Red Velvet Cupcakes

For a friend’s 30th birthday, I was called upon to make cupcakes for the celebration! I was tasked with baking 48 to add to a grand total of 100 cupcakes for the party. I was in charge of the red velvet and chocolate salted caramel cupcakes.

When my friend asked me to bake cupcakes for the party, I immediately said “yes.” Yet, my next thought was how to get the cupcakes to the party unscathed. I reached out to another friend of mine who loves to bake cupcakes as well, and asked if she had a suggestion for how to package them for transportation. She shared with me a link to plastic cupcake containers but better yet, she let me borrow two 24-count muffin tins. This was an absolute time saver!

In order to complete the cupcake order and not feel stressed, I baked the cupcakes the day before the party. About 2 ½ hours before heading to the party, I made the frostings, piped/decorated the cupcakes, and got them packed up. That left me plenty of time to get myself dolled up for the celebration.

The festivities included a delicious dinner at Riviera Maya in the Bayview neighborhood of Milwaukee and then dancing all night at Gibraltar. At Gibraltar, the birthday space was setup in one room with a DJ and photo booth and the main room had two more DJs whose focus was to get people up on their feet. The cupcakes were displayed in the room with the photo booth where both friends of the birthday girl and general partygoers could partake. The crowd loved the cupcakes. The red velvet seemed to be the biggest hit.

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Red Velvet Cupcakes

Makes 3 ½ Dozen Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 1/3 Cups Cake Flour
¾ Cup (12 Tablespoons) Butter, Unsalted, Room Temperature
2 ¼ Cups Sugar
3 Large Eggs, Room Temperature
2 Tablespoons Liquid Red Food Coloring
3 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 ½ Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 ½ Teaspoons Salt
1 ½ Cups Buttermilk
1 ½ Teaspoons White Vinegar
1 ½ Teaspoons Baking Soda

Frosting:

1 Cup Butter, Unsalted, Room Temperature
1 (8 oz.) Package Cream Cheese
¼ Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
4 ½ Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Tablespoon Milk

Directions:

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners and spray with cooking spray, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and mix with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mix the food coloring, cocoa powder and vanilla together. Add to the butter/sugar mixture.

Stir salt into the buttermilk and add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the cake flour, starting and ending with the cake flour.

In a small bowl, stir together the vinegar and baking soda, add to the batter and mix well.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full with the batter and bake in the preheated oven for 17 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake! Cool completely before frosting the cupcakes.

Frosting:

In a large bowl, mix together the butter, cream cheese, salt and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. If the frosting is too thick add a little milk. If you are planning to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes, you want it thick enough to hold its shape.

Assemble your piping bag, using the tip of your choice. Fill your piping bag with the frosting and decorate your cupcakes.

Notes:

*If you don’t want to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes, and prefer to spread a small layer on top instead, cut the amount of frosting in half.

**Because I only needed 24 cupcakes, and I made 33, I used one of the extra cupcakes for decoration by crumbling the cupcake in a small bowl. I then added the crumbs on top of the piped frosting. I ended up decorating and including the extra 8 cupcakes, so I had 32 red velvet cupcakes.

Recipe courtesy of The Recipe Critic