Red Velvet Cupcakes

So far, this has proven to be the best Red Velvet recipe I've used. Ones with less cocoa tend to be a bit more bland (the Cake Boss recipe only calls for 1tbsp of cocoa), so these were perfect. They also stayed nice and moist. I did have to make a special grocery store trip to buy apple cider vinegar though, as it wasn't something we had in the pantry to that point in time. The Cupcake Diaries says this recipe makes 12 cupcakes, but it actually yields about 24.

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large, room temperature eggs
4 tbsp red food colour (no-taste liquid food colour - no taste is important because it can give off a slightly bitter taste otherwise)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 cups whole milk, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350F and line standard cupcakes pans with baking cups or grease pans. Sift together flour and salt and set aside. In stand mixer bowl, cream together the butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy (3-5 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
In a separate bowl, using a whisk, whisk together the food colour, vanilla, and cocoa powder and then slowly add the mixture to the mixer bowl, mixing slowly until well mixed. Add flour and milk alternately in thirds, scraping the bowl as needed and mixing until incorporated.
In a small bowl, add baking soda to the apple cider vinegar, mix thoroughly (you will see them react to one another) and then add the mixture to the batter and mix only until just incorporated.
Fill each muffin well until it is 2/3 full and then bake for 16-18 minutes (I found that these took closer to 20 minutes, but it will vary with each oven, whether it is convection or not, how full muffin wells are, etc.)

Chocolate Ganache-Filled Red Velvet Cupcakes

Growing up, my sister and I didn't always get along, but now that we've grown up I think you could probably go so far as to even call us friends. So, when she asked if I'd make a cake for her 20th birthday, I was more than happy to oblige (after first having a mid-life crisis because my baby sister is 20, which makes me just plain old).

She requested Red Velvet, which I realize I've already mentioned in a previous post. However, these were not just basic Red Velvet cupcakes. They were filled with chocolate ganache, and were made with a different recipe than the previous cupcakes. If you read my last post, you'll notice that the recipe I used came from Baking With The Cake Boss, and while the cupcakes were definitely red, they were also pretty bland. For these cupcakes, I used a recipe found in Cupcake Diaries (at this point I feel the need to mention that I have still yet to watch Cake Boss, and also that I've never seen DC Cupcakes either - Cupcake Diaries was referred to me). This is the third Red Velvet recipe I've used to date, and it's probably my favourite. You can find it, the chocolate ganache recipe, and the cream cheese recipe on the Recipes page! 

What I instead wanted to talk about was filling cupcakes! I've done this a few times now, and have used two different methods. The first was simply using a Wilton 230 decorating tip to penetrate the cupcake and fill it with the filling of choice. I'm not partial to this method because you cant tell how much you've put into the cupcake, and therefore there is often too little filling as opposed to too much in order to avoid the cupcake breaking. I found that the majority of the filling ended up being absorbed into the cupcake this way because there was so little of it.

Recently, however, I purchased a cupcake corer from Golda's Kitchen. This is what I used when making my sister's cupcakes, and it made filling them a very easy, straightforward process. All you need to do is:

1. Bake cupcakes of choice, as per insturctions
2. Allow cupcakes to cool (you don't want to core them while they're too warm or you'll risk breaking the cupcake)

3. Position corer over centre of cupcake and gently push downward

4. Once corer has been inserted into the cupcake, twist the corer back and forth to cut the inside of the cupcake

5. Remove corer from cupcake, and remove cupcake centre from corer

And voila, cored cupcakes, ready to be filled. If you're using the ganache, like I did, you'll want to make sure it's cooled before filling the cupcakes. Once they're filled as desire, ice your cupcakes and enjoy!

Valentine's Day Red Velvet Cupcakes

Happy Valentine's Day to all the lovebirds reading this today! I wanted to share with you today some quick and easy heart-shaped cupcakes to celebrate Valentine's Day.

After seeing a photo on Pinterest, I improvised a method to do the same thing as there was no corresponding link to instructions. So, I've created a little how-to for you, based on how I accomplished these cupcakes, so that you can make something special for your special someone.

You will need:

• Your favourite cake/cupcake batter, and icing
• A regular muffin pan
• Muffin pan liners
• Marbles or glass rocks, or other heat-proof round objects
• Sprinkles, candies, sugar dust, etc. to decorate

From what I could tell in the photo on Pinterest, they used marbles. I didn't have marbles so I improvised with decorative glass stones. I also used a Red Velvet cake recipe from Baking With The Cake Boss (I've still yet to watch his show), as well as a Cream Cheese Icing from the book. Once you've got your batter prepared, this is what you'll want to do:

1. Line muffin pan with liners (I used Valentine's Day themed liners)
2. Fill each liner with your cake batter (using something like an ice-cream scoop will help alleviate any mess and ensure that the cupcakes are roughly the same size)
3. Using your index finger, push the liner towards the centre of the muffin hole
4. Fill the resulting space with marbles or other objects to hold the liner in place (you'll want to stack a few on top of each other, so that the batter doesn't bake over top of the marble)
5. Bake cupcakes according to recipe directions
6. Let cupcakes cool, and remove from pan - be careful, the marbles may still be warm
7. Allow cupcakes to cool completely and ice as desired

When icing my cupcakes, I chose to decorate them with red and white sugar sprinkles, heart-shaped candy sprinkles, and silver sugar dust. I used Valentine's Day themed cookie cutters on top of the cupcakes and filled the cookie cutter in with the dust (or sprinkles in some cases) to leave the decorations in the shapes of hearts, flowers, bells, etc. 

These were quick and easy, without the cost of purchasing a heart-shaped pan, or the need to elaborately decorate a cake! You get delicious results, and more time to spend with loved ones! 

On a side note - the Red Velvet cupcakes stayed nice and moist, and tasted pretty good, however the recipe only calls for 1tbsp of cocoa powder. I found that this left them a bit bland, as red velvet is supposed to have that cocoa taste. I'll be using my old recipe next time!