I searched and searched the Internet for the perfect recipe and finally decided to give this recipe from Kathleen's Gonna Want Seconds Cooking Blog. She adapted her recipe from one of my most trusted sources, Cooks Illustrated. If anyone can make a regular recipe great, it's the people at Cooks Illustrated.
The recipe was surprisingly easy and worked for cupcakes, which was even better in my opinion! I made the cupcakes and icing the day before and piped the icing on the cupcakes a couple hours before the party. I topped each with a red m&m and used red paper liners to stick with the theme.
I have to say, besides these cupcakes changing my mind about red velvet, the icing was the BEST cream cheese icing I have ever had. I will definitely be adding these cupcakes to my repertoire of desserts.
Red Velvet Cake
adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Ingredients:
Cake:
2 1/4 cups (11 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of table salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
1-1ounce bottle red food coloring
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
Frosting:
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups (16 ounces) confectioner's sugar
16 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into 8 pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of table salt
Instructions (with notes from Gonna Want Seconds):
FOR THE CAKE:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2-9 inch cake pans or line cupcake pans with liners.
2. In a medium bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In another bowl add buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and eggs and whisk to combine.
4. Sift cocoa into a small bowl the mix with food coloring until it forms a paste.
5. Beat butter and sugar together, in a standing mixer, set on medium, for 2 minutes. Scrape down bowl.
6. Add 1/3 of flour mixture and and beat on medium speed just until it's incorporated. Add 1/2 the buttermilk mixture and beat on low until combined. Scrape down the bowl. Add 1/3 of flour mixture and beat on medium until incorporate. Add the rest of buttermilk mixture beat on low until combine. Add last 1/3 of flour mixture and beat on medium until just combined. Scrape down the bowl.
7. Add the cocoa paste mixture and beat on medium until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and make sure the bottom of the batter is incorporating as well. Give the batter a final good stir with a rubber spoonula to mix completely and pour into prepared pans.
8. Bake cake/cupcakes in preheated oven about 25 minutes for cake and 17-20 minutes for cupcakes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
FOR THE FROSTING:
1. In a standing mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, 1 piece at a time, and beat until incorporate. ( Are you kidding me? Yah, I just plopped all the softened cream cheese in-full blocks-not cut up in and had no problems ;0 ) Beat in vanilla and salt. ( don't skip the salt- it doesn't make the frosting taste salty it heightens all the other flavs.). Spread or pipe on completely cooled cakes. If frosting seems a bit too soft to pipe well, pop it in the fridge a few minutes to firm it up a little.
