cream cheese frosting Archives

I love cakes and pastries, period. Cake is one food that I can eat even when I am not in the mood to eat anything!:) So obviously, trying out different varieties of cakes is a favorite pastime of mine. Recently, we celebrated my HB’s birthday and this time I decided to make something that was in long time pending list and a favorite of mine (as for as cakes are concerned my HB’s choice comes in second :)), the red velvet cupcake!

Cupcakes are classic American delicacies that have been around as early as the late 18th century. There are numerous varieties of cupcakes. After the advent of boutique pastry shops, more and more interesting flavors are being baked. The earliest mention of Red velvet cupcakes was in the late I950s (courtesy Wikipedia). Also the distinct red color has its own titbit. Apparently, one businessman in Texas started baking red velvet cakes as a marketing ploy to sell more red dyes! It is quite hard to nail down the flavor of this cake. It is a mixture of mild chocolate, with a hint of buttermilk, enough vanilla and lots of butter taste. The major attribute of Red velvet cupcakes is the dense but soft, moist crumb. The best part about Red velvet cupcakes are their cream cheese frosting. The slight tanginess of the cream cheese goes hand in hand with the soft moist crumb of the cake. There are certain things to be noted while baking Red velvet cupcakes. One is the use of cake flour. All purpose flour is a strong no-no. Cake flour gives the distinct softness associated with this cake. Another is the use of unsweetened cocoa powder. This gives you a mild chocolate flavor just enough to tease your tastebuds 🙂 For Red velvet cupcakes, there are two special ingredients that we use. One is buttermilk and the other is vinegar. Buttermilk gives you a slight tanginess and moistness to the cake. It also enables the baking soda to leaven the cake. Vinegar is used to enhance the red color. Trust me, you will not taste even a hint of vinegar once the cake is baked.

Red velvet cupcake is a decadent dessert that is sure to make any party a memorable one, given its distinct taste and delightful appearance. So try it in your home and have your own party, tasting the awesome Red velvet cupcake!:)

Red Velvet Cupcake

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 18 mins

Total time: 48 mins

Serves: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

1 ½ cups cake flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature, separated,
¾ tbsp vanilla extract
½ tsp distilled white vinegar
1 ¾ tbsp Gel or liquid or powder red food coloring
½ cup buttermilk, room temperature
¼ cup white chocolate chip

for the cream cheese frosting

5 oz. cream cheese, brick type
3 ¼ tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar sifted
½ vanilla bean paste +1 tsp vanilla extract or 2 tsp clear vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit or 180 degree Celsius. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
Sift the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt together into a medium mixing bowl and keep it aside.
Separate the egg yolk and egg whites and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter using hand mixer on high speed until smooth for about one minute.
Add sugar and beat on high speed for another couple of minutes until creamy.
Scrape the sides using spatula and add the oil and beat on high for another 2 minutes.
Now add in the egg yolks and vanilla. Beat on medium high speed until well combined.
Now beat in the vinegar and enough food coloring until you reach the desired color.
Set the mixer on low speed and add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing each addition just until incorporated – do not over mix.
Vigorously whisk the egg whites until thick and foamy for 3 minutes as shown in the picture.
Fold the beaten egg whites into cake batter with a spatula. The batter will be silky and lightly thick.
Add in white chocolate chip and gently mix the batter. Again, do not over mix the batter.
Pour the batter into cupcake pans filling ⅔ of the way full and bake for 18 minutes or until the tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool them completely.
Now for the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium mixing bowl and beat on medium to high speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add in the confectioners’ sugar and mix on low speed until well incorporated. Increase the speed to medium to high and beat for another 2 minutes.
Blend in the vanilla.
Add the frosting into a pipe bag. And refrigerate for one hour. Later cut the edge of the pipe bag and frost the cupcakes according to your own taste. Enjoy 🙂

Notes

1.Using cake flour is a must for making red velvet cake or red velvet cupcakes. Cake flour is much lighter than all-purpose flour and gives right texture.
2.Separate the egg white and egg yolk and then add to the cake batter to achieve the fluffiest texture possible.
3.Buttermilk is a must for this recipe to give tangy flavor and moisture to the cake and vinegar as well. Read that vinegar helps brighten the color.
4.You can make 6” red velvet cake using the same measurement or double the measurement for 2 layer red velvet cake.

