Red Velvet 4th of July Cupcakes

Recipe Review: Red Velvet cupcakes that are really red, and instructions for 2 tone icing

My first batch of these turned out flat as a pancake. No worries I used them to make delicious cake pops but this is what I learned. I actually sifted together the flour and salt. (Something I hate doing... its so tedious) I added an extra pinch of baking soda, threw in the baking soda and vinegar mix right away and was careful every step of the way not to over mix. Also I hadn't really given any thought to the fact that the bottom rack of my oven had a sheet of aluminum foil on it to catch drips from something a roommate had made earlier in the week. Doing this alters the heat circulation of the oven. (According to Reynolds Wrap's website overtime it could actually melt away and damage the oven, or catch fire from grease, so if you use the foil to catch drips it should be thrown out after each use.) In general these cupcakes have a very delicate composition and if you even look at them wrong they go flat. So be gentle with them, and try not to open the oven door while baking.

I've posted this recipe before (its the same one that I used for the wedding cupcakes I made earlier this month) but I thought I'd throw it up again. Its crazy how different cupcake wrappers, a little food coloring, and different icing tips turn the same exact recipe into two completely unique cupcakes. A tip is that if you want superrrr red cupcakes (like these) add an extra dab of Wilton red gel icing color when you are mixing the food color and cocoa powder. Also If you don't have cider vinegar you can sub plain white vinegar instead.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

adapted from Sprinkle Bakes

yield: 24 cupcakes

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 cups of sugar

1 cup butter softened

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tbsps liquid red food color

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp plus one pinch baking soda

1 tbsp cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pan with cupcake liners.

Sift flour and salt together. Set aside. In large bowl combine butter and sugar and beat on medium until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. In a small bowl mix together the red food coloring, cocoa powder and vanilla until a paste forms. Add the food coloring mixture to the butter mixture and blend until color is evening distributed. Add the flour mixture to the bowl 1/3 at a time, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small bowl stir together the baking soda and vinegar. This will start to foam up and should be added to the batter immediately. Blend on medium high speed until the batter is consistent. Do not over blend. Spoon 1/4 cup of batter into each cup. Bake for 25 minutes until a tooth pick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Icing

1 8oz package of cream cheese

1 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

For Icing: Cream together butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Gradually add in 4 cups of powdered sugar. Increase speed to medium high and beat until frosting has a soft fluffy consistency. (If frosting is too heavy add milk 1 tablespoon at a time while beating until desired consistency is reached.)

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Want awesomely impressive two tone icing? First divide your icing in half and tint to desired shades. (I use Wilton Icing colors, they are super concentrated so you can get bold colors without thinning the icing). Next scoop each color of icing into individual bags (no tips attached). Use about half the amount of frosting you normally would, and try to distribute it evenly, so the bag isn't too fat in the bottom. Next prep an empty decorating bag with your desired frosting tip. (I used a Wilton closed star tip for these cupcakes) Snip the ends off the frosting bags about half an inch from the bottom, and put them both into the empty bag prepared with the tip. Twist the top of the bag closed and pipe onto cupcakes!

Ok so I have to admit, I made these cupcakes for Memorial Day and posted later. I don't know how other bloggers do it, posting holiday themed stuff in advance. Do they make everything a second time day of? When I'm doing food for a holiday I want to enjoy it that day- not a week before! I baked these in red cupcake liners from Michael's. For decorations I used firework cupcake picks that I got at Michael's as well. The cupcakes turned out bright and bold and really decorated the table. (I wish I had a picture of the table but my memory card corrupted and I lost a lot of pictures. boooo) Anyways happy 4th of July. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!!

Lemon Cupcakes

Recipe Review: Lemon cupcakes are sweet and refreshing, with a little zing- The perfect summer cupcake!

I have cupcake fever! I love it!!! I know this blog is becoming a little cupcake centric, but I've been getting a lot of requests for cupcakes, so that’s how it goes. My good friend just moved back into the area and threw a little combo housewarming/ birthday party. She asked me to make her some lemon cupcakes.  I had made lemon cupcakes for the first time earlier this year- I adjusted the recipe a little and this time I completely nailed it.

