Red velvet cupcakes

The Red Panda. Awwww!

There's something so exciting about making something a different colour to what it should be.  Therefore, i was SO up for trying out some red velvet cupcakes.  Apparently these little delights originally got their red colour from a chemical reaction that took place between the ingredients used to make them.  As time passed however, something happened and they no longer do that.  (Explanations on a postcard please)

So, these days, we cram them full of red food colouring so that when you stick your fork (or face) into them, you are still greeted with a burst of bright red cakey joy.

Kal sat dribbling while i snapped his cake

I went for the hummingbird bakery recipe.  I became a bit wary of this book after several failed attempts to re-create the vanilla cupcakes which look so beautiful in the photos. After lots of googling, I found that numerous people had the same problem with that recipe (and a few others).  Each time, my cupcakes had come out dense with a funny bubbly layer on the top and although I planned to plaster them with icing, it just wasn't good enough.

 However, I decided to let them off as their chocolate muffins were so good.

The recipe made me feel a bit nostalgic because it contains bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and red food colouring, which as I'm sure most people know means VOLCANOES!  In my case, a huuuge Papier-mâche one that erupted tremendously all over the floor!

I can't pretend i wasn't excited when I pulled these out of

the oven.

Different recipes call for different types of food dye, but I had read that the gel dye was more effective and it felt better to just put in a teaspoon of gel, rather than a whole bottle of liquid dye.

The icing is a cream cheese icing, made with butter, cream cheese and icing sugar.  There are tonnes of different versions available on the web, including here .  A really great icing reference page! 

All in all.  These were a huge success.  Although they are made with cocoa, they aren't really chocolate cakes at all.  They have a subtle chocolately flavour and a beautiful texture.  And best of all, they're blimin red!