Red Velvet Cupcakes

So, it's terribly late and I've been rushing around all day sorting things out, but I did promise you the red velvet cake today. Therefore, with 10 minutes on the clock before midnight, I'm dashing this off. I apologise if this doesn't quite have my usual panache but I'm sure you can still tell it's me! And, to be honest, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words and this cake, if I do say so myself, is fairly spectacular. I also forgot to take photos of the snowman/penguin making process so I can't talk about that anyway!

Although all of these photos are of the cake I made for yesterday's christmas party, the recipe is actually for cupcakes, as I'm aware that students read my blog (hi there) and probably won't want to make a three layered cake and have access to all the tins etc. Cupcakes on the other hand only require cases and ideally but not necessarily a cupcake tray to support the sides as they cook. To make a three layered cake you just need to double all of the quantities and bake it for 25 minutes in three 8 inch cake tins. The mix makes 18 fairy cakes (the best size) or 12 american cupcakes (far too big, and anyway, you get less of them!). For the larger ones just add 3-5 minutes to the baking time.

Red Velvet Birthday Cake

One of my friends came over for supper last night, and, since it's her birthday today (happy birthday, Grace!) I decided to bake her a birthday cake. The only flaw in this plan was when I realised, five minutes before serving said cake, that we didn't have any matches in the flat to light the candles with!  Cue a candle-less cake with an uninterrupted pattern.

I love to decorate the cakes I make but I often don't due to the amount of time and space it requires to do a proper job (halls of residence especially hindered my cake inspirations last year). However, I now have a lovely kitchen in my new flat with an orange KitchenAid mixer sitting in pride of place on the work surface; a fact that makes me keen to get out my toolbox and start decorating again.

My choice of cake for the occasion was a red velvet cake with cream cheese "frosting" (made from the Hummingbird Bakery recipe). Unusual ingredient of the day? White wine vinegar. Fortunately you don't taste that particular ingredient in the finished cake, it just helps the bicarbonate of soda to do its magic. To top the cake I used a curly stencil and filled it in with my new Callebaut cocoa powder (it smells so good!), which worked surprisingly well as only one bit of powder fell where it wasn't supposed to.

Grace was suitably impressed by the pretty pattern and white icing. Most importantly it tasted pretty good too!