Wow. I made these yesterday and killed myself at spin tonight trying to work off at least one mouthful of the tasty morsels (probably didn’t).
The interwebs are in dispute as to the exact origin of red velvet cake, some say it originated from the south (of the US) and others say it came from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC. I tend to believe the latter seeing as most good things come out of the Big Apple (except for maybe apples…?). The Hummingbird Bakeries in London are also renowned for their version which I have sampled and can vouch for.
You will need:
- 350g (2 1/3 cups) plain flour
- 2 tbs cocoa powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 315g (1 1/2 cups) caster sugar
- 250ml (1 cup) buttermilk
- 185ml (3/4 cup) vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 3 tsp red food colouring
- 2 tsp white vinegar
- sprinkles, to decorate frosting
- 250g pkt cream cheese, at room temperature
- 100g butter, at room temperature
- 195g (1 1/4 cups) pure icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line eighteen 80ml (1/3-cup) capacity muffin pans with paper cases. (I ended up needing more, come to think of it)
1. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar.
2. Whisk the buttermilk, oil, eggs, food colouring and vinegar in a jug until combined.
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Add the buttermilk mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Divide the mixture among the prepared pans.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the cream cheese frosting, use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl until smooth. (the icing really is the best part, it is so delicious, I don’t even.. I can’t explain)
Pipe the icing over the cupcakes and top with the sprinkles.
There you have it. The black and white cups and cupcake stand were a present from Santa. Thanks 😉
I also used some inferior red paper cups (what are those things called?!) for the overflow:
And so ends my most recent adventure in the land of baking. Got any good recipes I should try?
My Bloggable Day 
I love the little black and white cups you have. I went to a baby shower recently and they had the same cups there and I think they are the best idea. Too often the inferior version causes cupcake slippage and mess on the journey to your mouth. These look absolutely delicious. When I first heard of cream cheese icing I thought it would be disgusting, but it’s actually so tasty and I think now one of my favs 🙂
Alyssa
http://www.squibtoday.blogspot.com.au/
Yeah ‘cream cheese icing’ doesn’t really sound delicious does it?! But it turned out to be the best part! My Mum gave me those cups for Christmas, I worried about getting them home in my suitcase but they turned out fine 🙂 x
Wow, they look amazing! They really are quite red. Great pics. I believe the papers are called patties or something like that. As for recipes, I recommend anything from the Donna Hay classics book – especially the shortbread 🙂
Yum, I’ll have to check out Donna Hay’s book. Thanks Emma!
Good job lady! I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet and attempt to bake red velvet cupcakes one day soon. My go to recipe at the moment is the basic choc chip cookies in the Frankie afternoon tea cookbook. The recipe was by Pip Lincolne of Meet Me at Mikes and can be found here http://mikesrecipejournal.blogspot.com.au/2008/11/best-ever-choc-chip-cookies-via-frankie.html They are so simple to make and seriously yummy. They turn out nice and gooey in the middle and whenever I bring them to work they are usually gone within half an hour.
That recipe looks amazing! I haven’t made cookies in ages, they are definitely on the list. I would also like to try making macarons but I’m not quite prepared for the disappointment of failure yet!
Ooooh those look awsome! Love the frosting, I make cookie monster muffins today actually haha: http://todaysfavourite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/cookie-monster-muffins.html
but you put me to shame as I was a bit lazy/naughty and didn’t make the cake recipe :s
anyway, delicious looking cakes! love your blog too! x
Thanks Lucy! Wow those cookie monster muffins look amazing! I’ve seen blue versions before and i really want to try them one day. I tend to go a little overboard with ‘quality control’ as well and actually felt quite sick after eating so much frosting! All part of the baking process, right?! xx
Oh god you can tell im tiered look at that spelling ^^^ whoops sorry :$ x
I didn’t even notice! x