Red Velvet Cupcakes

Watch a 10 minute video on how to make these cupcakes by clicking here to watch on YouTube or watch on the blog posting:

red velvet cupcakes

Red velvet cakes are an american tradition with cream cheese frosting. They were made famous in the film Steel Magnolias when they were featured as a wedding cake and are a very popular cake made by The Hummingbird Bakery. Below is a recipe for red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

cupcake

Ingredients
90g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
30g cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
40ml red food colouring
225g self-raising flour
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
165ml buttermilk


Equipment required
large mixing bowl
sieve
electric whisk
muffin cases
muffin tin

Beat the butter and sugar together using an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to beat together.
In a separate bowl mix together the cocoa, vanilla essence and food colouring. It does seem a lot of food colouring but dont worry about it! Mix them together so that it becomes a dark coloured paste. Add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and beat together. Then add half of the buttermilk, beat together, add half the flour, beat together and then repeat this process. You will then just have the bicarbonate of soda left. Add this and beat slowly to start with and then increase the speed so that everything is mixed together and you should have a lovely deep red mixture.

Divide between the muffin cases - this recipe should make about 18 cupcakes. Fill the cases about 2/3 full. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for around 20 minutes on 170C or 325F or gas mark 3. The cakes should be springy to the touch when properly cooked. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Creamcheese frosting
Ingredients
200g cream cheese
75g unsalted butter, softened
450g icing sugar
1tbsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla essence

Beat together the sugar and butter with the water. Then add all of the cream cheese and beat together until smooth and glossy. Add the vanilla essence and mix together. Using a spoon top the cupcakes with the frosting. A nice touch is to crumble one of the cupcakes and sprinkle a little of the crumbs on top of the cake for decoration.

Tips
Try and use a deep muffin tin if you have one - this keeps the cupcakes in shape in their muffin cases while cooking.
Don't be put off by the amount of food colouring that is required - it gives the cake the deep red colour.

Back to Basics - Victoria Sponge

The most popular recipe on the blog so far is this traditional and evergreen classic for Victoria Sponge.

To watch a 10 minute video of how to make the cake on YouTube click here, or on the blog posting:

Victoria Sponge

The traditional British Victoria Sponge was named after Queen Victoria of England (1819 – 1901). One of Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, is said to have been the creator of ‘teatime’. Because lunch was traditionally served at midday, the Duchess often became peckish about four o'clock in the afternoon. 

The Duchess spent most summers at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. It became common practice for friends to join the Duchess for an additional afternoon meal in her rooms at Belvoir Castle. The menu consisted of small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets, and, of course, tea. This summer practice proved so popular, the Duchess continued it when she returned to London, sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for “tea” The practice of inviting friends to come for tea in the afternoon was quickly picked up by other social hostesses. 

Queen Victoria adopted the new craze for tea parties. By 1855, the Queen and her ladies were in formal dress for the afternoon teas. Rather than having lots of small individual cakes this simple large cake became on the Queen's favourites. After her husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861, Queen Victoria spent time in retreat at her residence Osborn House on the Isle of Wight. According to historians, it was here that the cake was named after her.


Today the Victoria Sponge is seen to be a simple basic cake to make. Traditional English fetes and Women’s Institutes often have a ‘bake-off’ for the best Victoria Sponge. I believe that a good Victoria Sponge is one of the best cakes but all too often they are not made well and is just a flat heavy sponge rather than the light and fluffy sponge that it should be, sandwiched together with strawberry or raspberry jam and buttercream. I have tried a number of recipes and have come up with the one I think works the best. It is a simple all-in-one recipe that uses a higher quantity of ingredients than most other recipes. With the right amount of baking powder you end up with a well-risen light sponge that looks great.

Victoria Sponge Ingredients
285g Self-raising flour
2.5 teaspoons (12.5ml) Baking powder
285g Margarine
285g Caster Sugar
5 Eggs
Raspberry or Strawberry Jam

Buttercream Ingredients
150g Softened Butter
340g Icing Sugar
3 tablespoons (45ml) Warm water

Equipment required
2 greased 8-inch sandwich tins
Sieve
Large mixing bowl
Electric whisk

Cake
- Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large bowl
- Add all the other ingredients into the bowl
- Using an electric whisk beat the ingredients together, starting slowly then medium until you get a smooth, creamy consistency
- Divide the mixture between the two sandwich tins and bake at 170 degrees centigrade (340 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30-40 minutes. The cake should be springy to the touch.
- When cooked immediately turn out onto a wire rack.

Buttercream
- Soften the butter and beat until smooth
- Gradually add the icing sugar, beating well
- Add the water and beat until smooth

Spread some jam on one half of the sponge and buttercream on the other and sandwich together. Sieve icing sugar on top

Tips
My tips for a good Victoria Sponge are:
1) Use good quality 8-inch sandwich tins. Line them with greaseproof paper to avoid the cake sticking
2) If you have a fan oven, do not use the fan feature. Cakes cook much better on the traditional oven setting
3) Be careful not to use too much jam or buttercream otherwise the cake may slide apart when sandwiched together. Do however spread the jam and buttercream to the edge of the sponges as this will enhance the appearance of the cake
4) When turning out the cakes onto the wire rack, try turning one out onto a solid surface (like a chopping board) and then put it on the wire rack so that the top of the cake does not get the marks from the wire rack. This will make it look much better.

Victoria Sponge