mini red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

i've been itching to bake lately. i wanted to try out some red velvet cupcake recipes. although i've baked plenty of cupcakes in my lifetime, i've never really made a whole lot of red velvets. to be exact, i've only made them two other times before today. one was to try it just to try it and the other was last december for one of my many baking days before christmas just because.

the need to try out some red velvet recipes was because i'll be baking 50 mini ones for a wedding in october, along with 50 other mini chocolate cupcakes and some french macarons. yes, it'll be a fun week preparing for it, and quite an experience as i've yet to make this many goodies before for such a special occasion. i hope they'll turn out great and delicious, no matter what. :)

okay, so i finally managed to whip up a batch of mini red velvets earlier today before dinner. i love full size cupcakes but sometimes i feel like it's too much so mini cupcakes are the perfect size to feel satisfied but not over indulged. of course, if one's not enough, you can always have two (or three). i have to say, this recipe's not too bad. i tried one tonight after the assembly and it tasted pretty good. but i think i may need to adjust some things to make sure the cake doesn't taste too dry or even give you the thought of dryness. of course it could be because of my recipe substitution for buttermilk as i didn't have any buttermilk on hand. i ended up using 2% milk and some lemon as buttermilk substitution. either that or try out plenty of other red velvet recipes and see which one i like best.

all and all, the recipe was a success. i'll probably make it again with some adjustments. below's the recipe i used if you're interested in making these yourself. i halved it and made 24 mini cupcakes instead of doing the full recipe which makes 24 regular size cupcakes.




red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
from food network's paula deen

ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the cream cheese frosting:
1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

directions
preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

in a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. in a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

for the cream cheese frosting:

in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

garnish with sprinkles, chopped pecans and a fresh raspberry or strawberry, or whatever you like (i used good old sprinkles for mine).





recipe makes 24 regular cupcakes. or half it like i did to make 24 mini ones.

note: you can frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a tip (i used a round tip, they're nice and simple and come out beautifully). i also only baked my mini cupcakes for 18 minutes instead of the 20-22 minutes. i say anywhere between 16-18 minutes should be fine. of course, check your oven temperature as baking time varies from oven to oven.