Last month I wanted to take on the challenge of making red velvet cupcakes. I had never made them and had only tasted a few "professional" ones in my travels. So I looked up a few recipes and tried a bunch of them.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
I found a recipe from Paula Deen that looked good, but it was still too dry for my taste....sorry Paula. After playing with it a few times I remembered that my grandma used to make a chocolate mayonnaise cake that was so rich and moist that it felt like velvet sliding off the fork! So I made them again using my grandmother's recipe and the buttermilk from Paula's and it was perfection! I will share it with you in a minute....but first a funny story.
With St. Patrick's Day coming this weekend, I wanted to see if I could make Green Velvet Cupcakes. For sure they would taste as good as the Red Velvet Cupcakes...right?
They probably would have except for the fact that I measure most ingredients by sight and dashes. I opened the cocoa to try and toss a little pinch in and at least a half a cup plunged into the bowl! I was in a "what-ev" mood and decided to leave that beautiful cocoa in the bowl where it obviously wanted to be. Besides everyone knows I need extra cocoa on Sundays!!!
The batter was divine... seriously soooo ridiculously good I could have eaten it unbaked if it wasn't for the raw eggs. But you can't have anything velvet without a color and green was the goal. I started with a few drops....then more ...and more...and all I got was something that looked like the mud-grass pies I used to make with my brother on our farm. It took almost an entire bottle of green food coloring to get anything close to green!
Green Velvet Cupcakes
They baked beautifully and the Irish Creme Frosting was heavenly....but the color....ouy! The kids wouldn't eat them without asking me what was in them. I think they thought I had added some on the GT Dave's Kombucha I drink everyday.
I am happy to say that of the 36 cupcakes and at the time of this post there are only four left, so I think they must have tasted ok to the little leprechauns.
Lessons learned:
1. Measuring cups are a good thing and
1. Measuring cups are a good thing and
2. Green Velvet cupcakes are not a pretty thing!
Irish Creme Frosting
Red Velvet Cupcakes
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Cup Cocoa
1 1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1 Cup Buttermilk
2 Large Eggs
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
3 Tablespoons Red Food Coloring
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl add flour, sugar, soda, salt, and cocoa and sift together and set aside. In your mixer add mayonnaise, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients that you sifted together and mix until smooth.
Place the cupcake papers in the cupcake pans and fill them evenly about two thirds of the way full. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minuets. Let cool.
Irish Creme Frosting
1/4 Cup of Room Temperature Butter
1 Package of Room Temperature Cream Cheese
Approximately 3 to 4 Cups of Powdered Sugar
Irish Creme Flavored Creamer
In a mixer with a whisk attachment, add butter and cream cheese and cream together until smooth. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and begin to mix together. Slowly add the Irish Creme Creamer until the mixture becomes light and smooth. You may want to add more sugar or more creamer until you get the consistency you want. You will want the frosting to keep it's peaks as you pull the whisk out to get a pretty peak on the cakes.
Once the cupcakes are cool frost with your favorite tip...eat and enjoy!
I hope you enjoy my grandmother's mayonnaise cake recipe. I look forward to trying it myself with different batters to see if it "takes the cake" too. Just be careful and for heaven's sake use measuring cups!
All Joy,
Abby
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