Thank you! to Starburst and Marianne for their T&T Red Velvet Cake recipes

M

marilynfl

Moderator
I ended up making one batch from starburst (oil-based from smitten kitchen) and one batch from Marianne (shortening-based from Southern Living). Both were very good.

I chickened out and used a minor amount of red gel instead of the full 1 oz, always fearful of adding chemicals for the visual effect. With just a bit of gel, the batter looked red (yea!), but the baked cupcakes looked like devil's food cake...only a hint of red behind the chocolate color (drat.)

Smitten's was a bit more tender, but had a very hole-y texture and a slightly crunchier crust. None of these are bad when it comes to cupcakes.

Southern's had a more consistent texture, but less of a chocolately taste. It was also a bit redder because of less cocoa. I should have gone with Marianne's suggestion to add more cocoa.

I made 48 cupcakes, plus a 6" cake with the leftover Smitten batter (3-layer cake recipe).

I grabbed one of each and kept them in the frig for a few days. When tested, both were still tasty, which is great. Because now I won't have to make them the day I need 'em.

Thanks again!

(Also, thanks to GayR for her recipe submission. However I wanted to focus on a T&T version.)

 
Cream Cheese Icing for 48 cupcakes

1 lb good quality white chocolate, melted. I used Wilburs.
1.5 lb cream cheese (3 8-oz Philadelphia)
3/4 lb unsalted butter (3 sticks)
1 lb sifted confectionary sugar.
1 TBL vanilla
1 tsp lemon emulsion

Beat cream cheese until very soft. Add softened butter. Add cool, melted chocolate.

You can stop here and ice with this. It is sweet enough due to the white chocolate. I wanted it stiffer to pipe onto the cupcakes so I add the sugar.

 
Here's a photo of the tiered cupcake stand I made:

Bottom tier is 18" clear plastic dish ($3), middle tier is 12" clear plastic dish ($2), and top is a 7" glass dish I had.

Spacers are cookie boxes (1 large, 1 small, $1 each) turned upside down. I stuffed them with lots and lots of folded paper to ensure they were firm enough to support the weight of the cupcakes.

Put it together with double stick tape. Topped with a $1 fru-fru.

Total cost: $8 + tax

Cupcake liners were white with red hearts, but the dark batter ix-nayed that image.

The theme of the luncheon for the library volunteers was "Volunteers Give From The Heart" (which I printed out on a red-berry bordered paper and have standing up inside the fru-fru)
and the colors were red & white.

That's why I wanted a red velvet cake: red cake, white icing. But artistic visualizations were undermined by culinary scruples.


http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Finer_Kitchens/Marilyn%20Air/DSCN0581.jpg

They forget to shoot a photo of the cake I made: Italian Cream (yellow cake flavored with Limoncello and topped with sweetened ricotta, then topped with home-made strawberry jam and iced with whipped cream.

 
Here's a wonderful whipped cream icing that holds up!

God Bless Rose Levy Beranbaum and her "Cake Bible."

At 9:15 AM on Tuesday morning, I was hyper-ventilating in my kitchen dealing with a 17" heart-shaped cake covered with strawberry jam and absolutely NO CLUE what to ice it with. Oh, and I had to leave by 10:00 AM to deliver and setup at the library. Along with 48 iced cupcakes, a cupcake stand, the cake stand, the fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Here's what I was considering:

Buttercream?
Pastry Cream?
Whipped Cream?
Chantilly Cream?
Mousse?

I was leaning toward whipped cream but wanted something stiff enough to pipe AND something that would hold up for a few hours during the luncheon. All the recipes were saying to use immediately.

So I blended several of her recipe ideas and came up with a hit that fit the bill!

First, Rose mentions the lack of butterfat in most American whipped creams. 40% is best, but since our labels don't have to include this information, the whipping cream can be as low as 20%. She came up with an easy solution to add more butterfat (just add butter!) and includes a basic recipe for old-fashioned whipped cream.