Wedding Cupcakes

Recipe Review: Red Velvet takes a walk down the aisle 

This weekend I had my very first paid cupcake gig! And an ambitious one at that. My good friends little sister was getting married on a budget and so I was comissioned to bake 13 dozen (aka 156) red velvet cupcakes for the occasion. I have to admit I was incredibly nervous about this. I had never baked anything close to that volume before. It took a few test batches to get the recipe and color just right. The morning of I set out to buy massive quantities of butter, eggs, sugar, cream cheese, and red food coloring. Since there was butter in both the frosting and the cupcakes I needed 32 sticks. I wheeled my crazy cart full of baking supplies to the check out, headed to my friends house (bigger oven), unpacked my KitchenAid and it was time to get baking.

Just in case you are curious, it takes approximately 10 hours to bake, frost, decorate, box, and clean up after the incredible mess making this many cupcakes creates. About half way through I was starting to loose a little steam and get stressed out. Luckily my friends dad came home about half way through the process and urged me to start drinking wine.

While these cupcakes taste amazing I would caution that this recipe is incredibly fincky. To date I have made it 10 times. (Twice for practice, 8 times day of) The first batch I made didn't rise at all. This happened again with one random batch in the middle of baking. A few batches rose too much and turned out having oversized tops. I had read a recipe tip that if you are baking two pans of cupcakes at once you should switch their positions half way though. I think thats a really bad idea. It lets a ton of heat out of the oven and might have contributed to the batch that didn't rise enough. If anyone has any tips on how to get the cupcakes to be consistant I would love to know. Overall I think the project was a success, but for now i'm going to stick to to smaller orders from now on. I can handle a few batches on my own, but I need back up help for this volume.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
adapted from Sprinkle Bakes
yield: 24 cupcakes

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups of sugar
1 cup butter softened
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsps liquid red food color
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp plus one pinch baking soda
1 tbsp cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pan with cupcake liners.

Sift flour and salt together. Set aside. In large bowl combine butter and sugar and beat on medium until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. In a small bowl mix together the red food coloring, cocoa powder and vanilla until a paste forms. Add the food coloring mixture to the butter mixture and blend until color is evening distributed. Add the flour mixture to the bowl 1/3 at a time, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small bowl stir together the baking soda and vinegar. This will start to foam up and should be added to the batter immediately. Blend on medium high speed until the batter is consistent. Do not over blend. Spoon 1/4 cup of batter into each cup. Bake for 25 minutes until a tooth pick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

Cream together butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Gradually add in 4 cups of powdered sugar. Increase speed to medium high and beat until frosting has a soft fluffy consistency. (If frosting is too heavy add milk 1 tablespoon at a time while beating until desired consistency is reached.)

 
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Congratulations to the lovely bride and groom!! I hope you and your guests enjoyed the cupcakes. Thank you for letting me be a part of your wedding- it was a pleasure baking for such lovely people.

Fennel & Rosemary Encrusted Beef Tenderloin

Recipe Review: comfort food all dressed up.

I had a really crappy day at work. I was tired, and crabby, and I had just about had it with people asking me how long the 2 hour harbor cruise lasts. I needed a cooking project to throw myself into. Something adventurous that would help me unwind and make me forget about work. I was looking something comforting, and I came across Beef Wellington. Which looked awesome- but oh crap that was a bit over my head and involved a full day (or even days) of prep. I liked the idea of beef though, so I came up with the idea of doing spinach instead of mushrooms, and stuffing the beef- then covering it in puff pastry. I had my mission and set out to the store- tenderloin was on sale- score!

Fennel & Rosemary Encrusted Beef Tenderloin

adapted from Fine Cooking & Cooking Light

yield: 4-5 servings

1 2lb beef tenderloin, trimmed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 package frozen spinach

1/4 cup chopped shallots

1 tablespoon minced garlic

freshly ground salt & pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

3 sheets of puff pastry

Preheat oven to 350.

Defrost spinach and drain well. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add shallots and sauté 4 minutes.  Add spinach and garlic to shallots and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon each fresh ground salt & pepper. Place spinach mixture into a colander and press with the back of a spoon to drain any excess liquid. 

Use a knife to poke a hole through the middle of the tenderloin, and the handle of a wooden spoon to increase the diameter to approximately 2 inches. Stuff with the spinach mixture.

In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon olive oil, rosemary, fennel, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir to make a paste. Rub the paste all over the outside of the tenderloin. 

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a large pan. Gently sear tenderloin for 1 one minute on each side.

