Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes - Hummingbird Bakery

Red Velvet Cupcakes are yum! That's just a fact. Another fact is that the Hummingbird Bakery simply has the best recipe. I've made other cupcake recipes from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook before and they've always turned out great. These turned out FANTASTIC. As today (29th of september) is my birthday, I had a small party in my dorm last thursday for which I made these cupcakes. The recipe calls for two unconventional ingredients, vinegar and buttermilk, but don't let that scare you off! The buttermilk makes for a fantastic crumb and the vinegar reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to give an extra lift, making the cupcakes extra fluffy. The recipe yields 12 regular, or about 36 mini cupcakes. If you're making mini cupcakes, bake for 15 minutes, the regular sized ones need about 20-25 minutes. I used half the cream cheese frosting recipe, which was plenty, but if you have a really sweet tooth, go right ahead and use the whole recipe.

Recipe Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients Cupcakes:

60g butter at room temperature

150g caster sugar

1 egg

10g cocoa powder

10ml red food colouring (I used a little less)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

120ml buttermilk

150gr plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

Ingredients Frosting:

300g icing sugar, sifted

50g butter at room temperature

125g cream cheese, chilled

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

2. Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a handheld electric whisk until light and fluffy. Then scrape the bowl, turn the mixer to high and add the egg, beating until well combined.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa powder, red food colouring and the vanilla extract until it resembles a thick paste. Add the paste to the batter, mixing until well combined. 

4. Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and salt and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

5. Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar.  Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.

6. Spoon the batter into a baking pan lined with paper cases and bake at 180C/350 F for 15-25 minutes, depending on whether you're baking mini or regular cupcakes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

7. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and http://joythebaker.com/2009/09/my-favorite-red-velvet-cupcakes/