Thank you, guys for your love and support. I have received 1000+ likes for MyEdibleCravings Facebook page. It has been an amazing journey so far and I hope it continues to be so in the future as well. To celebrate this special milestone I decided to prepare something special; something that is sweet (obviously :)) and something exotic in taste. And that special recipe turned out to be that of a White Chocolate Cupcake with Truffle filling. It is a soft, fluffy cupcake with a creamy frosting and a silky smooth truffle filling which is the kicker. Don’t you agree that the name itself has its own taste?

Making White Chocolate Cupcake with truffle filling is a time consuming process and patience is the key. It is a sweet treat and is an excellent dessert to serve. To mix the batter and to whisk the eggs and chocolate, having an electric mixer will be handy (I used KitchenAid hand mixer). Also, as the name suggests, white chocolate is the star ingredient here and I went with Lindt-Lindor white chocolate varieties, both for the cupcakes and the truffle filling.

White Chocolate Cupcake with truffle filling is something I came across recently. I have been waiting for the right occasion to make it because as mentioned above, it is a little bit time consuming and I wanted a worthwhile cause to justify my effort ;). And 1000+ likes is indeed a worthwhile event for me to celebrate. I wish that after seeing the recipe down below, you too would give it a try for one of your memorable occasions in life 🙂

White Chocolate Cupcake with truffle filling

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 1 hour 25 mins

Serves: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

1¾ cups cake flour
2 tsps baking powder
⅔ cup milk, whole milk is best
½ a vanilla bean
4 egg whites, room temperature
6 tbsps butter
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup sour cream
12 Lindt-Lindor white chocolate truffles

For the frosting

6 Oz white chocolate for baking, chopped
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter (1/2 stick), softened
½ a vanilla bean
2 cups powdered sugar
White chocolate shavings (optional)

Instructions

Bring the eggs, butter and cream cheese to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place paper liners inside the wells of a muffin pan.
Sieve flour and baking powder in a small mixing bowl. Slit the whole vanilla bean in the center and scrape just half a vanilla bean paste. Combine milk and vanilla bean paste in a measuring cup (1-cup).
In a medium mixing bowl (2 qt.), beat egg whites on high speed of electric mixer until stiff peaks form. It took me 40 minutes to reach that stage using my hand mixer. Refer notes below.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy (it would take around 3 minutes); beat in sour cream until smooth.
On medium speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk mixture in two additions, mixing until smooth.
Whisk in one-third of the egg whites with whisk. Fold in remaining egg whites using whisk. Divide batter evenly among liners.
Bake in the middle rack for 17-20 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove pan from oven on to a cooling rack.
Immediately snip a ½-inch-deep “x” on top of each cupcake using scissors. Press one truffle into each cupcake until flush with top of cupcake.
Remove the cupcakes from pan. Allow it to cool for 30 minutes or to room temperature. (Truffles will melt into cupcakes.)
Meanwhile, for frosting, place white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1 to 1 ½ minutes or until chocolate is mostly melted, stirring every 30 seconds if needed. Let stand 3 minutes or until slightly cooled.
In the same mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla; using clean beaters, beat on medium speed until well blended. Slowly add powdered sugar; beat well.
Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with white chocolate shavings.

Notes

1.If you are using a electric hand mixer like me, I would advise you to follow these steps.
• Beat sugar and butter until fluffy in a large bowl.
• In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• Add sour cream to the sugar and butter mixture and beat until smooth. And then proceed with step 6 above.
2.You could also use double strength vanilla essence in place of vanilla bean. Add half tsp each for the batter and frosting.
3.I would recommend cooling the frosting in the refrigerator for about 10 to 15 minutes before decorating the cake with it. That way it will get perfect frosting. I used Wilton’s jumbo 2M pipe for frosting the cupcakes.