Fresh Blueberries and Cream Cheese Frosting on Red Velvet Cupcakes
The first time I baked them was about 3 months ago in May. And they were an absolute disaster. They were bitter, and so evidently bitter because I had used both baking soda and powder. But as of always Google was my best friend and turns out that baking soda causes cakes to be bitter and is hardly needed really.
They were also slightly burnt because I use a fan oven, and a lot of times the temperature out there are for convection ovens, and typically fan ovens are hotter. I have discovered that lowering my baking temperature by about 10Β°C, and reducing the baking time by about 2 - 5 mins has made all the difference for me.
Hence applying everything that I have learnt in the past 3 months, my red velvet cupcakes are a great success! I cannot be more pleased. I had used Cupcake Jemma's recipe, though I had halved it. Also used only 1/3 of her recommended amount of ingredients for the cream cheese, though I had reduced the icing sugar even further.
So here they are, with or without blueberries. I also think that they will go well with strawberries, baked pineapples or lemons.
My tweaked cream cheese frosting recipe - enough for 12 cupcakes
- 55g unsalted butter (softened)
- 80g full fat cream cheese
- 210g icing sugar
Whisk butter and cream cheese together, then add in sieved sugar in 3 - 4 separate batches. Whisk till creamy and smooth then pipe onto cupcakes.
TA-DA!
Here's my tweaked recipe to my red velvet cupcakes
- 117g Self raising flour
- 15g Cocoa powder
- 125g Caster sugar
- Pinch tsp Salt
- 135g Soft unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
- 2 Large free-range eggs (at room temperature)
- 1.5 tbs Buttermilk (I feel that I can stick to 3 tablespoons in future)
- 1tsp Red food colour paste (or lots, till the batter is really red)
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 3/4 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 1.5 tsp Cider vinegar
I usually start with whisking butter and sugar till it is light and fluffy. Then add everything else till well mixed.
The most important part would be mixing the cider vinegar and bicarbonate of soda in a separate bowl and once that's mixed, quickly add into batter, and fold gently, but do not over mix. The bubbles mixed into the batter will help the sponge stay fluffy when it's baked.
Have a go!