13 Mar 11 (Sun) - Red Velvet Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Thought I could do some baking yesterday but wasn't able to borrow the baking stuff till the afternoon and the butter was too hard to use. So in the end had to wait till today before I could finally bake. My sis's SIL didn't have red food coloring and so thought I could only try the vanilla cupcakes with chocolate cream frosting. My sis woke me up in the morning to say that she would be going to the market and so asked her to help get the red food coloring. Started baking at 9am and followed the recipe that I had previously but this time I added a bit of milk to it, hoping that the top wouldn't crack during baking. On top of that, I also added some red food coloring hoping to make the cupcakes red color.

With the same amount of ingredients that I had used previously, this time I lined five cupcake cases instead of four and the cupcakes rose to just the right level. However, the top still cracked at the end of the baking time and I didn't add enough coloring to make the cupcakes red enough. Took them out and the kids wanted to eat them. Asked if they would like to have some frosting to go with the cupcakes and they said yes. So went on to make the buttercream frosting using the same recipe I had previously but this time I added some milk to it.

Finally worked on the piping but it wasn't as easy as the last round coz the frosting was a bit watery this time. Once I was done, sprinkled some colored rice crisp and took some photos of my creations before eating them.

By adding some milk to the cake batter, the cupcakes tasted better and not so dry as the last round. By adding some milk to the buttercream frosting, the frosting was not as stiff as before and the colored rice crisp were able to stick better. I guess the next round I can still add milk to the cake batter, add more red food coloring and bake at a lower temperature. As for the frosting, I should use less milk so that it won't be too watery.

Before frosting

After frosting

Ingredients:

50g butter - soften

50g castor sugar

59g self-rising flour

1 eggs
15ml milk
2ml red food coloring

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp cocoa power

Method:

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree celsius

2.  Line 5 silicon muffin cases with cupcake cases

3.  Place all the ingredients in a large bowl

4.  Beat with an electric mixer for 2 mins till smooth
5.  Divide the mixture evenly between the cake cases

6.  Bake for 18mins until risen and firm to touch

7.  Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool

Ingredients make 5 (Buttercream Frosting):

30g butter - soften

50g icing sugar
1 tsp milk

Method:

1.  Beat the butter, sugar and milk with an electric mixer till smooth and creamy