Red Velvet Cupcakes

Awhile back (make that a long way back), my friend Anne asked me what a red velvet cake is. And I think for about 5 seconds, I just stared at her. Awkward moment there.

The fact is, I don't know. The name didn't give much of a clue (at least for me) of what it is. Unlike Chocolate Cake where just one look you know what it is. Or these Seven Up Guava Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting - I know the name is a mouthful but straight up, you know what to expect. 

And so I looked deeper into what red velvets are all about. And wow, there are lots of recipes of it all over the internet. And generally it has cocoa, buttermilk, vinegar and red food color - lots of it. The one that I tried best is Cheryl Porro of the Cupcake Blog's recipe. Do visit her site for some unique cupcake ideas you can try out. I digress. Anyway, her red velvets are crumbly, moist and not too sweet. For me, hers is the best red velvet cake recipe. Ever.

I just have one teensy weensy problem, buttermilk is not really that available here is Manila. So I just tweaked the recipe a bit and used... yes... Yakult :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Adapted from Cheryl Porro's Cupcake Blog
350F/makes 36 cupcakes

What we need:

3-3/4 cups flour (I use all purpose flour)
1/4 cups cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups yakult
3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 bottle red McCormick food color
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups butter
3 eggs

Here's how:
(1) Combine yakult, red food color (yep 1 whole bottle :) ), vinegar and vanilla extract. Mix well. Set aside.

(2) Combine all dry ingredients - flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Dry whisk or sift, it's up to you, just make sure everything is well combined. Set aside.

(3) Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

(4) Add eggs one at a time.

(5) Add in one third of the dry ingredients. Mix slightly.

(6) Add one half of the mixture from step #1 - otherwise known as the wet ingredients.

(7) Repeat until the last of the dry ingredients are added into the batter. Make sure to just barely mix, only until everything is combined.

(8) Bake for 15 minutes at 350F. 

And here are our finished cupcakes. Redder than red could ever be :) 

To finish it off, I whipped up some Cream Cheese frosting and topped it with red sugar crystals. Also, note that this  recipe can also be used for cakes, yeah?