#60 Dinoriffic Red Velvet Cupcakes



Wow how time flies! It seem like yesterday he was just turning a year old :)

Aidan's pick for the second year in a row is the amazing red velvet. This year as you can see he's ALL about dinosaurs so I whipped out the chocolate candy rocks and Oreo "dirt" and got to work. These dinoriffic cupcakes are also filled with a white chocolate peppermint ganache and topped with a white chocolate buttercream colored green. Killing 2 birds with one stone this is also MS: Cupcakes Club pick of the month :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes (picked by Everyday Insanity)
These are made slightly different than my pink velvet cupcakes which have oil instead of butter. I would have to say that these oil based ones are better. But I'll let you be the judge of that :)

The Goods
2 1/2 cups cake flour sifted
2 tablespoons unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups veggie oil
2 lg eggs room temp
1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk room temp
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

The How To
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together sifted cake flour, cocoa, and salt.

I also used some black cocoa to enhance the chocolate flavor.

In the bowl of a stand mixer whisk together sugar and oil on medium-high speed until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Mix in food color and vanilla.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with 2 additions of buttermilk. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl then add to batter and mix on medium speed for 10 seconds.

Divide batter evenly among cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake for 18-20mins rotating halfway through the bake time. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing.

While the cupcakes are cooling start on your White Chocolate Ganache (courtesy of My Baking Empire)

The Goods

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

**Double this recipe if you want enough for 24 cupcakes!!**

The How To

In a small sauce pan bring cream and extract to a simmer. Pour over chocolate and whisk until smooth. Quickly fill the centers of the cupcakes before the ganache hardens.

Sorry for the fuzzy pic but you get the idea!

 

Yes this is a JUMBO cupcake :)
Add about 5-7mins to your bake for these larger ones.



 Last but not least whip up your White Chocolate Buttercream and frost away!!!

 



MMMM so good!!!



Happy Holidays!!!!



#30 Pink Velvet Raspberry Cupcakes

Now that's Christmas is over its time to move away from the red and green! Plus I didn't have any red food coloring so that's how I ended up with pink. When I was picturing these in my head I was thinking of a soft pink/rose color, but I ended up with a mauve-not quite pink but definitely not red. It's like a little hint of Valentine's Day.

This is our first Wednesday off together. I started working 4 tens. Nothing like making cupcakes to bring you closer together!!

Pink Velvet Cupcakes
If your not feeling the pink any other color should work too. I was thinking purple or blue would look cool.

The Goods
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter room temp
2 eggs room temp
1 cup buttermilk room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
1teaspoon white vinegar
2oz liquid food coloring (I used about 1/2 tablespoon of the gel type. You could use less or more depends on the color you want to achieve.)

The How To
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In a smaller bowl, mix together food coloring and cocoa powder. If your using the liquid type mix until lumps are gone- it should resemble a thin paste.

Looks slightly pink right? Well it did in person

In the large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3mins.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and cocoa paste.

Giving you a little egg action here

I bet you didn't think it would be that pink.

Add one third of the flour mixture to the pink mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of the flour mixture, then the other half of the buttermilk. Mix in the last of the flour mixture and beat until well combined.



Looks a little lighter than the picture above.



In another small bowl, mix the vinegar and baking soda. It's going to look a little like a science project because when you add the baking soda to the vinegar it fizzes up so don't use a shallow bowl.

Not sure what's the point of the vinegar and baking soda. Didn't seem like it did anything special.

Add the vinegar mixture to the batter and stir well to combine. Fill cupcakes tins about 3/4 full.

Bake for 18-20mins, rotating halfway through.

Pink... Red.. Who cares!!!

Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10mins then remove and allow to cool completely before filling and frosting.

Raspberry Filling
If you have time, make this the night before so the filling has time to setup and get firm. If your lazy just use some jam or preserves. I noticed this recipe didn't quite fill 24 cupcakes so you might want to double it.

The Goods
2 10oz bag frozen raspberries, thawed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

These are some of the best frozen raspberries I've ever had. They taste like they were freshly picked. Definitely worth the extra money!

The How To
Using the food processor, puree the thawed raspberries.

Press the puree through a fine strainer to remove the seeds.

At this point you might be thinking that you should have went with  the jam..

Pour the puree into a medium saucepan and combine with the sugar and cornstarch.

Bring to a boil and stir until thickened. Let cool completely. I noticed with mine that it didn't get as thick as I had wanted so I reboiled it with some flavorless gelatin and let it re-cool that it did firm up some.

Once the filling is cooled go ahead and fill the cupcakes up.

A little messy but totally worth it.

Now for the best part...

White Chocolate Buttercream
There is no going wrong with this stuff! Oh this is another recipe you might want to double. For me I had enough to do a dozen.

The Goods
1 cup butter room temp.
2 cups powdered sugar
6oz white chocolate melted & cooled
3-5 tablespoons whipping cream

The How To
Melt the chocolate in either the microwave or double boiler style. Let cool completely.

I choose to melt it with a double boiler

While that is cooling beat the butter and sugar at low speed until fluffy.

Add melted/cooled chocolate and 3 tablespoons of whipping cream. Depending on how thick you want your frosting, you might add more whipping cream. I found 3 tablespoons was perfect. Beat on high for 3-4mins.

Look at the shinny finish, this is probley one of the prettiest butter creams I've made.

Now time to frost them up!

Had some left over melting chocolate so I made up some hearts too.



 Up Next...
Black Forest Cupcakes