Pretty Flower Cupcake Tower: Southern Red Velvet Cake

This year is flying by, hasn't it? It seems like February was just a week ago and here it is almost June. Well in spite of the fact that I seem to be living in a time warp, I have been one busy bee! As you can see, I've been making cupcakes... lots and lots of them, one-hundred and sixy of them to be exact! And not just any cupcakes, but wedding cupcakes. My favorite kind!

The days that let up to Mother's Day weekend were very busy around my house. Not because it was Mother's Day, but because I had to be ready for Chuck and Leslie's big day! They got married in a gazebo, in the charming little town of Poulsbo, Washington surrounded by their family and friends. Their reception was hosted just a few yards away at a roof top restaurant called The Loft. It was a gorgeous venue that not only had incredible views of Liberty Bay, but had some of the best food I've ever had at a wedding.I made a total of 160 cupcakes, in two different sizes, and four different varieties: Chocolate Stout with Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting, Southern Red Velvet with Sweet Cream Cheese Frosting, mini Luscious Lemon with Lemonilla Buttercream, and my personal favorite, mini Homemade Caramel with Caramel Browned Butter Frosting. I even made a little cupcake menu and displayed it near the cupcakes so the guests knew what they were eating.The trickiest part of this order wasn't its sheer size, but it was the logistics of getting the cuppies there and setup intact. Poulsbo is a few hour journey from my house, so I decided that instead of stressing out the day of the wedding and rushing, I'd pack everything up that I'd need, stay at a hotel near the venue the night before, and assemble everything there. This was no small task but proved to be the right choice. I got up early Saturday morning, started with the whipped chocolate ganache (I had to whip it there in my hotel room with my stand mixer!) and worked my way through through the menu. I wished I had more time to decorate each cupcake a bit more thoughtfully, but overall the end product looked very close to what I had envisioned.I had to use a drawer to hold some of the cupcakes because I ran out of counter space in the hotel room!I made all the flowers and leaves that you see in the photos out of gum paste (about 300 all together.) I started working on them on and off about two week before the wedding and right up until a few days before the wedding! Some were very elaborate, like the roses, which took me about an hour to make each one. Eventually I got it down to about 10 minutes per blossom. In addition to the roses, I also made about seven different varieties of other flowers, including daisies, buttercups, and hydrangeas. And for variety I also hand-painted the bride and groom's initials onto white and dark chocolate wafers using gold luster dust. asion.
I was lucky enough to be a guest at the wedding and had a great time meeting Leslie and Chuck's family and friends. It was a little strange for me to be at the event and actually watch my work be consumed (I usually like to cut and run), but it was a joy to see. It was such a glorious, wonderful event and I was so beyond thrilled to be a part of it. Congratulations Leslie and Chuck! I'm already looking forward to making your 1-year anniversary cake!

Southern Red Velvet Cake

Yield: About 30 cupcakes
adapted from Elisa Strauss

3 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup unsweetened of the best quality cocoa you can find like Scharffen Berger (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) liquid red food coloring that's used for airbrushing
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup full fat buttermilk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons baking soda (make sure it's fresh!)
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Whisk the cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.

Place the oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. It will look thick and yellowy. Slowly beat in eggs and mix for one minute at a time. After the last egg is added, mix on medium speed for 30 seconds and clean off your blade. Add the vanilla.
Take a minute and make sure you have nothing blocking your way between you and your mixer. Make sure your mixer blade is secured and the bowl is locked in tight. Seriously, what you are about to do can turn you and your kitchen a dull shade of pink in a blink! With machine on the lowest setting, slowly, I mean very slowly, add red food coloring. Adding just a squirt here and there and take your time to let it mix at least 10 seconds in between each addition of color. Do not add a bunch at once. Remember to keep the speed to a minimum to avoid splashing. When all the food coloring is added, carefully scrape down the blade, the bowl, and let the mixer run for a good solid minute.

Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. When you add the flour, use a small spoon to premix the flour into the red batter a little. This will help avoid the flour from escaping in a cloud in your face. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Note: if you mix together the vinegar and baking soda and you get just a little fizz, go to the store and buy new baking soda! This is what will make your cupcakes rise so don't cut corners here. Beat for 10 seconds. Don't fret, the batter will be runny.

Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 of the way full. If you're neurotic like me, I like to fill mine about so they weight 1.8 ounces each (yes, I weigh each one I pour to ensure that they bake evenly. Crazy? No. A little OCD, maybe.)

Let them bake for about 15-18 minutes. After 15 minutes, check to see how they are doing using a toothpick to test. You know they are done when a few little bits of cake stick to the toothpick.

Remove the pan from the oven and let rest on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and let cool completely.

Personally, I like to freeze these cupcakes for at least a day but no more than five days. I think that it helps the flavors to mature and also adds a bit of moisture to the crumb. You can certainly eat them as soon as you want, but waiting pays off if you can stand it. :)

Would I Make This Again? Honestly, I don't like red velvet cake and I grew up in the south! However, out of all the red velvet cake I've ever had, this was the best. Moist, light, just the right amount of chocolate. Pretty darn good!