as jack would say... happy love day!

catching up part 2 - valentines day

well... here are some of the valentines day cupcakes i made for me and my boys... of course like almost everyone else out there who baked cupcakes for valentines, i went with red velvet cake... i know, i know... so original... i went with a recipe from the amazingly talented "smitten kitchen"... that woman sure knows how to make me hungry!!

anyways... i love red velvet... but i always under do the red food coloring (so they are more of a deep maroon)... as i've said before too much food coloring and dye just freaks me out a bit... and it freaks me out even more after my four year old ate some SUPER red-dyed cupcakes and his poop was red for two days... not the yummiest thing to write about i know... but i just felt like sharing... :-)

anyways, her recipe was delicious... really moist and soft, with a subtle hint of cocoa, and a lovely tang on the finish... and another shocker... i topped them with cream cheese frosting... well actually a vanilla cream cheese buttercream... you see i'm a fan of both the buttercream and the cream cheese, the hubs, not so much... he doesn't like the overwhelming butter taste... so as i aim to please, i compromised with the cream cheese vanilla bean buttercream... how very nice of me!!

red velvet cake recipe adapted from "smitten kitchen" - yields about 30-35 cupcakes
ingredients:
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water *i used much less then this*
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar.

directions:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with paper liners
2. whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl
3. place oil and sugar in the bowl of the mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended
4. beat in eggs one at a time
5. with machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring
6. add vanilla
7. add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches, then scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine
8. place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running, and beat for 10 seconds
9. with the liners filled only 3/4 of the way, the baking time should be between 20 to 25 minutes, but check in on them 2/3 of the way through in case your oven gets the job done faster

happy love day, and happy baking everybody!!