Red Velvet Cupcakes

Must I say anything about this? I love the hint of cocoa and the moist texture this cake has. Also, you're not really limited to just red (green is my favorite color, so I'll use that the next time). These were made for a bake sale, and are actually mini-sized for a faster sale and to attract all the females that love cute things.

cake batter;
2-1/2 cups cake flour*
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red liquid food coloring* (or any color to your liking)
1/2 cup veggie oil
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk*, at room temp
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350.
Sift dry ingredients together until well blended.
Add wet ingredients and beat on low speed until just incorporated.
Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Cool in pan for 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.


frosting;
1 pckg (8oz) cream cheese, room temp
1 stick butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
4 tbsp milk

Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
Add vanilla.
Beat in sugar, 1/2cup to 1cup at a time.
Add 2 tbsp of milk and beat in.
Beat in an additional tsp to 1/2 tbsp of milk at a time, if desired, to consistency you like.



**
- cake flour; if you don't have access to this, sub with 2-1/4 cup all-purpose and 1/4 cup corn starch
- food coloring; I use Wilton's gel food coloring - not only is it cheaper ($1.69/1oz bottle), you only have to use HALF of it!!!
buttermilk; a great sub is a tbsp of white vinegar plus enough milk to equal a cup; just add together, stir up a bit, and leave for at least 10 minutes
- makes 24 cupcakes, 75 mini cupcakes, 1 2-layered 8 or 9-inch cake, or a 2-layered 6-inch with enough batter for about 6-8 cupcakes

So Jeannie and I decided to make marshmellow treats on Friday... Why didn't I say rice krispies treats? We used honey nut cheerios, was slightly short of 4 cups of mini marshmellows, and had only 2 tbsp of butter instead of 3. I don't know why, but we decided to do it to see how it went.

End result? It was really good at first. That is, until the mixture set... and it was hard. FREAKING HARD. The rest was Jeannie's because I just could not deal with it. So.. as a reminder for you people: never attempt when you're short on butter.

RED VELVET CHEESECAKE

this is adapted from Annie's Eats



30 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 (8 oz) pckg cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
1/2 oz. wilton's food coloring gel


line bottom of 9-inch spring form pan with parchment and lightly grease sides.
use 3 sheets of aluminum foil to cover bottom of pan to protect it from the water bath.
add melted butter to crushed cookies and mix until moistened.
press evenly into bottom of pan.


preheat the oven to 325.
beat cream cheese until smooth.
add sugar and beat until smooth again.
add eggs, unsweetened cocoa powder, sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla extract, vinegar and food coloring.
mix on low speed just until fully combined.
pour the batter into the prepared pan.
place on cookie sheet and pour enough hot/boiling water to fill about half the height of the sheet.


bake at 325 for 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 300, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
turn off the oven, prop the door open slightly, and let the cheesecake stand 30 minutes.
remove the cheesecake from the oven; cool in the pan on a wire rack until room temp.
run a thin knife around the outside edge of the cake to separate from the pan.
cover and chill overnight.

decorate to your liking prior to serving (i drizzled with white chocolate, covered in milk chocolate shavings, made a white frosting for the dollops, and toasted some sliced almonds)


and this is how it looks like from the inside;