Mini-Cupcake - Baking Friday!

I made mini red velvet cupcakes today!  They are amazing!  The original idea came from Martha Stewart , only on the show she made them with chocolate cake.  Well, Mar and I decided to try them out today with red velvet cake (we also tried a batch with white cake, but it didn't seem to turn out very well - looked and tasted more like cookie dough).  The Red Velvet are my favorite, I must say!  The chocolate one's that were on Martha's show are J's favorite - guess I'll have to make both. 

We used the recipe for Red Velvet from my Magnolia Bakery cookbook.  Here is the red velvet recipe (adjusted for this recipe):

Magnolia Bakery Red Velvet Cake Recipe

 This is one of our most popular cakes at the bakery. Half of the customers love it because they haven't eaten it since their grandmother made it when they were kids, and the other half because they think the red color is really neat. But everyone thinks it's delicious.

 3 ⅓ cups cake flour (not self-rising)

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 ¼ cups sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

3 tablespoons red food coloring

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 ½ cups buttermilk

1 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Grease and lightly flour three 9 x 13 pan

 To make the cake: In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

 In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

 In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overheat.

 In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.  Pour evenly into pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Now, follow the Martha Stewart link to make the rest of this recipe for Cupcake Pops. 

Here is what the balls look like before you shape them:

Here is the final product!  Have fun and let me know how yours come out if you try this!  P.S.  Don't be disappointed if you don't get them right the first time - I need to work on my dipping skills for future mini-cupcakes!