Happy Superbowl Sunday! I love football and even though I'm really not a fan of either team playing today, I'll definitely be watching the game and enjoying plenty of delicious food! Among the things I made are these red velvet cupcakes, which were selected for this week's SMS by Rosy of Rosy Lips & Lavender.
This recipe actually made a layer cake but I went the cupcake route instead. I really love layer cakes and I wish I had more opportunities to make them, but they're just not very practical for a two-person household. Cupcakes are so much more portable, not to mention easier to eat and give away to others. There were a few things about this recipe I thought were interesting. First, red wine vinegar is one of the ingredients, which struck me as weird. I haven't made red velvet cake/cupcakes more than once or twice before (I can't even remember the last time) but I think I remember white vinegar was one of the ingredients. I'm curious why this book uses red wine instead of white. The cupcakes also called for cinnamon - another ingredient I'm not sure is traditional for red velvet. In the end, the vinegar ended up being a non-issue, I couldn't taste it at all in the cupcakes. I did detect the cinnamon hanging out in the background, but it wasn't prominent.
I made 1/3 of the recipe included in the book, which yielded 12 full size cupcakes. They baked for 20 minutes and came out of the oven with cute little domed tops. They were definitely red in color (though in some of my photos they look a bit more brownish). I have to confess that I skipped the frosting recipe in the book in favor of my absolute favorite cream cheese frosting from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book. I've made that frosting at least 3 times now and it never disappoints. It's absolutely delicious and a perfect consistency for piping. The recipe only has 4 ingredients and can be thrown together in minutes. You can find it here if you'd like to give it a shot.
Since I don't have red velvet very often and therefore don't have much of a basis for comparison, I'm not sure I can fairly judge this particular recipe. The cupcakes had great texture - very light and moist but when it comes to flavor, I thought they were just ok. It may just be that I'm not a fan of red velvet in general, though, so I'll have to wait and see what others think when they try them tonight. All that said, I'm happy to use the cupcakes as a vehicle for the amazing frosting so these definitely won't go to waste :) Thanks to Rosy for hosting this week! You can find the red velvet recipe on her site and if you'd like to see the rest of this week's cakes, stop by the SMS blogroll.
37 comments:
Adorable! My roommate who is a red velvet expert loved mine so perhaps that's what a red velvet cupcake is supposed to taste like.
These look delicious! :)
so cute! i'm sure the guys will overlook the cuteness and eat them all manly while watching the game!! ;) delicious.
Oh, those look wonderful! Mail me one.
Love red velvet- nice job!!
They look really good. Could you send some over for the Cream & Crimson Hoo game this afternoon? Thanks. I agree with your assessment on that frosting! Way too dangerous to have that hanging around. My grandmother used to make a vinegar pie and it sounds disgusting, but you couldn't taste the vinegar and it was always a hit and I miss it. I wish I had that recipe. I need to search around and see if anyone in the family has that. Your cupcakes look beautiful!
That frosting looks amazing! I'm going to have to try it the next time I need cream cheese frosting for something. I have a favorite (from a Fine Cooking carrot cake recipe), so I'm curious to see how this one compares.
I'm a big fan of red velvet! These look wonderful - perfect for a game AND pre-Valentine's day! Beautiful piping job - that's always such a challenge for me, but the first thing people notice - nicely done!
Perfect! I didn't use the icing from Melissa either. Too much butter for my tastes. Your piping is perfection!
Well that's the cutest little red cake stand ever! I love it! And want one!! :)
I agree- I love layer cakes, and they're fun to make... but with only two people here, its silly to make them. I usually opt for the single-serve size, too!
Enjoy the super bowl! your cupcakes look adorable!
They look great! And you can't beat that cream cheese frosting. I've been thinking of doing red velvet cupcakes for my daughter's upcoming ladybug-themed birthday party - maybe I'll make these.
