Whip It Up Week 2: Guilty Pleasures

2009 July 11
by E.P.

This week’s theme, guilty pleasures, is maybe one of my favorite things about cooking. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have an insatiable sweet tooth, and as soon as I saw this theme, I knew I was going to bake something I had never tried before.

Insert Paula Deen’s red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

I found this recipe while searching for something fun to make for the Fourth of July. (You should notice that last week? I was completely OOC on my cooking, even though it was totally worth it.) I’d never even attempted red velvet because for the longest time, I thought it was horribly complicated. But when I saw this, I figured, why not?

Paula’s Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C sugar
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t cocoa powder
1 1/2 C vegetable oil (I substituted applesauce, the the cupcakes are SO moist.)
1 C buttermilk
2 eggs
2 T red food coloring (I only used about a teaspoon because I ran out. Oops.)
1 t white distilled vinegar
1 t vanilla extract

For the cream cheese frosting:
1 lb. cream cheese (I used fat free)
2 sticks butter, softened
1 t vanilla extract
4 C sifted confectioners’ sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with cupcake papers.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. In a large bowl, gently beat together the oil (or applesauce), buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined.

Pour batter into cupcake tins. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, then test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before icing.

For the frosting:
Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

…

I made a few changes to the recipe, adding applesauce instead of oil and only adding about a teaspoon of red food coloring because I didn’t have any more. The cupcakes were absolutely delicious, even though the color was more of a murky pink.

I also made my own icing on the fly, which was a mistake. It turned out a little lumpy (as evidenced by the following photo), but it was still tasty. So my advice to y’all? Follow Paula’s icing recipe, even though it calls for TWO STICKS OF BUTTER.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Yes. I’m a big Food Network fan simply because they lay out their recipes so easily. If I had followed the directions for the icing, I would have had picture perfect cupcakes.

Did the dish taste good?
Yes! It’s been a while since I have had red velvet anything, but I am a big fan of these cupcakes. They’re delicious, and I like to tell myself that they are a lot healthier since I added applesauce instead of oil…

Would you make it again?
Most definitely. I can see myself making these for a birthday party or on a bad day. Because baking makes everything better.

And now… the final product!

cuppycakes

Hello, yumminess! Who wants a cupcake, even if the icing looks funky?

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Buzz This
Vote on DZone
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Kick It on DotNetKicks.com
Shout it
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

from → Whip It Up 2009

  • did you spread the icing on warm/hot cupcakes? if so, that's why they look like that, but STILL they look delish. I'm going to have to make them.
  • Pretty! While we're on the subject of guilty pleasures, would you want to do a food related guest post for me? Let me know if you're interested and I'll email you info!
  • Mmmm. My birthday is Wednesday. Would you like my shipping address? Ha.
  • Yum! I made these as well and sub'd applesauce for oil--delish!

    xox
  • I've made this recipe before and they are delish!
  • Oh yum! I adore red velvet! I use applesauce for oil all the time too.
  • I LOVE red velvet! I totally want some of those now.
  • Lys
    nom nom nom! i've never heard of applesauce for oil, not sure how i'd like that. does it taste different? otherwise looks fantastic :) great photo!
  • Mmm, red velvet! That Paula Deen and her butter... How did the applesauce-for-oil substitution turn out? It's one of my favorite tricks. :)
  • I love red velvet cupcakes.
  • THose look so yummy!!! Mmmmm
  • Yum!! How red were they inside? I ended up needing almost a whole container of red dye when I made these earlier in the spring- I ended up holding back on it so I didn't.... poop in valentines day colours.

    TMI?
blog comments powered by Disqus