Food Recipes:Delicious and Fun

It may have been arrogance, but for sure it was cockiness that when I was making this recipe for only the second time I thought I could improve it. Well I’m definitely not at that stage yet; my “improvement” gave the worst cupcake texture I had ever made (I added 1/8 cup milk).This past weekend we had a big joint party for my Sister and her husbands 40^th birthday’s. My sister requested a Red Velvet cake which I of course was happy making since I’ve made a “Baked” recipe a handful of times now. I wanted to make them something extra so whipped up a batch of cupcakes. I didn’t want to make a recipe untried so the weekend before made a half batch to test and they were fine but I thought they could be improved. So the night before the party with the cake cooling I made my amended recipe and uh-oh what a load of rubbish they turned out to be. I managed to scrape together the ingredients for another batch, replacing the sour cream with yogurt, and stuck to the exact recipe. This time they came out great and when they got to the party were quickly decimated by the guests.

Martha Stewarts Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

 ¾ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

¾ Cup All-Purpose Flour

½ Tsp Baking Powder

¼ Tsp Salt

¾ Cup (1 ½ Sticks) Unsalted Butter at room temp

1 Cup Sugar

3 Large Eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

½ Cup Sour Cream (whole milk yogurt also works)

1. Preheat oven to 350F / 175C. Line 12-Cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2. Sift together the Cocoa, Flour, Baking Powder and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In your mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. With the mixer on low add the flour mixture in two additions alternating with the sour cream

4. Divide the batter into cups filling about ¾ full. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean about 20-25 mins. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer the cakes, to cool completely, on a wire rack. Frost once fully cooled. 

Billys Vanilla Buttercream

½ Cup (1 Stick) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

3-4 Cups Icing Sugar

¼ Cup Milk

½ Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, with the paddle attached, cream the butter until smooth and creamy about 2-3 mins. With the mixture on low add 3 cups sugar, milk and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Depending on the consistency you require add the extra cup (I wanted to pipe the frosting so added the extra cup)

(side note – I find making any buttercream in my mixer is made so much easier by using a beaterblade, makes everything much smoother.)