I love red velvet cupcakes, these look fantastic! :)
They look beautiful! I wish mine were actually red instead of brown, blah!!
Lovely photos. Another SMS blogger wasn't too fond of the flavor.... said they were bitter. When I made a RV Wedding Cake for my brother, I used Wilton's No-Taste gel coloring. It was uber yummy.
:)
ButterYum
Your cupcakes look beautiful!! Love the red cake plate.
Yours look more way more red than mine do.
Your frosting looks perfect...what a great job you did on these cupcakes! I loved this recipe and will make it again.
Enjoy SBS!
ok your frosted cupcakes put mine to shame. mine were fugly ;P totally not pipe-worthy. what kind of tip do you use to pipe those beautiful tops?? i have always wondered how others do it...but i don't make a lot of cupcakes so i have no idea how to frosted them except with an icing spatula :)
You are so awesome with cupcakes. I love the shot of them in the muffin pan. What a fantastic, enticing photo. Please teach me how to frost cupcakes!! I beg of you!
Gorgeous pictures! What kind of tip did you use for piping the frosting?? Whatever it is, I need to get one! And you won the give-away on my blog; email me at mohoho at hotmail dot com so I can send you the Martha Stewart Cookies book!
I need to try Martha's icing recipe. . .Gorgeous piping! I was not overly impressed with the red velvet flavor and also wondered why the red wine vinegar and cinnamon. Definitely different. Beautiful cupcakes Tracey!
Beatiful cupcakes! These were not my favorite.
Wow! So lovely cupcakes! I like it so much! I would love to make some for Valentines!
These look great! I'm thinking that maybe red velvet cake is all about the visual impact rather than a particularly outstanding flavour... Thank you so much for baking along with me! R x
These are beautiful!
I vote that you start training me to pipe as pretty as you do! Your cuppies are definitely a show stopper.
Your cupcakes look beautiful, Tracey!! Love the piped frosting on top. It looks very creamy and delicious. Saying that this recipe was not my favorite would be an understatement. But that's how it goes sometimes. I still had fun making them :o)
These look awesome Tracey. I especially love the frosting swirl. What size tip did you use?
What awesome cupcakes! I love how great your frosting looks. I agree, these may be more about the coloring than the flavor, but they were very popular.
These are beautiful! Have you made Martha's red velvet cupcakes? They are the only ones I've ever made, and I'm curious about how they compare to SMS. Either way, yours look vibrant and beautiful and definitely red! Great vehicle for that cream cheese icing!
Your cupcakes look perfect! You should really do a piping tutorial. I didn't even bother photographing the cupcakes I made, they were messy and it was late. Hope your guests enjoyed them!
I don't like red velvet either. When you think about most recipes, it's either just a faint chocolate cake or a white cake made with oil... neither are on the top of my list! Your frosting job is amazing though! I bet the real reason red velvet is so popular is the cream cheese frosting.
Thanks for all the gracious comments everyone! For those who asked, the tip I used for these cupcakes is the large star tip from the Williams-Sonoma mechanical pastry bag. I wish I knew the equivalent Wilton tip but I keep forgetting to check.
[http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/mechanical-pastry-bag/?pkey=x|4|1||4|mechanical||0&cm_src=SCH]
Cathy - I haven't made Martha's red velvet cupcakes so I can't compare them to these. If they're in the Cupcakes book we'll make them eventually for MSC and then I can compare :)
M & E - I tried to email you at the address you provided but it was returned as undeliverable. Please let me know if there's an alternate email I should use.
Your mini-cupcakes look great! This was my first time making/eating red velvet. Liked them! Although, would prob make other flavored cupcakes over these ones.
Yum! I made my first red velvet cake a few weeks ago, and I'm totally hooked! Maybe I should make some of these for Valentine's Day!
The frosting looks so, so good! Do you think it is stiff enough to frost a layer cake with? Thank you!
These look amamzing. Very cute size. Love your blog Can't wait to make these, great job.
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