Then she mentioned that using a food processor whips the cream with less air, providing heavier density. This is another recipe for piped whipped cream.

Then she has a recipe for stabilized whipped cream that adds powdered sugar and cornstarch.

I blended them all together and had great success.

NOTE: What you'll read here are my words as I've interpreted and paraphrased Rose's brilliance. The text I read covers pages 251 thru 257, so please understand that you're getting the Cliff Notes version. I HIGHLY recommend this book for her indepth research into the baking process.

2 C heavy cream
1/2 C soft unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 heaping tablespoons of confectionary sugar

Microwave the butter for 20 seconds. It should only be about half melted. Stir in 1/2 C of the heavy cream and blend. The butter will lump up as it starts to reform. Don't worry.

Pour the remaining 1.5 C of heavy cream into a food processor with the metal blade. Pulse gently until the cream starts to slightly thicken. Pour the butter mixture in slowly while pulsing. Add the sugar and vanilla and pulse until soft peaks form. DO NOT OVER-PROCESS. Seconds matter here.

The first photo you'll see was taken at 9:30 on Tuesday morning. Pretend that you see the panic on my face because I still wasn't sure if I could pull this off.

Here's what it should look like

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Finer_Kitchens/Marilyn%20Air/001.jpg

I made two batches of this to ensure I had enough to decorate the cake. The remainder I put back in the processor and whipped it a bit more for the strawberries. It definitely thickenes and came fairly close to turning back into butter. You can see that state with the fresh strawberries on the cupcake-stand photo.

This next photo was taken about 5 minutes ago (Saturday)! I brought a chunk of cake home for Larry and it's been sitting in the frig now for 4 days, including sitting out until 2 PM in the libary auditorium. The piping is still viable, there is NO watering, and the taste is fine.

I can hardly believe my eyes/taste-buds.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Finer_Kitchens/Marilyn%20Air/003.jpg

 
They look great and I love the stand. Here is one for St. Patrick's Day REC: Green Velvet Cupcakes

or maybe Xmas with the red and green ones?

Green Velvet Cupcakes

1 box (18 Oz. Box) Yellow Cake Mix
4 whole Eggs
½ cups Water
½ cups Vegetable Oil
1 box (small 4-serving 3.4 Oz. Box) Instant Vanilla Puddin Mix
½ cups Plain Yogurt Or Sour Cream
Green Decorating Paste
_____
FOR THE FROSTING:
8 ounces, weight Softened Cream Cheese
1 stick Softened Butter
1 pound Powdered Sugar
Yellow Decorating Paste Or Food Coloring
Any Sprinkles Of Choice


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer, add cake mix, eggs, water, oil, pudding, and yogurt. Beat on medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Slowly beat in 5-8 drops of green decorating paste until you get the desired color of green. Scoop batter into paper-lined mini cupcake tins. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool completely.
2. To prepare the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter until creamy. Slowly add powdered sugar until creamy and thick. Divide frosting into 2 bowls then add in a few drops of yellow food coloring or decorating paste into one.
3. Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with gold pearl dust or sprinkles if desired.
Makes 36 mini cupcakes.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/lucky-green-velvet-baby-cakes/

 
((( Marilyn))) Red Velvet Cupcake Success and Gorgeous Presentation!

I consider myself advancing from the Novice category when one of my posts is found to be useful to you very experienced cooks.

Marilyn, your presentation is fantastic. I made these in a mini- cupcake form, I had a bunch left over, ALREADY ICED. I froze them, and then used them a few weeks later, and I could not detect any difference. I froze them WITH THE ICING, and they defrosted fine.

I'm not a baker, and I was really surprised that the iced, frozen mini's were great a few weeks later.

You and everyone at your site are teaching me to be a better cook. I thank you all.

 
glad to hear you enjoyed the Red Velvet cake recipes.

the presentation looks gorgeous! I loved hearing the comparison of the 2 recipes as well. Great job Marilyn!

 
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