Red Velvet Mummy Cupcakes

This Halloween I attended a costume party at a friend's house, which also gave me the perfect opportunity to bake some Halloween themed cupcakes. Although I had never baked cupcakes before, I figured it wouldn’t be too hard. Boy was I wrong.

It took me 4 tries (different recipes for each), to find recipes I liked for Chocolate and Vanilla cupcakes (I still don't have my go to recipe though-might take a bit more research). 

Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes with a simple Vanilla Frosting

I wasn’t about to go through the same process for Red Velvet Cupcakes, so I asked my aunt the baker for her recipe—good thing I did because they came out amazing on my first try.


Red Velvet Cupcakes

Makes about 24 cupcakes

Tools

2 large Bowls

Sifter

Hand Mixer

Muffin tin

Cupcake liners

Ingredients

2 cups Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Cocoa Powder, Unsweetened

2 cups Sugar

1 cup Vegetable Oil

2 Eggs

1 cup Buttermilk (I used an equal amount of plain Greek Yoghurt)

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1-2oz Red Food Colouring

1 tsp White Distilled Vinegar (I used White Cyder Vinegar)

1/2 cup prepared plain Hot Coffee (I used hot Nescafe)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F, and line your muffin tins with cupcake papers

2. In a bowl, combine and sift Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Cocoa Powder, and Salt

3. In another bowl, cream Oil and Sugar. Add in Eggs, Vanilla Extract, Buttermilk/Yoghurt, and Food Colouring and mix. Then stir in Coffee and Vinegar

4. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until everything is combined

5. Pour the batter into each cupcake liner (3/4 full). Bake for about 15-20 minutes (mine took exactly 16 minutes) or until toothpick comes out clean. Leave to cool on a cooling rack

 

they look more brown than red no?

Decorating the cupcakes:

I followed the instructions from Ambrosia Baking which are really straightforward, so I’ll just quickly review the steps:

Frosting

28g Butter

2 cups Icing Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla

2 tbsp Milk

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with a hand mixer until your frosting is smooth. Pipe a thin layer on your cupcakes and add M&M’s (for the eyes).

Fondant (I used Tesco’s White Ready Ice)

 Unwrap fondant, knead on a flat surface, and roll out as thin or as thick as you want it. If fondant starts to stick on your surface, then lightly sprinkle some icing sugar. Cut out long strips, and begin to place them on your cupcakes, carefully cutting off the excess bits off the sides.

finished product

I made about 40 cupcakes (vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet) and all were eaten by the end of the night. All in all, it was a successful baking experience, and the party itself was loads of fun. 

Anyway, here's my recipe card. Share and Enjoy!