Red Velvet Cupcakes and the Magic of Christmas

There is something magical about Christmas. That’s what everyone says. Having studied in a catholic school, Christmas is pretty much deeply ingrained in my being. Right from the time of cake mixing, there is an anticipation of decorating the Christmas tree, shopping and stocking the pantry with all the necessary ingredients for baking, buying a couple of new clothes for the Christmas party and more. The most important pre Christmas activity for the past 4 years has been figuring out Tugga’s wish from Santa Claus and keeping them ready in hand. Fortunately, by the time Brishti starts with her Santa list, Tugga would have unraveled the great big mystery of Santa Claus.

Unlike the past few years, this year has been quite hectic for the both of us. It was in December that I went ahead and did two Bengali pop ups with Debjani within a span of a week. Add to that, all the writing, office work and other commitments. Tugga had his third term going on as well, along with Karate and tennis tournaments. By Chistmas eve, all I wanted was to crash out. The cookies and a glass of water was placed under the Christmas tree under the watchful eye of the little man. Once he fell asleep, the gifts for both the kids were neatly packed and placed at the designated areas. One handwritten note was also done. Tugga had prayed for a Thanos action figure, which I couldn’t find in any of the toy stores. Hence a letter from Santa, explaining how the elves ran out of purple colour and a promise to gift a Thanos action figure on his birthday. That came with a warning of good behaviour till the d day!!

If not anything else, waking up to the screams of your happy son is nothing short of magical. As he jumped into the bed to explain all his bounty, Brishti woke up with a warm smile and a ‘dadda’. Everytime she says’ dadda’ , I know it in my heart how much I would miss that sound as she grows up. Anindya put on some good old Jim Reeves, while I sipped my tea. It came along with this tray full of beautiful red velvet cupcakes with a white winter cream cheese frosting. Life became so much better!

Red velvet cupcakes are pretty easy to bake. With the correct recipe, red velvet cupcakes are no rocket science. I remember instantly falling in love with red velvet cupcakes, the first time I had. SInce then, I had tried three or four recipes before nailing it down to the one I love the most. It works like magic. You can use the same recipe of red velvet cupcakes to make a red velvet cake, as I had done for this Halloween Ghost Cake. The baking time would obviously be lessor for the red velvet cupcakes than the cake itself. The cream cheese frosting is the same recipe that I have used for my carrot cake too.

Happy baking and Merry Christmas to all of your beautiful people out there. May all the joys and happiness of Christmas spread through your lives.

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Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These red velvet cupcakes are so angelic to look at because of the fluffy cream cheese frosting and very easy to bake. Follow this recipe to the 'tee' and it works like magic. It is one of those recipes that does not use buttermilk but still yields a soft a buttery cupcake. Recipe Author: Madhushree

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Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Cakes and Bakes

Servings 16 cup cakes plus a few mini cup cakes

Ingredients

  

For red velvet cupcakes

• 350 gms Butter 350 gms equals 12 oz (at room temp)
• 350 gms Caster sugar
• 6 nos Eggs
• 300 gms Flour 300 gms equals 10 oz
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 50 gms cocoa powder 50 gms equals 2 oz
• 50 ml red food colouring 50 ml equal 2 fl oz

For cream cheese frosting

• 1 cup cream cheese at room temperture
• 1/3 cup Butter at room temp
• 2 tsp Milk
• 4 cups Icing Sugar

Instructions

 

For red velvet cupcakes

• Pre heat the oven at 180 degree c and line a cup cake tray with cupcake liners.
• In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar till it becomes pale and frothy.
• Then, one by one add the eggs while whisking with an electric hand mixer or whatever apparatus you have.
• The eggs should be fully incorporated and then sieve in the flour along with cocoa and baking powder.
• Using a spatula, fold the flour in gently with the batter. Add vanilla extract and the drops of liquid food colour. If you are using gel food colour, you need to add too much.
• You can expect a pale red kind of colour when folded properly. It becomes a nice red once baked.
• Finally using a spoon, drop equal quantities into the cup cake liners and place in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when poked in the centre.
• Once th cupcakes are done, place them on a wire rack to cool down completely,

For cream cheese frosting

• In a mixing bowl, whisk butter with the cream cheese. Slowly add icing sugar one tbsp at a time and continue whisking till you get a nice smooth frosting, which will hold shape when piped.

Assembling

• When the cup cakes have cooled down, pour the frosting into a piping bag with your choice of nozzle and pipe out the frosting on top of the cup cakes. If you do not have piping bags, you can use any food grade plastic into a conical shape or if not, you can simply apply some frosting on top of the cup cakes and spread it using a knife.

Notes

1. The number of cupcakes are an approximate number. It depends on the size of the cup cake liner. You need to fill up the cup cake liner almost to the top. Just leave about two mm from the top.
2. You might be left with extra frosting. You can keep it in the refrigerator for up to a week max.