valentine's day Red Velvet Cupcake Poll: How Do You Make 'Em Red?

valentine's day

Bakers! We're are curious to know as many people will be baking for valentine's day --How do you make your red velvet cupcakes "red"?

UPDATE: Poll is closed but feel free to leave comments below.

RED VELVET RESULTS:

• 6% use beet juice for their cupcakes
• 20% use natural food coloring  [BTW, @empiricalbaker tweeted that natural dyes may not always be vegetarian]
• 70% use artificial food coloring 
• 4% said other. Funniest response: "the blood of baby unicorns"

Thanks so much for responding!

valentine's day Red velvet chocolate-covered strawberry and cherry cupcakes for valentine's day

BlakeyCakes in Los Angeles is baking up these valentine's day cupcakes. Via their Facebook page.

Specifically, these are:

"Red Velvet cake filled with a flowing lava of chocolate fudge inside with valentine's cream cheese frosting adorned with fresh, luscious chocolate dipped strawberries, fresh, juicy, Bing chocolate covered cherries, and even a cake-heart-cut out as a topper too!"

Email b.arias101 at hotmail.com to place an order.

valentine's day Denver Cupcake Truck faces off with city

From Mobile Food News:

It’s a cupcake conundrum that has clearly confused a pair of Denver small business owners, and the 8,000 plus Facebook fans of the Denver Cupcake Trucks aren’t happy about it.

“They’re locked away right now,” Denon Moore explained.

The two trucks, one nicknamed Clyde and the other named Clementine, are apparently personas non grata in the City of Denver says Moore and her husband Sean.

“We were hassled weekly by a city inspector and told us we weren’t allowed to be parked downtown,” Denon Moore said.

And some photos from the Facebook page of the Denver Cupcake Truck, where you can also keep up with where they are each day. Yesterday they were at Bike Cafe.




carrot cake cupcake


Mile-Hi Mocha cupcake with heath bar bits on top


pretty red velvet cupcake

valentine's day Merry Christmas red velvet cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting

From food blog Paris Pastry, which has the recipe for these red velvet cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting, from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook.



She writes:

Red velvet cupcakes can be tricky. First of all, do you fold the baking soda & vinegar into the batter, or mix it in? How much red food coloring should you add? What kind of frosting goes best with red velvet cake? And then I’m not even talking about the likelihood that your cupcakes might overflow or, worse, sink. It seems all so much easier to buy a cake mix for red velvet cupcakes. There’s just one little problem… Red velvet cake mix disgusts me. Not ALL cake mixes, just the red velvet kind. I was feeling brave last night and decided to give this recipe a go. It turned out to be the easiest and best tasting red velvet cake I have ever stumbled upon. Rating: 4.5 out of 5

valentine's day Red and green holiday peppermint cupcakes and UGA cupcakes

These cupcakes are by Athens, Georgia's Silver Lining Cupcake Co. via their Facebook page. These are holiday peppermint cupcakes (love the colors) and UGA (University of Georgia) red velvet cupcakes. Find out more about them on their official website.





Silver Lining Cupcake Co.
1075 Baxter St. Suite B102
Athens, GA 30606
706-583-8686
haley at silverliningcupcakeco.com
patrick at silverliningcupcakeco.com

valentine's day Hannukah, Christmas and red velvet valentine's day cupcakes in stores and by mail order at SAS Cupcakes

SAS Cupcakes, with locations in Newark, Delaware and Charlotte, North Carolina, and a mail order cupcake business, is selling holiday cupcakes, including Hannukah cupcakes, Christmas cupcakes, and, for those who plan ahead, a set of a dozen red velvet cupcakes for valentine's day (or any time!). Each store has its own Facebook page: Newark and Charlotte. Visit www.sascupcakes.com for more information.


Hannukah cupcakes with cupcake flags


Christmas cupcakes

Here's what's in this one (1 dozen for $49.95):

Two chocolate cupcakes topped with Peppermint Schnapps buttercream
Two Eggnog cupcakes topped with Vanilla Rum buttercream
Two Gingerbread cupcakes topped cream cheese frosting
Buttery vanilla cupcakes topped with sweet vanilla buttercream and chocolate buttercream
Rich chocolate cupcakes topped with chocolate buttercream and vanilla buttercream
Decadent Triple chocolate cupcake filled and topped with dark chocolate ganache
Red Velvet cupcake topped with tangy cream cheese frosting

valentine's day Cupcake review: Au Bon Pain French vanilla, double chocolate and red velvet cupcakes

Last week we told you about the new limited edition cupcakes for sale at the restaurant chain Au Bon Pain, and I can now report on how they taste! You can see more photos in my Flickr set.





I was impressed with all of these cupcakes because not only were they tender and moist, they tasted like what they were supposed to. I can't tell you how many times I've had "vanilla" or "chocolate" cupcakes where all the flavor was in the frosting. That's too much work for frosting. These cupcakes were all delicious and flavorful and very rich; I couldn't finish them, but they're great for sharing.

