Red Velvet

For Valentine's Day I had wanted to make Red Velvet cupcakes, but found I was out of red food coloring.  I have remedied this, and decided that I'd might as well make them even if the holiday is over.  The recipe I used was from food network and can be found here.

First combine 2 1/2 cups of flour with 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tsp each of salt, baking soda and cocoa powder.

Next combine 1 cup butter milk with 1 1/2 cups canola oil, 2 eggs, 1 tsp of vanilla and the red food coloring.  I followed the recipe for "red off the back of the box, so 50 drops.

Add the dry to the wet and combine.

Looks a bit like Gak.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Well...I guess the title of this post should've been "pink velvet."

After they've cooled make some cream cheese icing.  Beat 1 stick of butter with 1 8 oz package of cream cheese (both at room temperature).

Add vanilla,

And powdered sugar.

I do this by eye/taste.  I don't like cream cheese frosting to be too sweet.

Now it's time to ice our cupcakes!

As you can see, I'm using a bag with a piping tip, my electric piper and I aren't getting along.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!  I hope you enjoy these cupcakes!

(So, I realized after this was all done that I forgot an ingredient.  With the wet works, add 1 tsp of white distilled vinegar.  They still taste good without it.)

Show Them You Care...with Homemade Goodies.

Today is Valentine's Day, and for some that means dinner and some flowers, or maybe some candy in a heart shaped box.  For others it means complaining about it on Facebook.  I don't mind Valentine's Day.  Even when I didn't have a Valentine, my dad would give me chocolate, or a carnation.  ON the first Valentine's day Tim and I spent together, he got me chocolate covered strawberries, which I love, and I love making them for any reason.  If you do have a Valentine, or if you want to make these for yourself, go ahead.  They're super easy to make, albeit a little messy, and you'll never want to buy them in a store again.

First, rinse your strawberries.  I got a carton of little ones.  they are usually sweeter, and there's 32 in here. And just $3!

Lay them out to dry, and then it's time to think of the chocolate.  I use two types for dipping and decoration.  Dark.

And white.

Melt each in the microwave for about 2 1/2 minutes.  Once thoroughly melted, commence dipping!

Now it's time for decoration, and let's use the contrast of colors here.

And done!  Takes about 15 minutes, and they are lovely!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day, and enjoy!

An Exercise in Laziness

Sometimes I just want fluffy cupcakes without a lot of effort.  On days like that, I turn to the devil, the packaged cake mix.

Yesterday, I did just that.  Do I do this all the time?  No.  But this week was a friend's birthday, and I wanted to make him something nice, and in a situation when you're pressed for time, and baking from scratch isn't really an option, a cake mix can be a life saver.

Yes, I used manufactured icing too...please don't hate me too much.

They do taste pretty good though!  I'll have a homemade edible next time, I promise.

A Near Vegan Baking Disaster!

My next vegan baking experiment was another cupcake.  This time a peanut butter cupcake.  This required a new ingredient that I have eaten in granola bars and breads before, but never used in my own baking.

First, measure out 3/4 cup of soy milk and add 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar.  Set aside to curdle.

Next combine 1/2 cup of peanut butter, I used an all natural type

With 1/3 cup canola oil

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp of dark molasses

And 2 tsp of ground flax seed.

Ok...so, ground flax seed.  A quick run in the food processor should do it.

Oh sweet god, it won't grind!  Maybe I need to crush it?

This should do the trick.

No!  Nothing is working!  What should I do?  What does the flax seed replace in a regular recipe?...eggs? I used tapioca flour in a previous vegan recipe to do that, let's see if it works here.  1 1/2 tsp should do it.

So far so good, time to pour in the curdled soy milk.

And then mix in1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt with 1 cup of flour plus 2 Tbsp.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 23 minutes.

They actually look pretty perfect.  Once cooled, ice!

I used the remainder of the chocolate butter cream I used here.  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough.

I was worried that they wouldn't taste right, or that they would have a weird texture because I used tapioca flour instead.  But, they tasted great!  Another baking disaster thwarted by food science!