Patriotic Red Velvet Cupcakes

I love fourth of July. It's probably one of my favorite holidays and I think it's terribly underrated compared to christmas and new years and thanksgiving. But I feel this way because my family always always has the best barbeques/pool parties for 4th of July. The kids swim in the backyard pool until their skin turn charcoal, while my uncle grills delicious meat of all kinds. Usually my mom makes fruit smoothies and someone else brings the fireworks. It's seriously the highlight of my summer.
I started contributing my own baked goods last year to the family parties. I made Edible Eagles last year. This year I made patriotic cupcakes to celebrate the independence of our very country. Woo!
After mixing all the ingredients I came up with this...mixture of bubbles and dye even after having mixed it for 5 minutes.. I freaked out momentarily, assuming I had added too much of something (probably oil) but my friend Grace saved the day by beating it with a whisk with strong, solid movements. It turned out beautifully:
(My dad said it looked like tomato sauce. I should've added more food coloring but I ran out!)

The recipe was vague on how much sugar to add, so I added as much as I thought was necessary. (Around 1.5 cups?)

Red Velvet Cupcakes by Sweet Tooth

CUPCAKES:
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cocoa
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups canola oil
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tbsp water (or 1 1 oz bottle)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

FROSTING:
1/2 cup butter
1 (8oz) package cream cheese
1 box confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare muffin tins with 24 liners
- Mix the flour, baking soda, and cocoa in one bowl, sugar and eggs in another, and oil, vinegar, food coloring, vanilla, and buttermilk in yet another.
- Add the oil mixture to the egg mixture and beat until well combined
- Add the flour mixture in small intervals, mixing well witah each addition
- Fill 24 liners up with batter 3/4 of the way full
- Bake for 25 minutes and let completely cool before frosting
- For the frosting, cream together the butter and cream cheese and add the sugar in small intervals until well mixed.
- Mix in the vanilla and frost the cupcakes!

Home for the Holidays: Carrot Cake

It's been a busy semester and since I have no access to a kitchen over the school year, this blog has been sorely neglected. But now that I have a month free from homework, exams, and projects, I can get back into baking! Carrot cake has always been a family favorite and isn't overwhelmingly sweet like chocolate, so it was nice to serve something lighter than usual, even if it probably wasn't any healthier as far as sweets go.

I used a recipe from About.com and it turned out beautifully!

2 cups baby shredded carrots

1 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

8 oz. crushed pineapple

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shred baby carrots (this takes some time, but is well worth it).

In large bowl, combine oil, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and eggs and beat well. Stir in half of the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.

Add carrots and pineapple and beat well. Then beat in remaining flour. Stir in 1/2 cup walnuts and mix well. Pour into 13x9" pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-55 minutes until dark golden brown and cake springs back when lightly touched in center.

Since I baked two 9" round cakes, it only took about 20 minutes for it to be fully cooked through (my mom's oven is stronger than most). Be careful when setting a time and keep checking every now and then!

The cream cheese frosting was so simple, and since I was getting impatient I put it on the cake before it fully cooled. It melted a little, but I didn't mind.

8 oz. packaged cream cheese, cooled

6 tbsp. butter, cooled

2 cups powdered sugar

dash salt

2-4 tbsp. light cream

1 tsp. vanilla

The original recipe called for 3 cups of sugar, but I wanted this frosting to be both cream-cheesy and sweet. I added sugar and tasted every now and then until I thought it was good enough, which I estimate to be about 2 cups.

Parth used this recipe to make his parents an Anniversary cake! Isn't that sweet?