Not-so-red Velvet Cupcakes

I have to confess that I have been a bit obsessed with cupcakes lately. It started when I went to the local bakery and had an amazing carrot cupcake. Then I had a very tasty vanilla cupcake at Kara's Cupcakes in Ghirardelli Square. I even made a special trip to Magnolia when I was in New York City about a month ago, just to see why it is so popular. (Honestly, I still don't get why Magnolia is so famous - they weren't my favorite, although the icing was good.)

Then I saw a Paula Deen show on red velvet cupcakes. Paula Deen is a food network personality who is well known for her southern comfort food recipes, many of which involve a stick of butter or a package of cream cheese. Most of her food is too rich for my taste, but I figured that if anybody would know how to make a decadent dessert, it would be her. So, I decided to try out her recipe for red velvet cupcakes.

The result? The cupcakes were fluffy and moist, and the icing was just sinful. However, I couldn't taste the cocoa in the cake and they left me with a bit of a greasy/oily feeling. (As a side note I also noticed that they left a sizable puddle of oil in the cupcake pan, which is not all that surprising considering how much oil is in the recipe.)

Upon offering some of the cupcakes to my friends, they were generally well received, but I inevitably heard "Wow, what makes them so red??" and was somewhat ashamed to admit that it involved food coloring.

All of this left me thinking that I could probably improve upon the initial recipe. I've always been afraid to experiment when baking though. I mean, when you are cooking something savory, no big deal. Double the garlic, throw in a few extra spices, swap some ingredients, it all works out in the end. But with baking, I'm always afraid that I'll end up with a dense cake that doesn't rise.

I decided to give it a shot, while trying to be conservative about how much I changed in the recipe. I reduced the oil by 1/3 and added a couple of tablespoons of butter instead, hoping that this would give it a less greasy feel. I also decided to increase the cocoa powder, to allow for more of the chocolate flavor to come through, and I doubled the vanilla extract for more flavor. Finally, I ditched the food coloring, deciding that despite the southern tradition it was pretty unnecessary. Instead I topped with red crystallized sugar.

The result? The cupcake was definitely less oily and didn't leave me with a greasy feel like the original recipe. The cake did lose a bit of the light, airy feel that the original version had, though. This is possibly because of the butter substitution and possibly because I reduced the overall proportion of wet ingredients in the recipe. I think I might continue to experiment with this one, but not half bad for a first try! Any advice from baking experts out there??

Here is the finished product:


And here is the recipe:

Not-so-red Velvet Cupcakes
(makes 12 cupcakes)

Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 lb. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

red crystallized sugar, to top

For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pan once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
Be sure all your ingredients are at room temperature! That means leaving the butter and cream cheese out for at least a couple of hours. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy. You'll see the the icing lighten in color and increase in volume.

Frost the cupcakes, sprinkle with the crystallized sugar, and enjoy! The frosted cupcakes will keep in the fridge for several days.