Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes

I'm sure you are thinking, what is with this girl making all her cupcakes mini, but they are so easy to share and too damn cute. Also, they make for great portion control and I definitely need that after all the bad food and drinks that I have consumed lately. I'de like to think that since my boyfriend and I went to Epcot this weekend, we walked enough to burn all the stuff we consumed...however, I don't think 100 laps around the world showcase you burn what we put down. But that is the fun of Epcot; drink, drink, eat, drink, ride a ride, drink, drink, eat. No, I'm not an alcoholic (though that last sentence did sound pretty bad), but that's that you are suppose to do at Epcot lol.

We decided to come home Sunday instead of going to another park since we worn ourselves out the day before, and knowing that people at work would be sad if I didn't bring in goodies on Monday, I decided to try my hand at red velvet cake; a staple here in the almost south. Since I'm still not ballsy enough to attempt my own baking recipes, I got online and found one that had really great reviews. That is the key to finding recipes online, don't just read the ingredients and the prep work, make sure to read the comments! Not only will you see if the recipe is good or not, people usually post some good tips and tricks. Not only was the red velvet recipe full of high remarks, it's used at the Waldorf Astoria (swanky swanky) so sounded pretty legit. I didn't use the frosting recipe since I am trying to make my own kick ass recipe (still a work in progress). Fare warning that this batter will stain EVERYTHING in touches, so make sure you aren't wearing something you really care about.

Adapted from Cookie Madness

Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes

Cake 

• 1/2 cup shortening 
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 ounces red food coloring
• 2 heaping tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 cups cake flour (carefully spoon and level — don’t pack flour)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. With an electric mixer, cream shortening, sugar, and eggs together.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together food coloring and cocoa until a paste is formed. If you are using concentrated food coloring, use a bit of the sugar/egg mixture until a paste forms.
4. Add cocoa mixture to shortening, sugar, and egg mixture and beat until well blended.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together flour and salt.
6. Alternate adding buttermilk and flour mixture to batter, beating in between each addition. 
7. Add vanilla.
8. In a separate bowl, add baking soda and vinegar, then blend into batter.
9. Spray a mini cupcake pan with cooking spray, then add cupcake liners.
10. Fill each liner 2/3 full and bake for 10 minutes.
11. Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

• 12 oz cream cheese
• 12 tbs butter, unsalted
• 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar

1. Cream the cream cheese and butter together.
2. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, beat until blended.
3. One cup at a time, add powder sugar beating well between each.

Tips and Tricks

• To easily fill the cupcake liners, put batter into a gallon sized ziplock bag and cut off the corner. Not only will this save you time, it will cut down on the mess and ensure all your cupcakes are even.
• For easy icing, put the frosting into a gallon sized ziplock bag and cut off the corner.
• If your frosting is too runny for your liking, refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• If you don't have cake flour, use this conversion; 2 tbs corn starch and 1 3/4 all purpose flour. This will give you two cups. For a half cup, fill a 1/2 cup with 1 tsp cornstarch, then fill the rest with flour, then measure out the remaining 1/4 cup that is needed for recipe.