Red! Velvet! Cupcakes!

So here are the red velvet cupcakes I made today. I got the recipe from the food network, and it is amazing. The icing is obviously cream cheese and the recipes from my sisters friend, Anna.


People go wild over this icing. Wild.

Here is the cupcake recipe:

• 440g all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 370g white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring (i use a powdered colour) 
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vinegar (white or apple cider can both work)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/8 cup water

And the icing recipe:


450g icing sugar


1 pack cold Philadelphia cream cheese


2 tablespoons sour cream


2 teaspoons vanilla essence


57g cold butter


*cold ingredients are better as they make the icing thicker


Method:

• Heat oven to 180*C
• Sift flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder together in a bowl and set aside.
• In a new bowl, using an electric mixer, mix the oil, sugar and buttermilk together.
• Once those wet ingredients are well combined, add the 3 eggs. And mix again.
• Now, into your wet ingredients bowl, add the vinegar, water and colorant.
• Mix quickly and add more colorant if you need.
• Now pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and QUICKLY mix until combined.
• Be careful to not over mix as this will make your cupcakes come out dry and dense.
• Lay your cupcake holders into the baking tray and fill with the mixture.
• They take about 10-15 minutes to bake.
• You know when they are done when you stick a piece of uncooked spaghetti through one and it comes out dry
• Don't open the oven too often though! The cupcakes will flop

Icing:

• In a bowl, cream the butter, sour cream, vanilla essence and cream cheese together until they are well combined. 
• These ingredients should be cold so don't worry if it is hard to mix! Its advisable to use an electric mixer.
• Add the icing sugar in bit by bit - about 100g at a time. Mixing well after each time you add.
• Super quick, super easy :)

But mom. What are they??