Red Velvet Cupcakes

Photo by Sarah Schafer

Every baker should have a red velvet cupcake recipe in her arsenal. That rich, tangy chocolate flavour is a definite crowd-pleaser, and the bright red colour really pops against the white cream cheese icing!

These cupcakes were made for a coworker's wedding, which was a last-minute event with a very 'homemade' feel. So rather than piping the icing in delicate swirls or the popular little stars, I spooned it onto each cupcake and sprinkled just a few bits of silver sugar crystals over the top.

When it comes to cupcakes, I don't use muffin pans. The liners I use for Live and Let Pie are just a bit larger and don't tend to fit in most pans, but luckily they're strong enough to stand up on their own so I can crowd them onto a cookie sheet, sometimes cutting down the number of batches I have to do!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients (for 18 large cupcakes):

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 extra-large eggs
1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons red food colouring

Preheat the oven to 175°C, and prepare 18 cupcake liners.

Sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and food colouring. Fold in the flour mixture in three additions, and stir until just combined.

Fill the cupcake liners with the batter (to about 2/3 full), and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set on a wire rack and allow to cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

450g cream cheese, softened (try not to use low fat)
250g butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
4-5 cups sifted icing sugar

Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until combined. Slowly add in the icing sugar while beating on low speed, and increase the speed until the frosting is light and fluffy, but stiff.