Red velvet is a very well liked and wide-spread cupcake. I made the mistake of using a dark chocolate powder so my red velvet turned out not so red. They still tasted good regardless of the color issues. Belgian beer is really fruity and light which makes for a great addition to cupcakes. Especially light, moist, sponge-like cupcakes.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cake flour (if you don’t have cake flour, use all-purpose…It’s ok)

2 tablespoons of dutch-process cocoa powder. Try and use the non-dark chocolate kind to achieve the color red.

1 teaspoon salt (I used sea salt but kosher is ok)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 large eggs, room temp.

1/2 teaspoons gel-paste food coloring

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup beer (I used Antigoon )

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons of white vinegar

Cream cheese frosting:

12 oz of cream cheese (room temp)

2 sticks of butter (room temp)

1 lb. of powdered sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin tins with paper liners. I like to spray them with a non-stick baking spray because I hate it when my cupcakes stick, but that’s not required. Whisk together the flour, cocoa and salt.

2. With a stand mixer outfitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together the oil and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. The mixture should start to thicken and turn a lighter color. Add the vanilla and food coloring.

3. Add the flour mix in three batches alternating with the liquids (buttermilk and beer). I have a secret tip, I used powdered buttermilk packages. They are great because you don’t buy buttermilk and only use a little and the rest goes bad. Also, if it’s late at night and you discover halfway through the recipe that you are out of buttermilk you conveniently have a back-up plan. The best part is you use the powdered buttermilk and add 1 cup of water, which you can substitute with beer. I only used a 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup beer so it wasn’t super aggressive.

4. Stir together the baking soda and the white vinegar…it will foam. Add and mix for about 10 sec. and then turn off the mixer. Add to the prepared cups and fill about 3/4 of the way full.

5. Rotate the cupcakes halfway through the cooking process so they bake evenly. Total bake time is about 20 mins. Use a toothpick to test and make sure no batter comes out on the toothpick. Let the cupcakes cool completely before icing.

6. Mix the room temp butter and room temp cream cheese together for about 3 mins. Add powered sugar in about 1/2 cup segments until satisfied with the flavor. About 1 package of powered sugar should about cover it. I used a little less than one 1 lb. package. Add vanilla at the end.

7. Frost the cupcakes and enjoy!

These turned out really good. I will be making them again, only with light cocoa powder 🙂 Let me know if you make them how they turn out for you!  Oh, and how do you like the awesome hand-stamped handkerchief that I made my buddy Liquid Culture Project for Christmas? I love it.
Cheers!