Credit:http://bestcupcakerecipes.blogspot.in/
These are rich chocolate cakes characterized by their distinctive red colour, originally given when unprocessed cocoa reacted to the acid in the buttermilk. Today, red food colouring is used. You can however substitue the synthetic red colour for beetroot juice. Don't use too much though or you will end up with Red Velvet Beetroot Cupcakes!
This is a popular cupcake flavor, so naturally there
are millions of recipes out there. It took me a lot of bad cupcake batches to
finally zero in on the perfect recipe. Believe you me...I have tried
every conceivable ingredient combination and recipe out there...and
this one is spot on. It makes the cake so moist and at the same time
crumbly...its so delicious and now my mouth is watering!
2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
2 tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder
50ml red food colouring or 125 ml beetroot juice
1/2 cup unsalted softened butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk (room temperature)
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
Per-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together the flour, baking powder & salt in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl mix food colouring* & cocoa to form a paste and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until
light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red
cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of
the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the
buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of
buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well
combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
In a
small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Be careful as it will fizz so don't do
it in a shallow bowl. Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to
combine.
Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners. Fill cupcake cups with cake batter until they are a little
under 3/4 full. Place muffin
tins in your preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20mins, rotating pans
halfway through. The cupcakes are done when you are able to pat the tops
and the cake springs back up. If it sinks down they are not yet complete. Or
you can insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake in the center
of the tin and if it comes out clean they are done.
Cool
the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove
and allow to cool completely before frosting. Serve with Cream
Cheese Frosting
*If you
are using food coloring powder, mix about a teaspoon of the powder to the
buttermilk, stir so that no lumps are formed, and add to the cake mix.
