Valentine’s Day Red Velvet Cupcakes
Last summer Kind Lifer Steph shared her PB&J Cupcakes, which looked insane! She’s back to share some more cupcakes, this time they’re Valentine’s Day inspired. Try them out and let me know how it goes!
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Valentine’s Day Red Velvet Cupcakes
by Steph
I love baking. I love the results of baking a little too much. So, whenever I have the opportunity to make confections for other people (so I don’t eat them all), I’m in. This is the second year in a row that I’ve made vegan Valentine’s Day cupcakes for my office and everyone loves them (and no one ever complains about them being vegan. I mean, what kind of rude person complains about a free cupcake?).
This year, I decided to get a little extra adventurous on the decorations. I found this video on Youtube on creating chocolate decorations:
So, I took some Trader Joes semi-sweet chocolate chips and melted them in a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water. Then, I followed the Youtube lady’s technique to create these little chocolate things.
I decided to put them in the fridge to make them cool faster, but they still weren’t as stiff as I would have liked. If you try it, I’d recommend using a baker’s chocolate and possibly one with a higher percentage of cocoa. They still worked, though!
Then, the cupcakes! In honor of Valentine’s Day, Red Velvet seemed like an appropriate choice. Years ago when I worked at Trader Joes, a customer gave me a secret tip for these goodies that always makes them sensational: as the very last step, grate about 2 tbsp. of semi-sweet chocolate with a cheese grater and stir it into the batter. My secret is now yours. Mmmm.
Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe
Source: egglesscooking.com
Prep time: 20
Mins Cook time: 17 Mins
Yields: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 cup nondairy milk (I used almond milk)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar (I used organic sugar from Trader Joes)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil (I used canola)
2 tsp red food coloring (I’ve never tried it, but supposedly you can also use beet juice… which is more natural so probably better)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
n a medium size bowl, mix together the milk and vinegar allowing it to curdle. This will take about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar too.
Once the milk has curdled, stir in the oil, food color and the extracts. Whisk it well to combine.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly add the wet ingredients to it, stirring it until all the ingredients come together. Small lumps are okay. Take care to see that you do not over mix it otherwise you will not get fluffy cupcakes.
SECRET TIP (see above)
Fill each muffin tin 3/4ths full of the batter. (I filled them a little more full so that I would have exactly 12 cupcakes)
Bake it for about 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean or with very little crumbs is okay too.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let it remain there for 5 minutes. After that remove the cupcakes from the pan and let it cool completely before you can frost it. Be patient! I was excited to get started on the frosting, but if you don’t wait, the cupcakes will absorb your frosting and it’ll be a mess.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: Modified from Food.com
Prep time: 10 minutes
Yields: enough for 12 cupcakes
My #1 rule for baking: you should never buy frosting. Even if it were vegan, which I doubt exists, homemade is so easy, cheap, and 3 MILLION times tastier.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (softened)
1/4 cup vegan cream cheese, softened (I used "This Is Not A Tub Of Cream Cheese" from Trader Joes)
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions:
Using a stand-up mixer (or a handheld one), cream together the margarine and cream cheese until well combined and a little fluffy. Add the sugar ½ cup at a time and beat for about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat for another 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
NOTE: This frosting is creamy and a little heavy so if you prefer something lighter and fluffier, I highly recommend this Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting.
I wasn’t sure if I loved the chocolate do-hickies, so I also tried sprinkles:
You can do both, if you want! (See the photo above, just before my boss devoured it).
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Thank you, Steph! These look yum!
Are you making a sweet treat for Valentine’s Day? What’s your favorite?
11 comments
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I made these for valentine's day and then again (slightly altered) for St. Patrick's day. Just substituted the red food coloring for green and added shamrock sprinkles. Came out really cute. -
Really disappointed with how these turned out. There wasn't enough vinegar in the recipe to make the milk curdle and the batter was really runny. The cupcakes never puffed up and got round so I ended up with flat cupcakes that actually dipped down in the middle. I didn't over mix, but it doesn't seem to have made a difference. Did anyone else have better luck or a tip next time to make these better? Disappointing, since I was excited to make these as a present for the kids I nanny for and it was a total flop.
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I am...last year I created a vegan (and gluten-free) molten lava cake as a gift for my hubby. He loves lava cake, so my gift was to develop a healthier version for him.
My kid's love it so much they have already asked me to make them on Valentines again this year...
http://veggiegrettie.com/2012/02/10/vegan-molten-lava-cake-recipe-gluten-free/ -
Can't wait to try this recipe! I've been looking for a good Red Velvet recipe - the one from Babycakes is just a bit too overloaded with coconut flavor, but good once in a while.
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So cute! love the decorations! I'm making my chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes: http://delicious-knowledge.com/?p=2596
They are the perfect blend of chocolate & strawberry- my favorite combination. -
I love vegan cupcakes and cannot wait to make these ones over the weekend! What a sweet treat for Valentine’s Day! They’ll go even better with some sodelicious ice cream!!!
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