Red Velvet Cupcakes

Today is my 5th Wedding Anniversary!  How quickly time flies!  To celebrate the occasion, I wanted to whip up something special for hubby.  And to kill two birds with one stone, I also wanted to take something along to work this morning for my baby shower/last day before maternity leave.  So I went with the always amazing Red Velvet Cupcakes.

These are so easy, but people are always very impressed!  The rich red colour of the cake really does look amazing and they taste divine.  Many recipes use Cream Cheese Icing, so if you think you'd prefer that, just look up a recipe online.  Otherwise they are also delicious with the Buttercream I included below.  Indulgence!

Ingredients:
60g butter, at room temperature
150g Caster Sugar
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder
1 tablespoon Red Food colouring (I used Pillar Box Red from the supermarket)
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon strawberry essence120 ml Buttermilk
150 g Plain flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Bicarb Soda
1 1/2 teaspoon White Vinegar


Buttercream:
75g butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract


Method:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius.  Line a cupcake tin with patty pans.


Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until well combine.  In a small separate bowl, mix the food colouring, essences and cocoa powder until it makes a thick paste.  Add the paste to the butter mixture and beat thoroughly.


Slowly beat in half the buttermilk then half the flour until well mixed.  Repeat for the rest of the milk and flour then beat for a couple of minutes.


Add salt, bi carb and vinegar and mix well.


Spoon mixture into pans and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Once cool, ice with buttercream and serve.  (I like to put a bit of icing aside and tint it red to decorate).  You will be sure to impress!

Straight out of the oven!

Buttercream:
Beat butter for a couple of minutes until pale and creamy.  Slowly add icing sugar, beating.  Add the vanilla and beat until well combined.

I always have a helper when it comes to licking the beaters!