Red Velvet Cupcakes

have i mentioned how happy i am that i now have an oven in my house?! *squeals!!!!!!* yepp i finally now have an oven to bake!!!! YIPPEE!!! i've been wanting to get one for the longest time - i used to bake using the convection setting on my microwave oven (which works!) but it's kinda small and anyway it broke down about a year ago. so no baking :'( but now i've really got a proper oven and it's the holidays! so it's time to make good use of it :D

there are a whole list of things i wanna bake! :D from sweet to savoury omnomnoms :D i think i've mentioned before that i have this massive cookbook with like 1000 recipes inside haha. but this time i decided to online to search for a recipe cos i wanted to bake RED VELVET CUPCAKES :D mmmmm :D excited max!!

i'm proud to say that they turned out pretty good! :) the texture was really just right! moist enough so that it was soft and it was dense such that it was filling, but not overly so. especially considering we mixed it entirely by hand cos we dont have an electric mixer (okay it wasnt me doing the stirring haha i'm glad my sisters were baking with me!). the frosting was kinda sweet and a bit too fluid though O.o but i already used way less sugar than what the recipe said, and no idea what we did to the consistency such that it became so runny? we always have some crisis during baking though! hahaha. this is the second time we ran out of butter while baking!!!! T.T super annoying. haha but luckily there was a store just downstairs selling it. phewwww.

anyway you can view the original recipe here, but this is my slightly modified version :)

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tablespoons red food coloring

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoons distilled white vinegar

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

8 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature

½ cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2. On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

3. In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter and mix on medium speed until completely combined. Make sure all the batter gets the colour.

4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

5. Again, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the salt, baking soda and vinegar. Turn to high and beat for another couple of minutes until completely combined and smooth.

6. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife or skewer inserted into the center of the largest cupcake comes out clean.

7. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove cupcakes from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

8. To make the frosting: Whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Increase the speed to medium high and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.