Red-ish Velvet Cupcakes

I was supposed to bake my mom a cake for her 50th birthday, but got a job instead. I figured it was a perfectly fine trade-off but apparently this has been in the back of her head for a year now. So on a trip back home (which included a couple long car rides, 14 hours each way) she declared I had to bake her a cake. Still reeling from the coconut cake disaster, I skipped trusting someone else's cake pans and opted for cupcakes.

BONUS! I had a sous chef for the cake! If you don't speak any French (for that matter, this is probably one of the three French words I know) sous means "under" and it's the chef's right hand man. Or in this case preteen girl. The best part is putting her on "dry stuff" duty since I hate measuring flour. This is why I always just do it by weight. This site is bookmarked on my phone (my cookin' buddy). And Alton Brown says that's the best way to do it anyway. And whatever AB says is like cooking law.

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WARNING! PG-13 Friends reference follows. If you're easily offended, please scroll down past the little stars. The only reason I ever remember this French stuff is an episode of Friends when Phoebe dates Monica's sous chef. When Phoebe first meets him and sets up a date, she says to Monica "I can't wait to get sous-neath him". So you have to say the line whenever you think about sous chefs.
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So red velvet it was, because it's fast and easy and hard to mess up. But I didn't exactly have enough red food coloring (had to raid my aunt's pantry for supplies and wasn't clear that I needed like a gallong of the stuff). So instead of the usual deep red color, they ended up more pinkish in the bowl. So red-ish velvet they are. And just for the record, my sous chef frosted most of them. :) I take no responsibility.

 Everybody ate 'em, my Dad had three and Mom took home a dozen so I suppose they were fine. Though one sad soul tried her darndest but never got even a crumb:

That's Mia, the most pathetic dog in the world.

So by the end of the evening we had a bunch of these:

But someone found a way to take care of the leftover frosting.

So Happy Birthday Nini!

Red Velvet Cake

Welome to my blog! This first post was supposed to be a birthday cake for Nini but I missed her birthday. I finally found a new reason to bake and I thought this would be a great way to start.

The hubbin's boss is having a birthday, so a cake is in order. The hubbin works at The Company That Must Not Be Named (henseforth TCTMNBN); those that work there will probably understand. The only rule for today was no cinnamon, so I went back to my old standby, Red Velvet Cake (a favorite at TCTMNBN). And this being a holiday and all, I decided to go easy on the decorating so this in an entirely fondant-free cake. The beauty of the red velvet cake is the ridiculous quanitites of red food coloring that creates the characteristic color. It leaves the batter looking like something from a bad slasher movie.

But the results are totally worth it. I don't give out this recipe (so sorry if you were watching for it, I won't be so stingy in the future but this is my secret weapon in world domination), but it's from the internet anyway so a little searching will find it quickly. The only change I make is adding way more cocoa than the measly two teapsons that the recipe calls for. Today it was however much was left in the Hershy box, but it's generally even as much as 1/4 cup. This gives it a nice chocolaty taste and smell.

The baked results aren't quite as bright as the batter, but they still look pretty nice. Of course it wouldn't be red velvet cake without the cream cheese frosting, right? Add to that a few pecans (that's pronounced puh-con if you were ever informed incorrectly) and some fancy piping with the frosting and you've got yourself a mighty good cake. Who am I kidding? This stuff is incredible!!! Seriously, if you haven't had it, as me to make you some cupcakes. These things are made of of awesomeness. And of course, there is the leftover frosting that is sitting in a bowl next to me at this exact moment. :) So here's the final product, pleas excuse the wonky shell right front and center. That was the last few I was trying to squeeze in and things went horribly wrong.

So Happy Birthday Susanne!

And for all of you from TCTMNBN a big thanks for checking out the blog. I'm going to take a vote for what flavor of cupcakes you'd like next. Leave your suggestions in the comments.