Red Velvet Santa Cupcakes Recipes

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
• Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
• Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely. Frost with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting.
• Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat cream cheese, softened, butter, sour cream and McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.

RED VELVET SANTA CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups.
• In blender or food processor, place beets. Cover; blend on high speed about 1 minute, stopping occasionally to scrape sides, until smooth. Pour 1/2 cup beet mixture in large bowl (reserve remaining for another use). Add egg product, sugar, vanilla, oil and yogurt, stirring well to combine. Stir in flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread on cupcakes. Top each with 1 strawberry and an additional dot of frosting.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Line a standard 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake liners.
• Sift Dry ingredients together into a bowl.
• Cream butter: Put the butter in a separate bowl and beat on speed 2 for 1 minute with an electric mixer or stand mixer (paddle attachment).
• Cream sugar: Add sugar then beat for a further 2 minutes, same speed, until the butter is very pale yellow, almost white.
• Beat in eggs: Add the eggs one at a time beating for 30 seconds on speed 1 after each addition.
• Add remaining Wet ingredients: Add oil, buttermilk, vanilla and red food colouring then beat on Speed 1 until incorporated and the batter is smooth.
• Beat in flour: Sprinkle the Dry ingredients across the surface and mix on Speed 1 for just 20 seconds. Scrape down sides of the bowl, then mix again for 10 seconds. The batter should now be smooth - few small lumps is ok. Do not keep beating - overworks batter = cupcakes not as soft!
• Fill pan: Divide the batter between the 12 cupcake liners - it should fill 3/4 of the way, but it depends on the size of the cupcake liners you use.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the middle cupcake comes out clean.
• Cool: Immediately remove cupcakes onto a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.
• Cream butter: Place butter in a bowl and beat for 1 minute until it's smooth and starts to become paler in colour - speed 6 on stand mixer, speed 9 for electric beater.
• Cream cream cheese: Add cream cheese then beat for a further 1 minute on the same speed until smooth.
• Add icing sugar: Add icing sugar in 4 batches, beating in between until incorporated, starting on speed 1 so you don't get a dust storm in your face!
• Beat until fluffy: Add vanilla and salt, then beat for 2 minutes until fluffy - speed 6 with stand mixer, speed 9 with electric beater. It should be creamy but still hold its shape in a peak (see video). If it's too sloppy, place in fridge for 30 minutes, then beat again.
• Pipe: Transfer into piping bag with desired piping tip. Pipe onto cupcakes - makes enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes as pictured in post.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.
• In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 1 minute, until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients alternately in 3 parts, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mix until combined. Stir with a rubber spatula to be sure the batter is mixed.
• Scoop the batter into the muffin cups with a 2 1/4-inch ice cream scoop or large spoon. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Cool completely in the pans and frost the cupcakes with Red Velvet Frosting.
• Place the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium speed just until combined. Don't whip! Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

SOUTHERN RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line mini cupcake or muffin pans with 48 mini cupcake liners or line regular-size cupcake or muffin pans with 24 regular cupcake liners.
• In mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. In another mixing bowl, stir together the eggs and oil. In a mixing cup, mix together the buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla extract and lightly whisk. Gradually add the dry ingredients and buttermilk mixture to the egg mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. We are trying to achieve a dark brown, red cupcake color, so add more cocoa powder, if the red is not deep enough. Then add the batter to the mini cupcake liners until they are 3/4-full and bake for 13 to 14 minutes, or until done. Alternately, fill the regular-size cupcake liners and bake 22 minutes, or until done. Let the cupcakes cool completely.
• Combine the sugar, cream cheese, butter, salt, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl and blend for 2 minutes.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Cupcakes
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line one 12-cup muffin tin and half of a second 12-cup tin with paper liners and lightly spray the tops of the tins with nonstick spray. Have all the ingredients at room temperature before you begin.
• Cream the granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes (see Know-how, page 315). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
• Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl and stir to mix. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour mixture, stopping to scrape down the bowl several times and stirring just until all is incorporated. Do not overmix. Stir in the vinegar and food coloring, if using, until thoroughly blended.
• Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins using a 1/4-cup measure or ice cream scoop to fill each cup about three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until springy to the touch and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before frosting.
• Frosting
• Cream the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar 1 cup at a time and cream until smooth. Add the vanilla and mix until blended.
• Using a spatula or pastry bag and tip, spread or pipe the frosting on the cupcakes and serve.
• Chew on this: About Red Velvet Cake
• Although the origins of red velvet cake are up for debate, the cake has been around since long before the popularization of commercially produced food coloring, in the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, the cake's red tint was most likely initially the result of a chemical reaction sparked by mixing acidic buttermilk and vinegar with natural cocoa powder. (The acid also had the effect of softening the cake's crumb.) Over the years, the color was intensified with beets and, finally, the red food coloring that is most often used today.
• Sara's Swaps
• Damon Lee Fowler, my friend and expert on all things Southern, makes a brown velvet cake in which he simply omits the food coloring. Because I don't typically keep food coloring in my pantry, I often follow his lead with this recipe, and both versions are equally tasty. But the bright color is a true crowd-pleaser, especially among kids.
• Know-how: Piping Frosting on the Fly
• You don't need a pastry bag and tip handy to pipe frosting. Just snip the bottom corner off a plastic sandwich bag and use a spatula to fill the bag with frosting. Use the bag as you would a pastry bag, pushing the frosting out through the hole in the corner to create swirls or rosettes.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases and set aside. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Sieve the flour, cocoa, bicarb and a pinch of fine salt into a medium bowl and mix to combine.
• Using a stand mixer or an electric hand whisk, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg, vanilla, buttermilk, oil and vinegar until combined. Gradually mix the wet ingredients into the dried. Once combined, mix in the red food colouring until you have a deep red mix - the colour may vary depending on what brand you use.
• Divide the batter between the cupcake cases and bake for 15 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a cake comes out clean.
• While the cakes are cooling, make the icing. Beat together the butter and icing sugar using an electric whisk or by hand until pale and fluffy, about 3 mins, then beat in the cream cheese for a further 1-2 mins until well combined.
• Once the cakes are cool, use a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle to cover the cakes with the cream cheese icing, or dollop the icing on top using a spoon.