My First Job & Red Velvet Cupcakes

Well you guys probably know that isn't right... right? I already have a job, a normal, whatever, pays-the-bills kind of job. What I really mean is... drumroll please... I got my first baking job, where someone actually pays for my cupcakes!! Yeppp, I was over the moon about the news and also a wee bit scared out of my mind. So many choices, so many ways to fail... ugh the tribulations.

Here's what was on the menu:

6 Red Velvet with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

6 Ispahan (Lychee-Rosewater Butter Cake filled with Raspberry Cream and topped with Swiss Meringue Buttercream)

Today, I'll show you the Red Velvet! It was a bit of a struggle to make the cupcakes in 6 serving sizes; measuring 1/8 cups and 1/8 tsp. weren't exactly fun haha. So the recipes here are in 12 serving sizes to make it a little easier on you guys! 

I've never made red velvet cake before and I spent hours upon hours searching for a recipe that was a no-fail, because I really couldn't afford messing up but I eventually stumbled upon a recipe that sounded just perfect! The cake turned out delicious! It was a deep crimson red, moist, and had just a tinge of cocoa flavor. But what really made this spectacular was the frosting. Oh my goshhhhh so good! I could easily eat it by the bucket and that's a big thing for me, because I usually tend to scrape off frostings when I eat a cupcake. That's the thing about cream cheese frosting, it's not too sweet and is tangy which goes perfectly with red velvet. The only strife is that it doesn't hold its shape too well but that okay... I'll forgive it. I topped these with some chocolate jimmies and cupcake flags, tutorial can be seen here.

Red Velvet Cake

Yields: 12 cupcakes

Original recipe from The Repressed Pastry Chef, which can be found here.

Printable Recipe

1 cup cake flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 oz./ 2 tbsn. red food coloring

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pan with liners, set aside. Whisk flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer, beat until well blended. Beat in egg. On the low setting add the food coloring and vanilla extract. Add flour alternately with the buttermilk making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you move along. Place baking soda in a small dish and stir with the vinegar. Add to the batter and beat for 10 seconds. Divide among the pan filling the cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

Yields: about 12 cupcakes

Original recipe from Chaos in the Kitchen, which can be found here.

Printable Recipe

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

4 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean pod

1 - 2 cups of powdered sugar

Slit vanilla bean in half and use knife to scrape out the beans from the pod, set aside. Whip the cream cheese in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add the butter and beat to combine. Add the vanilla and vanilla beans. Slowly add the powdered sugar to your preference in consistency and sweetness. 

The finalized product with their flags hoisted high!