One of my best friends, who I've known since I was 9 years old, is getting married in June and I am lucky enough to be one of her bridesmaids. This past weekend, I travelled back to our home town so we could throw her a fun and traditional bridal shower at a beautiful venue in Pittsburgh. The shower was classy and elegant and big surprise, I volunteered to supply the sweets.
I made two kinds of cupcakes for the shower (both recipes from NYC's famed Magnolia Bakery) but one of them is my all time favorite - Red Velvet. This particular recipe calls for a cream cheese frosting which I think makes the cupcake...It's tangy and sweet and compliments the faint chocolate taste of the red velvet cake perfectly. Heaven in a few bites if you ask me!
Now there are a few substitutions that I frequently utilize when making this recipe in order to cut down on calories and fat just a little bit - like I said, it's ok to indulge every once in a while, but if you can make simple substitutions to cut down on a few calories, you might as well go for it.
POSSIBLE SUBSTITUTIONS
2 ¼ cups sugar - use 1 ¾ cup sugar and ½ cup baking splenda
1 ½ cups buttermilk - use just under 1 ½ cups reduced fat or skim milk plus 1 ½ TBSP lemon juice (let it sit for about 5 minutes)
cream cheese - substitute neufchatel cheese
Ingredients
3 ⅓ cups cake flour
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ¼ cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
6 tablespoons red food coloring
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
Frosting
1 pound (two 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, softened at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and lightly flour three muffin tins. Place cupcake papers in the tins.
To make the cake: In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and mix well. In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overheat. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well.
Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. Divide the batter among the prepared pans.
Bake each tray for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool partially in the pans. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.
Frosting: In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating continuously until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate icing for 2 to 3 hours, but no longer, to thicken before using. When the cake has cooled, spread the frosting liberally on the cupcakes. Makes 3 dozen cupcakes.
Here are the red velvet cupcakes displayed along with the vanilla cupcakes with vanilla butter cream:
and some beautiful flowers courtesy of Pittsburgh Cut Flowers!
