lime juice for a stronger flavor.


Directions - Raspberry Cream Frosting
In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy (about 2 minutes). Reduce the speed to medium and add in 4 cups of the powdered sugar and the raspberry juice; beat until smooth and creamy (about 4 minutes). Add in the rest of the powdered sugar, 1/2 a cup at a time, beating well after each addition until the mixture begins to thicken to your desired consistency.

Using a pastry bag fitted with the tip of your choice (I used a large round tip), carefully pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.

Note: You may not use all of the powdered sugar. If the mixture begins to get too thick, you can thin it out with additional amounts of raspberry juice or milk.

Yield: 18 Servings
Source: Cupcake recipe adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody (originally adapted from Easy Home Cooking Magazine), frosting recipe from With a Cherry on Top

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