The Best Ever Red Velvet Cupcakes

An ultra-tender sponge with a mild chocolate flavour and bold red hue gets crowned with a glorious cream cheese icing and filled with a white chocolate cream

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FOR THE RED VELVET CUPCAKES (MAKES 24 – 30)

• 125ml coffee (made with boiling water and 2 teaspoon of instant coffee granules) (1/2 cup)
• 150g oil (3/4 cup)
• 60g salted butter (1/4 cup)
• 400g caster sugar (2 cups)
• 2 jumbo eggs (135g weighed within the shell) You may need 3 large eggs if using, to get best results
• 210g cake flour (1 3/4 cups)
• 30g corn flour ( 1/4 cup)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons liquid pink food colouring
• 2 tablespoons liquid red food colouring
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 130g buttermilk (1/2 cup)
• 130g yogurt (1/2 cup)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celcius and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.
2. Make the coffee, with 120ml boiling water and two teaspoons of coffee granules and set aside.
3. Sift the cake flour, cornflour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder together until all incorporated. Set aside.
4. To the slightly cooled coffee, add the vanilla, food colourings, buttermilk and yogurt and whisk to combine. Set aside.
5. Place the butter in a microwave safe large bowl and melt.
6. Then add in the oil and caster sugar and whisk this by hand for a minute to incorporate.
7. Add in the two jumbo eggs and continue to whisk by hand for a minute or two. The batter will thicken and begin to form little bumps of air.
8. Add in a third of the coffee mixture and fold this in by hand, then a third of the flour mixture.
9. Repeat this process two more times until you have a smooth and rather loose batter.
10. Fill your cupcake cases until they are 3/4 way full and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cupcakes are set with no liquid batter in the middle and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM

• 125ml whipping cream
• 50g white chocolate
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD

1. Melt the white chocolate, in 10 second bursts in the microwave. This is the easiest chocolate to burn, so keep an eye on it. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. Whip the cream to soft peaks, add the vanilla and whip to medium stiff peaks.
3. Then gently fold in the cooled white chocolate.
4. Place in a piping bag until ready to use.

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• 500g cream cheese, room temperature
• 150g salted butter, room temperature
• 125g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD

1. Place the cream cheese in a bowl and beat, either with a hand held electric whisk or a stand mixer, on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Set this aside. We whip and fold this in separately to avoid a cream cheese frosting which is too loose and runny.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the butter until nice and fluffy, and turned from yellow to pale in colour.
3. Then sift the icing sugar into the butter, add the vanilla and gently beat to combine.
4. Finally, fold in the cream cheese until a smooth icing is formed. You can do this by hand, or on low speed with a whisk, being careful not to overnmix.

ASSEMBLY

1. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
2. Use a cupcake corer, or an apple corer to remove a bit of the centre of the cupcake and pipe in the white chocolate cream. You can nibble on the core and don’t need to add it back.
3. Using a closed star tip nozzle, fill your piping bag with the cream cheese frosting. With your arm directly over the cupcake, pipe a ruffle and then keeping your arm steady, move your wrist in a twisting motion to create more ruffles.
4. I decorated with fresh cherries and crushed cocoa nibs.

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com