I think the chocolate would be my favorite of the three; it's rich and dense but not overly sweet, which is something that can easily turn me off from a cupcake. I like the presentation of the cupcakes, too, with chocolate shavings atop the chocolate and red velvet, and little white chocolate chips (I think that's what they are) on top of the French vanilla cupcakes.





I'm not sure how limited "limited time" means, but look for them at Au Bon Pain.




red velvet cupcakes, which have the most calories at 400 each (350 calories for double chocolate cupcake, 320 calories for French vanilla).

valentine's day Beautiful raw red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Amy at Raw Chocolates and Patiserrie Ooosha posted these and writes:

Do you know where the names "Devil's food cake" and "Red velvet cake"
originated? Some people think it was called Devil's Food Cake, because it's
so naughty, but that's not the case. Traditional devil's food cake and red
velvet cake are made using a form of acid, whether it be vinegar or lemon
juice, and this acid, when mixed with cocoa powder, turns a red colour -
hence the names.



For those interested in raw foods, see Facebook for her newsletter.

valentine's day Au Bon Pain restaurant chain now selling vanilla, chocolate and red velvet cupcakes

Nation's Restaurant News reports that Au Bon Pain is now selling cupcakes - funny because I was in one yesterday getting food, but didn't even venture near the bakery section. Will check them out today. Via Fork in the Road.

The Boston-based company began offering cupcakes in three flavors — French vanilla, double chocolate and red velvet — last week across its 220-unit chain. The cupcakes are priced at $2.99, or two for $5, in most markets.

The new offering was announced Friday on Facebook and Twitter.

Ed Frechette, Au Bon Pain’s senior vice president for marketing, said Monday that based on early sales the company is considering making the cupcakes a permanent addition to the menu.

“Red velvet is the best selling by far,” he added.

valentine's day Strawberry-flavored red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

These cupcakes are by Home Cooking Rocks!, where you can get the recipe.

I was at Bakers Depot buying cupcake liners and additional red food color when I saw this bottle of strawberry-flavored red food color. Oh, the things that went in my mind! Strawberry-flavored red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting topped with a whole strawberry. The only thing that remained was to transform that mental vision into something real. Last night, I did.

valentine's day Cupcakes At Red Rooster Harlem

valentine's day

Monday night, I had the pleasure of attending Black Atlas' preview dinner of Red Rooster Harlem. Red Rooster is Chef Marcus Samuelsson's new restaurant. The menu is his take on Southern/Soul/Comfort food. I was lucky to sit at the same table as Actress Cicely Tyson who I was too afraid to speak to, so I just smiled politely during dinner. Dinner was delicious, but the big surprise was when the wait staff brought trays of mini cupcakes, Red Velvet and Lady Baltimore. I think the red velvet cupcakes had a little white chocolate in the cream cheese frosting which was a little twist on a classic. I was not familiar with the Lady Baltimore cupcake, but it reminded me of fruitcake and ambrosia that my grandmother would make when I was a kid.

valentine's day

Here's a link to blogger Raspberry Eggplant's Lady and Lord Baltimore cupcake recipe.

valentine's day Peppermint frosting from New York's Kumquat Cupcakery is a winter winning flavor

I ordered some custom cupcakes from New York's mini cupcake company Kumquat Cupcakery from owner Keavy Landreth, who's now a friend and who shares my birthday. I've had plenty of her cupcakes before but I think her peppermint frosting stands out as my new, ultimate favorite, supplanting even her peanut butter frosting that I love. I've been describing it as "like the inside of a York peppermint patty," in that it has that cool burst of peppermint onto your tongue, and is the kind of frosting that even in mini cupcake form, you want to take small bites of to truly savor.




red velvet and peppermint cupcakes

I also had her make red velvet cupcakes with vanilla frosting, because I'm not a big cream cheese frosting lover. All were a hit!


peppermint frosting on vanilla and chocolate cake





Email orders at kumquatcupcakery.com to order, visit kumquatcupcakery.com for flavors and their blog for the latest. Ordering details:

Each dozen is $15.
The minimum for delivery is THREE (3) dozen cupcakes.
All Orders must be placed THREE (3) days prior to delivery.
Deliveries are being made up to 100th Street in Manhattan, Williamsburg, Green Point, Fort Green, Park Slope and Carol Gardens in Brooklyn.
There is an extra $5 charge for all deliveries under $100.
Due to the delicate nature of frosting, we do not ship cupcakes.
All orders are nonrefundable, unless we fail to deliver.

valentine's day Avocado red velvet cupcakes with honey avocado frosting!

These quite unusual cupcakes come from the blog Nutrition Unplugged, where you can get the recipe. I love avocados, though I think this is the first time I've heard them used in a cupcake!