SEEING RED...AND VELVET

May 30, 2012

SEEING RED...AND VELVET

“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.” – Erma Bombeck

Right now I am lucky enough to be performing the title role in a musical called, Flora The Red Menace, by Kander and Ebb (the geniuses who wrote Chicago and Cabaret) at 1^st Stage in Tyson’s Corner (shameless plug, I know) But, to tie our opening night into my dessert obsession, I decided to go with red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

I was totally excited when I saw that my sister in “butternawl, y’all,” Paula Deen, had a recipe for said cupcakes and could not wait to try out my knew piping bag and star tip!

However, while the cupcakes were easy to make, they had a consistency and taste that was a little more like cornbread. They were still good, and very sweet, but even after following the recipe to a tea, they didn’t have that decadent, moist, sexy flavor that one would expect from red velvet cake. For this recipe the frosting was definitely the star! It is INCREDIBLE! Though if you make it, make only half of the recipe, because you will have a lot left over and it is uber-tempting to just go crazy and dive head first into the rest of the batch.

Also, I didn’t get any pictures of these because they went so quickly, (funnily enough, people seem to love dessert in any of it’s sugary forms) but after piping on the icing I topped each cupcake with some glittery, red sprinkles, and a maraschino cherry. They looked like the little Shirley Temples I used to drink at Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties when I was a little kid.

Sorry that this recipe isn’t a total rave all the way through, but I will say that my cast loved them! They tasted awesome, but they just weren’t exactly what you’d expect, and so at first it might feel like it’s a cupcake wearing a red velvet disguise…and some seriously tasty frosting…no I mean seriously…like, I did dive head first into the leftovers…and I do not regret it for a second!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder

• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• 2 tablespoons red food coloring

• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 pound cream cheese, softened

• 2 sticks butter, softened

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

• Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.

In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.