Certainly Striking

I’ve been on a huge Brothers and Sisters kick recently. I love the show so much that I watched Season 2 in about 26 hours, including a sleep in! It has just the right amount of drama and comedy, and while the characters are severely dysfunctional they are still loveable and ultimately believable. One of my favourite moments of Season 1 was when Scotty bought red velvet cupcakes (“my own recipe!”) to a pool party at the Walkers’ house. Kevin dismissed him at first since Sarah invited Scotty just to annoy her brother, but later in the episode you see Kevin, alone, taking a bite into one of the bright red cupcakes - awwww. My second favourite moment is Kevin impersonating a dinosaur, comedy gold!

Some seem to regard red velvet as an extremely confused chocolate cake, containing barely enough cocoa to even register the taste. But this article from the New York Times explains that cocoa can take on a reddish tinge in baked goods, and it was most likely this reaction that inspired cooks in America’s south to exaggerate it with red food colouring, and lots of it. The red velvet cake is one to get people talking. Whether you love it or hate it, think it’s overrated or misunderstood, no one can deny that it’s certainly striking.

I remember the first time I saw one – only about a year ago, in fact – I was enthralled by the ruby hue, my favourite colour. It was just the right mix of fancy and festive, prettied up with a slathering of delicious cream cheese frosting. I made a red velvet layer cake to take to Christmas lunch last year. It was highly complimented by my taste testers, however I wasn’t completely happy with it and resolved to try again. It took quite a few months, but newly inspired by Scotty’s (literally) sweet gesture, I decided to make red velvet in cupcake form, for my fellow Brothers and Sisters fans at college.

I used Paula Deen’s recipe this time, however I would also love to try Magnolia Bakery’s recipe to compare the oil-based and butter-based cakes. The cupcakes were moist, tasty and a lovely shade of red. They were not noticeably oily like last time. Everyone enjoyed them, in fact I just got a phone call from a friend to say thank you. I used my own cream cheese frosting recipe, which you’ve seen here before. The recipe said it would make 24 cupcakes, but I only got 20. The frosting made enough for 16 cupcakes, and I froze the last 4, ready for the next time I have cream cheese frosting left over.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Paula Deen
Makes 20-24

• 2 ½ cups plain flour
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons red food colouring
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting
• 250g cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line one or two 12-hole cupcake trays with paper liners.
2. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa into a large bowl and whisk to combine.
3. In another bowl, mix the oil, buttermilk, eggs, red colouring, vinegar and vanilla extract on medium to low speed.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth and well combined.
5. Fill the cupcake liners with batter, until about 2/3 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes, turning the pans once at about the halfway mark. Cupcakes are done when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
7. To make cream cheese icing, combine cream cheese, sifted icing sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix until smooth and creamy. Smooth onto cooled cakes.