And the winnner is: Red Velvet!

Votes are in and polls are closed. Congratulations to the Red Velvet cupcake. She received 70 percent of the votes. Vanilla was a descent second with 50; those darn red and blue constituents are always on the fence! Carrot and Chocolate weren't even in the ball park. That's surprising. I'm a chocolate lover myself. You know what they say, once you go chocolate its hard to go back to vanilla. Okay, so that's not really what "they" say. Perhaps, in the cupcake world. Seriously though, I do enjoy red velvet cupcakes, some would argue that they are really chocolate cupcakes with food coloring. Others, well....does it really matter? Of course, not. Actually, the cocoa powder, an ingredient used, has a bit of a reddish hue, which is enhanced by a chemical reaction between vinegar and baking soda, also ingredients. But, the deep redness is achieved with food coloring. Here's a tip, you must use the real deal, not that generic stuff at supermarkets sold in the little box with the matching cone shaped caps- uh-uh! The best food coloring to use when baking is the gel food color, its more concentrated and gives it a nice vivid shade, without having to use the entire bottle. Well, that's my tip of the day. Enough blogging, let's get to baking...keep me posted.

Happy Cupcaking!


Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients

2½ cups cake flour, sifted
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon red gel food color
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven 350°F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. Whisk together sifted cake flour, cocoa, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl combine milk and vanilla extract.

3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl periodically. Mix in food coloring and vanilla extract. Reduce speed; add flour mixture alternating with buttermilk, ending with flour until just combined. Stir together baking soda and vinegar in small bowl, let foam, then add to flour mixture and mix for 10 seconds.

4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups (tip: use an ice-cream scooper) filling three-quarters full. Bake approximately 20-25 minutes, rotating pans halfway through and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Transfer pans to rack or counter to cool before removing cupcakes.

5. To finish, use a small offset spatula or small butter knife to spread cream-cheese frosting.

Cream-Cheese Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed add sugar ½ cup at a time, then vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl periodically. Serve immediately. Excess frosting can be refrigerated for up to 3 days in airtight container; before use, bring to room temperature and re-beat on low speed until smooth again.


posted by Nicole Friday for the Cupcake Craze