I'm not usually a cupcake person. I like the chewy comfort of a cookie; the delicious, satisfying, toothy wonderfulness. I find that cupcakes are more often than not simply used as a vehicle for some kind of horrific sugar laden topping. Some people eat cupcakes JUST for the frosting. I am not one of these people. However, I am trying to break out of my own mold a little and try something a bit different. As a result I made these red velvet cupcakes. The recipe is out of The Hummingbird Bakery book that I received for Christmas last year. Sadly, I don't often have cream cheese in my house though and decided instead to top these babies with a meringue frosting found elsewhere in the book. The frosting was alright as far as frostings go, but just to crank it up a notch I decided to utilize my creme brulee torch making the top into a veritable toasted marshmallow. I think I would still prefer the more classic cream cheese frosting in the future, but these were okay after all.
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Merinque Frosting
Cake
- 4 tbsp room temp butter
- 3/4 c. sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp cocoa
- 2 tbsp red food coloring
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 c. buttermilk
- 1 c. + 2 tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Beat butter and sugar with paddle attachment of mixer until light and fluffy.
- Turn mixer up to high, add egg, and beat until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, mix cocoa, vanilla, and red food coloring to form a dark paste. Add to butter mixture and combine thoroughly until everything is an even color.
- Turn mixer to low and add buttermilk and flour and beat until well incorporated. Turn mixer to high and beat until smooth.
- Turn mixer back to low speed and add salt, baking soda, and vinegar, beating for a couple more minutes.
- Fill cupcake cups 2/3 full with mixture and bake 20-25 minutes or until cake bounces back when touched. Cool slightly in pan before cooling completely on rack.
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
- Put egg whites, sugar, and 2 tbsp of water into a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
- Beat with a handheld mixer until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and beat in vanilla.
CUPCAKES RULE, DOWN WITH COOKIES WHOOOOOOOOOO
ReplyDeleteThese cupcakes were delicious... the toasted marshmallow topping was a unique twist. I have to admit though, they were denser (not quite as dense as the Peanut butter and chocolate chip muffins) than I expected...
ReplyDeleteAs for Erin's comment... both cookies and cupcakes are nothing compared to the amazing "Big Green Dusty Guy" wagashi.
We'd be a good pair - I much prefer cupcakes to cookies so I'd give you all of my cookies and you could share your cupcakes :) Cream cheese frosting is definitely a good choice for these, hope you can give it a shot eventually!
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