Cake Batter & Crumbs: Valentine's Cupcakes

For Valentine's week, we had a red/pink themed lunch at work where everyone brought a food item in those colors. I chose to make mini red velvet cupcakes -- although a snow storm kept me from going to work the actual day of the lunch, so I missed out!

Anyway, these mini cupcakes were supposed to be of the red velvet variety, but they came out more chocolaty brown -- still delicious, but certainly not the pretty red color I was aiming for. I take all blame though, as I thought the batter needed more chocolate than called for and I also used both regular baking cocoa and dark baking cocoa. More chocolate on Valentine's Day isn't necessarily a bad thing, right? The batter at least was a lovely shade of deep red, though the final product was decidedly not. Although, I really do think that if you hold them up to the light and squint just right, you can see a slight red coloring!

Topping these little guys is the traditional cream cheese icing, tinted pink (to fit our red/pink theme, of course) and on the tippy top I placed a little conversational heart candy. This particular cupcake, of course went to my husband!

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Red Velvet Cake recipe
Makes 48 mini cupcakes

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups canola oil
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line mini cupcake trays with liners. Set aside. Whisk together flour, salt, and cocoa in a medium bowl; set aside.
Mix sugar and oil on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until combined. Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition. Mix in food coloring and vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
Stir together baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl. Add baking-soda mixture to batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 15 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks.

Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 (8-ounce) cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
red/pink food coloring

Place butter in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, and beat until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. Add sugar and vanilla, and beat until combined, about 2 minutes.