Red Velvet Cupcakes

You'd be smiling too, if you were that close to a red velvet cupcake.

It may seem that I've come over all Valentine's and lovey-dovey, so I would just like to clarify up front that this is not the case. These are not Valentine's Day cupcakes, and nor will they be. Though you could make them for that, if you wanted. Or for any number of occasions. Voluntary Redundancy cupcakes perhaps?

No, these are belated birthday cupcakes. Lucy had her birthday last week, and you can't have a birthday without cake. It's the law.

Lucy likes red velvet. I know that sounds like the title of some smutty film, but it's true: she told me so. And if you can't have a bit of what you like on your (albeit belated) birthday, then when can you?

I stopped myself taking too many photos of
these - nobody wants to eat cupcakes that
have been messed about with!

I was going to make the recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, which Mr. Other P would have approved of - he loves red velvet too - but have been noticing a new name cropping up all over the Internet recently that seems to be synonymous with red velvet cake: Rose Levy Beranbaum.

I don't think you can help wanting to bake the cake recipe of someone with a name like that. And more to the point, my inner baker was desperate to give it a go based purely on the method, which is unusual, or seemed so to me.

I lifted the recipe from a website, but am so impressed with the results, and accuracy of the instructions - do what Rose tells you to and follow the times given, and there's no way you could mess this up, even if you'd never baked anything in your life other than potatoes - that I've ordered the book this recipe came from, Rose's Heavenly Cakes. Consider this my recommendation. I had to make a few ingredient substitutions though so this recipe is my amended one.

A final word, which you can ignore altogether if you want, but I suggest you don't. Go easy on the sprinkles and decorations. The beauty of red velvet is in the contrast between vibrant, crimson-red cake, and gleaming, fresh, white icing. Anything more than a light dusting of red harlequin sugar or hundreds and thousands, and your cupcakes will become little more than the edible personification of that friend you have who always has bad hair, and you never quite have the heart to be honest with. People will tell you they look beautiful, but they won't really mean it.

Do you want that for your cupcakes?


Red Velvet Cupcakes

You will need:

3 large egg whites
1/2 tsp red food coloring paste (or one whole bottle of liquid colouring)
seeds scraped from one vanilla pod (or 2 tsp vanilla essence, which I didn't have)
175g plain flour
25g cornflour
200g caster sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cocoa
60ml vegetable oil
55g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125ml plain natural yogurt (or 125ml buttermilk)

100g cream cheese
30g butter
400g icing sugar, sifted

red harlequin sugar or hundreds and thousands

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 12 bun cupcake tin with paper wrappers (you will actually get 15 cupcakes from this mixture, so may need to bake twice).
2. In a mixing bowl, lightly mix together the egg whites, vanilla seeds (or essence) and red colouring. You will be amazed and/or horrified at the colour.
3. Sift the flour, cornflour, sugar, cocoa and baking powder into another bowl. I know that most recipes would say to cream the sugar with the butter, not sift it with the flour, but trust Rose. She knows. (That's what we used to say about my Japanese grammar teacher too - people called Rose are obviously very knowledgeable and trustworthy)
   
4. Using an electric hand mixer, in a large bowl, beat the butter and oil together for one minute on medium speed.
5. Add the dry ingredients and yogurt to the butter mixture, and mix together on low speed. Then, when combined, switch to high speed and mix for one and a half minutes. You should scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
6. Add half of the bloodied egg whites. Mix on medium speed for thirty seconds, and then add the rest of the egg mixture. Mix on medium speed for another thirty seconds.
7. Transfer the batter to the line cupcakes tins, filling each about three quarters full. Bake for twenty minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cupcakes comes out clean.
8. Cool on a wire rack.
9. Make the icing: mix the softened butter with the cream cheese, then add the sugar. You might not need it all - stop at the consistency you like. I like it thick and shiny, so add it all.
10. Use the icing to frost the cakes - a palate knife makes pretty swirls.
11. Sprinkle cautiously, and share.