Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentine’s day is just around the corner and as much as you try to veer away from romance, you just can’t seem to escape it. It is freaking everywhere!  It’s the season where heart and cupid cut-outs are plastered all over and anything that is red is in.

In the world of cupcakes, there is only one red cupcake that deserves the spotlight on this occasion. The most famous of them all – red velvet cupcakes!

Red velvet cupcakes are vanilla cupcakes with a little hint of cocoa, tinted to a red hue. A lot would be intimidated to make one, but they’re actually easy to  make. This Southern cake has been sending cupcake shops in frenzy but I really do not get the fuss over it. I still prefer chocolate cupcakes, but once in a while, I let my romantic side kick in and would devour a red velvet cupcake or two.

As I’ve mentioned, these cupcakes are not really that difficult to make. What makes them quite the little divas that they are is their moistness. They have this little, sorta infamous reputation of being dry once refrigerated. That was also my problem. WAS.

I’ve tweaked my recipes a lot of times already and I kept having this problem over and over again. I almost gave up, but I didn’t. I finally got my light bulb moment when I took inspiration from my super moist chocolate cupcakes and a recipe from divascancook, the result: my perfect red velvet cupcakes!

Here’s my recipe:

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Mini Blueberry Cheesecake

Cheesecakes intimidate me. To start with, it’s a sosyal food. Then it’s complicated to make (sort of) because you have to usually cook it in a bain-marie. Also, cream cheese is a bit pricey here in the Philippines. And I’m not really a fan of cheesecakes,  so  I never thought I’d ever make one.

But all of these changed when I chanced upon an episode of Anna Olson’s Fresh on the Asian Food Channel. She made mini lemon meringue cheesecakes and turned a complicated recipe into a simple one. First there was no bain-marie method involved (thank God!) and they were so tiny, so they cook fast. The serving portion is just perfect, and they were so cute to look at. With her recipe, I was determined to make one too.

As fate would have it, last Wednesday, we threw a surprise baby shower for my sister. It was my chance to try out her recipe. However, my sister’s having a baby boy, so color-wise, yellow wouldn’t go well with the theme. It has to be blue! (Last year, I made pink cupcakes for my other sister’s baby shower). So what is a blue cheesecake? Go figure!

Loosely-based on Anna Olson’s lemon meringue cheesecake recipe, here’s my mini blueberry cheesecake recipe:

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Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes with Salted Pecans

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

I can’t exactly remember when my romance with Red Velvet began. The strikingly bright red color  enticed me the moment I saw them on Food Network. They looked so good and so yummy that I knew I had to learn the recipe.

Bloody…and yummy!

Thus the search began! Google and Youtube helped me with my search and I realized most recipes are the same. Sugar, flour and cocoa ratios may vary but they basically are all the same. And easy to make!

My first attempt was on my birthday. I used Bobbie Lloyd’s recipe and it turned out well. The thing was I am using 3/4 oz muffin tins. Yes, they are quite small so they yield mini cupcakes. I forgot about that fact when I baked them. What happened was that  I baked them for too long. They didn’t burn but they dried out! 25 minutes was just too much!

On top are my first ever red velvet cupcakes. Yes, they taste good but they look sad and dreadful! I know I had to turn the presentation thousands of notches higher!

A few days later I made another batch. This time being careful with time. Baked them for 15 minutes only. They turned out real good. But something was still missing. And I want them really moist. Using Buttercream frosting also did not help coz I knew that Cream cheese frosting is the perfect match for these cupcakes.

That was my problem until a few days ago that I read this article from Yahoo! This article saved me from my red velvet hang up. Now I know what makes an authentic (not to mention yummy) red velvet cake!

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