red velvet

red velvet has and always been my favorite cupcake flavor, especially the one from sonja's in serendra. i'm not sure if it has something to do with its color, or how it looks, or simply its taste. maybe all of them rolled into one.

but never have i thought that i could make them.

i've been browsing google for some time scanning red velvet cupcake recipes and most of them i found either the ingredients or the directions to be intimidating. i cook, i bake... but hell i'm not a professional. i just do them how my heart and mind tells me to.

and then, i found one recipe for red velvet that seems friendly. the ingredients can easily be bought from any grocery and the directions can be understood even by a kid. so off to the printer it went then after a week, into the oven.

i was hesitant on how the cupcakes were going to be like since i haven't made cupcakes in ages... the last time i made a batch didn't really turn out well. but i guess, when you are in the "zone" then most probably, everything will turn out right. i found myself having fun while baking. it's probably me doing stuff that i used to brought out the real me.

anyway, the cupcakes turned out nice. but does it taste nice? hmmm.... i'm not really the best judge of my cooking. for me, everything i make tastes blah. so off to the neighbor i went, and apparently, they loved them. brought some to the office, and that's where the i got the real delight of seeing everyone's smile. apparently, i got everyone's seal of approval. my boss even asked me to make some for her this Christmas (ka-ching!)

thanks to the mccormick website, i might already have a 2nd career because of them.

so let me share the easy-to-make red velvet cupcake recipe to pay it forward.

Makes 30 (1 cupcake) servings.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 bottle (1 ounce) McCormick® Red Food Color

2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.

3. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely. Frost with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened, 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened, 2 tablespoons sour cream and 2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in 1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar until smooth.

apparently, the recipe called for regular-sized cupcakes. but then, the one i got to borrow was a small mold, so it became mini-cupcakes. it wasn't all that bad. they looked cute. and since they were in bite-size pieces, it was easier to eat and even appealing to those calorie-watchers.

how they looked??? here they are...