Bobby Flay Throwdown Red Velvet Cupcakes and Cream Cheese Icing

Domesticgirly's Note:

I saw this recipe on the Food Network show Bobby Flay Throwdown. He challenged a lady who has a cupcake store. This is the recipe she uses and says she sells the most of. You want to make these huge. She makes them to feed 2 people. Opening them up and cutting them in half like a regular cake. The icing recipe makes alot,,,but plan to use a heaping scoop on top of the cupcake. Since you cut it in half and eat it with a fork every forkful can dip into the icing. I double the cocoa amount for more flavor. Also,,it calls for 2 tbs of red food coloring, it does make it very red,,but even 1 tbs will make it red enough.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 16 cupcakes

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
• 1 ¼ teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
• 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 2 teaspoons red food coloring
• 1 ¼ teaspoons vinegar (white or apple cider can both work)
• 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1⁄8; cup water

For the cream cheese frosting

• 1 ½ lbs cream cheese , room temperature
• 1 lb butter , room temperature
• 2 lbs powdered sugar , sifted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. For the cupcakes:.
2. Preheat oven 350 degrees F.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a bowl and set aside.
4. In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix oil, sugar, and buttermilk until combined. Add eggs, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla and water and mix well. Add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time and mix on low, scraping down sides occasionally, and mix until just combined. Be sure not to over mix, or the batter will come out.
5. tough.
6. Line a 16-cup cupcake pan with paper liners, scoop the batter into the liners and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.
7. For the cream cheese frosting:.
8. Whip the butter and cream cheese together in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until creamed. Gradually add powdered sugar to the mixture and scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
9. The frosting can be used right away, or stored in the refrigerator up to a week.
10. Frost cooled cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting.

Reviews

[Pismo]

I made these for some coworkers' birthdays and everyone loved them! I had people coming up to me all day raving on and on about how amazing they were and that they were the best cupcakes they'd ever had. Thanks a lot!

[cryssi]

Yummy! I'm not really a fan of red velvet cake, as it seems like they are just a novelty. I was, however, looking for a good vanilla buttermilk cake recipe. Since I wanted to make green cupcakes for St. Patty's, I made this recipe as Green Velvet cupcakes. Wow. I may have to reconsider my opinion of red velvet. These cupcakes were moist and tasty. Kind of sweet and buttery, with a hint of vanilla. They had a coarse-ish crumb, typical of butter based cakes, even though this recipe called for oil. The cocoa powder is sort of moot, as you don't taste it at all. I may try this recipe in the future with more cocoa powder, but as written I thought it was fabulous. Oh, I also only used 2 tsp. food coloring, and it was plenty green. I didn't make the cream cheese frosting. I put a fluffy 7-minute frosting on top. Yum! 3 days later I'm still eating them. They have dried out a bit, but are still tasty. I recommend drinking some hot tea or coffee with them, though, as the sweetness can leave your mouth with a coating. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

[Shasha]

Maybe I did something wrong but this lacked flavor and turned out hard especially the day after.