Red Velvet Cupcakes

Hotdog! Today I was feeling 'christmasy' while I as in the mall hearing Christmas songs! To go with the holiday season and yuletide spell, I decided to make bright red vanilla cup cakes. These are simply known as Red Velvet Cupcakes and topped them with cream cheese frosting.

I actually have been thinking of baking something over the weekend but only found time today. I picked up  ideas on how to make these cupcakes while browsing through a couple of cookbooks at Chapters but I edited the version to suit my taste.

Before we move on to the actual recipe, here is a brief introduction on these cup cakes.. These adorable red cakes were made famous by Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York back in the early 1920's. Some recipes I've seen pair this with butter cream frosting but for me cream cheese frosting is the ultimate topping to this elegant cup .cake.

This cup cake has a mellow hint of chocolate but it should not taste like chocolate cake. It is in fact a plain cake but made gorgeous by the red food color and by the hint of darkness cocoa gives. You may be surprised that my cake recipe does not use butter but truly I tell you canola oil works magic when making cupcakes. Butter dries out cakes fast but oil gives moisture. So here goes. I hope you enjoy making them but most especially eating them!

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (when measuring flour don't scoop from the bag or container. But pour flour it into the cup. This ensures you do not have too much flour than what the recipe requires).
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. dark unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup butter milk
2 large eggs
4 tsp. red liquid food color
1 1/4 tsp. white vinegar
2 T vanilla
1/8 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cupcake or muffin pans with cupcake tins. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa. Set aside.

In a bigger bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, and butter milk until combined.

Add in the eggs, vinegar, vanilla, water and the red food color.

Mix the dry ingredients in three parts and stir until combined.

Pour mixture in prepared cupcake pans.

This recipe yields 22 - 24.

Pop it in the over and bake for 22 - 25 minutes or until a cake tester or knife comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let it cool before frosting.

Pipe icing into the cupcakes but leave room for the cupcakes to be visible as it creates a great contrast to  the white icing.

Cream cheese frosting:

1 8 oz, Philadelphia cream cheese
1/2 cup unsweetened butter, softened
salt to taste
1 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Cream together cream cheese, butter and salt with a hand mixer. Add in the confectioners sugar and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.

Pour inside a piping bag or sandwich bags. An easy way to fill the bag with frosting is to use a tall glass and line it with the piping bag or sandwich bag. Using a spatula add in the frosting. Place in the fridge for a few minutes to cool before icing the cupcakes. Cut one end of the bag before frosting.