Day 25: Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentines Day calls for learning how to finally bake Red Velvet. I've always been fascinated with red velvet, it just seems so mysterious and magical. It was only about a year ago when I tried my first red velvet cupcake- and I was hooked. It wasn't just the fact that it tasted quite different to what I was expecting ( I thought it would taste way too sugary and not as chocolatey) but the thought of eating something so brightly coloured...it kind of feels rebellious - the kind of food my mum would have banned me from as a kid so that my hyper-ness wouldn't get the best of me.


Here's what you need:
-2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
-50ml red food coloring (two bottles) or 4 oz beet juice (if you use unprocessed light cocoa you can leave out the food dyes and you'll get a warm red/brown color)
-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-2 eggs, at room temperature
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
-1 teaspoon white vinegar
-1 teaspoon baking soda


How to do it:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (350F). Line two 12-cup muffin tins or silicone pans with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a smaller bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Be careful as it will fizz so don't do it in a shallow bowl. Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Fill cupcake cups with cake batter until they are about 3/4 full. I ended up with 24 cupcakes. Place muffin tins in your preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20, rotating pans halfway through. The cupcakes are done when you are able to pat the tops and the cake springs back up. If it sinks down they are not yet complete. Or you can insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake in the center of the tin and if it comes out clean they are done!
5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.
6. Enjoy!

Look how deliciously fluffy they are inside!! So great. Wish I could share them with my valentine, Patrick- but he is living in the states right now...so this recipe is dedicated to him! Love you...and these cupcakes.