Lay out 3 pieces of puff pastry, brushing each lightly with butter before layering on next piece. Gently wrap the paper around the beef, sealing edges with butter. Bake for 35- 40 minutes, until internal meat temperature reaches 120°F for rare, 125° to 130°F for medium rare, or 135°F for medium. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Nutrition Information: Calories 577, Fat 31.3g, Sat. Fat 12.6g Cholesterol 188mg, Sodium 406mg, Carbohydrates 16.4g, Fiber 2.2g, Protein 56.3g

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I could tell right away from how this smelled that it was going to taste good- but it was far better than just good. It was rich beef with a savory crust and tender spinach. Things just rolled together to make an excellent meal. I love when trying something new and experimenting yields great results. The combination of the fennel and rosemary was a perfect mix of flavors, and very fragrant while cooking. The original recipe said to tie the tenderloin with butchers twine, but since I wrapped the roast with the puff pastry sheets I skipped that step. Honestly most of the pastry fell off while carving the meat so I'm not sure how necessary this step was. I served this with baby carrots and a mixed mash from three potatoes. I used one russet potato, one sweet potato, and one yam. It was a nice change up from regular mashed potatoes and a little sweet but not too much. This was a little labor intensive- but totally worth it. I would absolutely make it again for a special dinner. Making the rub for the outside of the meat was very easy however. If you skip the stuffing and wrapping in puff pastry this could be a quick weeknight meal.

***Side Note: Blogging has won me something!! I entered a cookbook giveaway from Galexi Cupcakes... and I won!! I can't wait to get my new dessert cookbook in the mail :-)

Cake Pops

Recipe Review: What do you do when your cupcakes fall flat? You make cake pops.

It was memorial day weekend and I had my sights set on making some patriotic red white and blue cupcakes for a barbecue that we were having at the house. Problem is that when I took my red velvet cupcakes out of the oven they didn't have  happy little rounded tops. Instead they had flat tops- and by the time they had cooled completely they were concave. They still tasted amazing... but they didn't look amazing, and well I have a "This is Sparta" mentality about cupcakes and inferior cupcakes will not be allowed.

So what was I to do with all of these sad flat little cupcakes? Make cake pops of course! Cake pops are quite trendy and have been popping up everywhere. They're a really nice size, just about two bites, and hold up better than normal baked goods so can be made a few days in advance. Between cake flavors, candy coating colors (Wilton has about 20 different colors you can get at Michael's) and decorations you have endless possibilities. I've seen people make some snazzy cake pops in fun shapes, but I'm not that fancy. (Yet...)

How to Make Cake Pops

adapted from: Bakerella.com

yeild: about 2 dozen cake pops

Ingredients:

One batch of your desired flavor of cake, baked an cooled

(I used about 2 dozen cupcakes- this would translate to 1 box of cake mix, or one 13x9 cake)

2 cups desired flavor of icing

1 bag of Wilton candy melts

sprinkles or any desired decorations

24 lollypop sticks

Use a food processor to blend cake into crumbs. Add icing and kneed with hands until you reach a doughy constancy. Roll into small balls and set on a baking sheet. Pop into fridge to chill.

Melt the chocolate candy melts in the microwave according to package directions. You don't want to get them too hot, just melted. Poke holes into cake balls about half way through with lollypop stick. Dip stick into melted chocolate and press into cake ball. Return to fridge for 5 minutes.

Dip cake balls into chocolate and tap to remove any excess. Apply any sprinkles or other decorations while chocolate is still soft. Set aside for 5-10 minutes while chocolate hardens.

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I apologize that I don't have prep step photos- my camera's memory card corrupted and needed to be reformatted so I lost those :-(

Cake pops aren't hard to make- but in my experience they are a bit tedious. I can never seem to truly "dip" the pop into the melted chocolate without it falling off the stick. That would be so easy. Instead I end up using a large spoon and holding the pop horizontally and twirling it into the spoon of chocolate, rather than inverting it completely. I use floral foam to stick the pops into while they are setting, and this works well for when you are serving them too. I brought a few left over pops to work the next day, and one of the managers actually thought that I had bought them at Starbucks for everyone! I love when anything I make is mistaken for a professional product. For this batch I used red velvet cake, vanilla buttercream frosting, and white chocolate melts that I tinted blue. I've done these before with chocolate cake too. I recommend reserving some of the cake crumbs and frosting so you can adjust the mixture until you reach a consistency that is slightly drier than cookie dough. You don't want make them too dry or too moist. Basically this is the perfect thing to taste test until you get it just right. (taste testing is just awful right?? heh.) Check out the Bakerella website for some adorable cake pop ideas from the cake pop master.