I’ve never posted a recipe before, but I’m so pleased with these cupcakes I thought I’d share it as my friends keep pestering anyway. I experimented with holly leaves for the decoration which is the main reason for sharing how to do it!
Ingredients
Cake Mixture (Makes around 20) :
250g sifted self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder
113g unsalted butter/margarine (thats been sat at room temp)
300g granulated sugar
2 Large eggs
1 tsp Vanilla flavouring
240ml buttermilk (see http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Buttermilk_Sub.htm for a Buttermilk recipe if you can’t buy it)
3 tbsp red food dye
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 pack of cream cheese
100g salted butter (room temp)
250g sifted icing sugar
White Chocolate Holly Leaves & Berries:
Lots of holly leaves, cut off their branches
2 bars of white chocolate
For the berries, either buy some edible fruit berries of your choice or with ready made solid icing, add red food dye and roll into balls.
Method
Preheat oven to 170 degrees
Red Velvet Cake:
In one bowl, sift the flour, salt, cocoa and baking powder together, and set aside.
In another bowl, beat the butter until soft with a hand or electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until it is light & fluffy (2ish mins).
Add the eggs one at a time and beating them well. Add the vanilla flavoring and mix.
In a separate bowl/measuring container, whisk buttermilk with the red food dye.
Then, alternately add the dry flour mixture & the buttermilk in three sections to the butter, sugar & egg mixture. Each section must begin and end with the flour mixture.
Half fill your cupcake cases with mixture and pop in the oven for about 15 minutes. Every oven is different and only you will know when it’s ready.. When you check them, put a skewer in the center of one, if you pull it out and it comes out clean, they are probably ready. Also, press lightly onto the cupcake, if it springs back up then you know it’s ready.
Leave to cool.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Mix together the butter, cream cheese and icing sugar until it’s smooth.
With a spoon smother the top of your cupcakes, if you want it to be fancy then use a piping bag.
White Chocolate Holly Leaves
Melt white chocolate over a pan of simmering water (careful not to burn the chocolate, white chocolate has a lower melting point than milk chocolate).
With a paint brush, apply a layer of the melted chocolate onto the waxy side of the holly leaf. Do this with all your leaves and pop in the fridge to set for 5 minutes. Repeat this two or three times and then let them set for an hour in the fridge.
Carefully peel the holly leaves away from the chocolate (you will inevitably break a few but can sometimes stick them back together with melted chocolate).
Place on top of the cupcakes & you’re good to go!