Bitter Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe

The first time I discovered red velvet cupcakes I was in Melbourne city, strolling down Degraves St with two of my close uni friends.  We stumbled upon Little Cupcakes and my friends excitedly went in to buy red velvet cupcakes.  Never having had one myself, I was curious to see what the fuss was about... and I'm sure glad I did.

The other day I had a massive craving for those red velvet cupcakes. But living an hour out of the city meant the closest I could get to them was to make them myself.  I found a brilliant recipe on The Cake Mistress but made adjustments to get them as close as I could to taste like the beautiful cupcakes from Little Cupcake.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Makes 12 - 14 medium sized cupcakes

60 g unsalted butter, room temp
150 g caster sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten

60 g cocoa powder
20 ml pillarbox red food colouring, liquid
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

120 ml buttermilk
100 g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 170c. Line a cupcake tin with patty cases.
2. Place butter and sugar in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg and beat until everything is well mixed.
3. Mix the food colouring in a separate small bowl, 10g of the cocoa powder and vanilla extract until it makes a thick paste. If it is dry and crumbly, don't worry, just make sure it smooths out when mixed into the butter mixture. Add the paste to the butter mixture and beat thoroughly until the colour is mixed evenly through the batter. Be sure to scrape down any stray batter from the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The mix should be a deep rose pink/red.
4. Slowly add half the buttermilk until just mixed then add half the flour and the rest of the 50g of cocoa powder until just mixed. Repeat with the rest of the buttermilk, flour and cocoa powder.
5. Add the salt, bicarb and vinegar, beating only until they are fully incorporated.
6. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake trays until each is no more than two-thirds full.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked.

Cream Cheese Icing

300 g icing sugar, sifted

50 g unsalted butter, room temp

125 g cream cheese, slightly softened

1. Beat the icing sugar and butter in an electric mixer until it has a sandy texture.
2. Add the cream cheese one tablespoon at a time, beating until completely combined. 
3. Continue beating the frosting on a medium-high speed, until it becomes light and fluffy. This takes around five minutes.
4. Ice cupcakes once they have cooled down.

Tips and hints:

1. If you like your cake bitter, add more cocoa powder. Just remember that the amount of cocoa powder you add, you must subtract the exact same amount of flour to keep the consistancy. Only mix10g of the cocoa powder with the red food dye. Additional cocoa powder can just be added to the mixture after the paste has been added.
2. The top of a cupcake should bounce back when lightly touched. 
3. For small cupcakes - 10 mins in the oven should do. For medium cupcakes 15 - 20 mins, and for cakes 20 - 25 mins.
4. If making a cake, this works well when slicing it through the middle and adding a layer of cream cheese in the middle and top.

Enjoy!