Red Velvet Cupcakes

Another thing on the list of foods I had never tried was red velvet cake. (Well I had some once and didn’t like it at all, but I figured the reason I didn’t like it was because it was from the grocery store, so I never really counted that as trying it.) So while my friend was over, we decided we’d make some red velvet cupcakes. I received The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook as a gift for my birthday in November, and had used it a few times before this (the best and only actually noteworthy I’ve made from it was Apple Pecan Quick Bread) and it had a recipe for red velvet cake, so I figured I’d try it out.
This was sadly one of the worst cakes I’ve ever made, due to it being too dry. All of the cake recipes I’ve made from this cookbook have been really dry. I think they purposely leave out ingredients in their cake recipes or something since that’s what the bakery is known for. I’m still not counting this as having tried red velvet cake, because I doubt this is what it was supposed to taste like. So here’s the recipe anyway, but if you want to make red velvet cake, I wouldn’t make this particular recipe:

Christmas Red Velvet Cupcakes (from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)
Red Velvet Cake

• 3 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 tbsp red food coloring*
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pan with papers. In a small bowl sift the flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs beating well after each addition. In another small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring cocoa, and vanilla. (Basically just try to make a very red paste mixture. If your batter looks more pink than red after you add the cocoa-food coloring mixture to the rest of the wet ingredients, just keep adding more food coloring until it looks as red as you want it to be.) Add to the batter and beat very well, remembering to scrape down the sides of the bowl. In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overmix. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter into the bowl making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. Spoon the batter into the cupcake papers, about 3/4 full. Bake about 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let cool and then frost cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Makes just over 2 dozen cupcakes.

Whipped Cream Cheese Icing

• 1lb (2 8oz packages) cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 5 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the powdered sugar, alternating with the heavy cream. Then beat well for about 4-5 minutes until icing has a “whipped” texture and everything is incorporated. If need be, thicken in fridge for a couple hours, but no longer, before using.

Eggnog Cupcakes

Eggnog Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup eggnog
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Yields about 2 dozen cupcakes, give or take a few.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers. In a small bowl combine the flours and spices, set aside. In a large bowl on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the eggnog and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overmix. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the ingredients into cupcake liners, filling them 3/4 full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes completely before icing.

White Chocolate Eggnog Buttercream (adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
• 8 tablespoons eggnog
• 12 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly over a double-boiler
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon heavy cream
• 5 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons - 1 tablespoon nutmeg*

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the eggnog and beat until smooth. Add the melted white chocolate and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and heavy cream. Gradually add the sugar on low speed, alternating with the nutmeg until creamy and of desired consistency.

*how much you add depends on how much you want the nutmeg flavor to come through (though I find the white chocolate flavor tends to overpower it anyway, and I just add it because I like the color/specks).

Hot Fudge Sunday Cupcakes

If you know me, you know I always like to bake something whenever I’m invited somewhere, or am going to see friends. I was going to PortCon Maine with some friends, and we were going to meet up with a bunch of friends we hadn’t seen in a long time (since they all live in Maine). So I asked everyone which cupcakes they would rather me make, and they picked these ones. They stayed surprisingly in tact during the 2 hour drive to Portland.
(recipe courtesy of Joy The Baker)

Chocolate Spice Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream Frosting

I went antique shopping the other day and came home with 2 new vintage cookbooks - one from 1940 and one from the 1950s. I have never seen the word “jellied” used so many times in one place. I eventually want to make something from every section of each of them. I originally was going to make the recipe word for word from the cookbook, but it looked like it had way too much liquid involved, so I ended up adapting it quite a bit. The buttercream frosting is of my own invention and is one of the tastiest frostings I’ve ever had. Not to brag or anything.

Spiced Devil’s Food Cake (adapted from The Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedia of Cooking and Homemaking; 1940 edition)

• 2½ cups sifted flour
• 1½ tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 ounces (squares) bakers chocolate
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup strong coffee (still hot)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Sift flour, spices, baking soda and salt together; set aside. Cream shortening with sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Melt chocolate on top of stove in a double boiler. Add beaten eggs and chocolate and beat thoroughly.Add sifted dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately in small amounts, beating well after each addition. Add hot coffee and blend.Pour into cupcake tins 3/4 full and bake 30-35 minutes.

Caramel Buttercream Frosting

• 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 2 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 or more tablespoons heavy cream
• ½ to 3/4 cup caramel sauce (either homemade or store-bought; how much you add depends on how much you want the caramel flavor to show through)
• salt*

Cream butter at medium speed until fluffy, then slowly add the confectioners’ sugar. Add the vanilla, and one tablespoon of heavy cream. Gradually add the caramel sauce then turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the rest of the heavy cream, then turn the mixer to high speed. And whip until fluffy. Or add more cream if needed to achieve a more glaze-like consistency or whip more air into the frosting to give it more body and a “whipped” buttercream texture.
*add salt to taste and it will become salted caramel buttercream

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Halloween being my favorite holiday, I make a lot of themed desserts during the month of October. I love the idea of rainbow cake, so I thought, why not make a cake the colors of candy corn? I actually don’t really like candy corn (which is why I spent days looking for candy corn Hershey’s kisses), but it’s one of the most traditional Halloween candies.

To make these, I just used a plain white cake recipe (here's one) and divided the batter in half, coloring one half with red and yellow food coloring to make orange, and yellow food coloring for the other half. Before cooking, I placed the yellow batter on the bottom, and the orange on top, making sure they didn't mix.

The frosting is just vanilla buttercream, but you can use whatever frosting you like, especially since white cake doesn't taste like much to begin with.

Easy Vanilla Buttercream Frostingyields enough to frost a dozen cupcakes

• 1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2½ cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.