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Classic Red Velvet Cupcakes (made without Food Coloring)

February 13, 2017

My very first experience with Red Velvet cake was watching Steel Magnolias as a kid. Not sure why, but that experience didn’t really inspire me to try red velvet cake for myself (maybe something to do with the Armadillo shape to the cake). It would take another 10+ years and a move to the South for me to have my first bite of red velvet. 

And I have been hooked ever since. I have experimented with several recipes over the years trying to find the ultimate recipe for red velvet cupcakes. 

But there is something a little bit different about my red velvet cupcakes. Beet juice. Yes friends, my secret ingredient is beet juice. Well, it’s not that big of a secret. A couple of decades ago, just about every red velvet recipe called for beets to give the cake that redish hue. Nowadays, we just dump a whole bottle of red food coloring into the batter and call it day.  

But aren’t you kind of sick of using excessive amounts of food coloring? I think it says a lot that the girl that owns no less than 75 bottles of food coloring is telling you not to use food coloring. But I promise, you will feel so much better about eating these cupcakes knowing that they are pretty much au naturale. 

Just like any other red velvet recipe, this one combines flour with a touch of cocoa powder and buttermilk to get it that moist velvety texture. 

Then to put the red in red velvet I used Mother Nature’s very own food coloring. I actually found some beet juice in the juice aisle of my local grocery store. But I wanted to have a much more concentrated color pay-off without adding too much moisture. So I decided to reduce it on the stove. I poured half a cup of the juice into a sauce pan and let it simmer on the stove for a few minutes until it had reduced by half, resulting in 1/4 cup of some thick beet juice. 

I know that seems like a little bit more work than your typical cupcake recipe. But look at how great that batter looks? It’s nice and red, but not artificially so. You know, it’s not that bright stop-sign red. 

 

Once they are baked, they are wonderfully moist and delicious! There is absolutely no sign of beets anywhere in these cupcakes except in color. There is a subtle chocolate flavor, but it’s not too heavy or rich. 

And of course I topped off my red velvet cupcakes with my favorite cream cheese frosting. Because in my opinion it’s the cream cheese frosting that really makes a red velvet cupcake so good. 

While red velvet is definitely appropriate for Valentine’s Day, I think of red velvet being in season year round. It’s a perfect cake for Summer, since it’s not as rich and heavy as chocolate cake can be. It also seems like a perfect choice for Christmas paired with some green sprinkles or something festive. But please, whatever you do, don’t turn it into an armadillo cake like they did in Steel Magnolias. Nobody wants that. 

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:128]

/ Filed In: Cakes and Cupcakes, Cakes New, Desserts, Eat
Tagged: cake, chocolate, cupcakes, dessert, red velvet, Valentine's day, video

Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

December 7, 2016

Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

After the chocolate sugar cookies I made a couple months ago, I got this little idea in my head to make red velvet sugar cookies, too. I was going to wait for Valentine’s day, but I couldn’t help but think they would also be perfect for Christmas!

The recipe is almost identical to the chocolate sugar cookie recipe, with only some minor adjustments: less cocoa powder, add apple cider vinegar, add red food coloring. 

Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

Thankfully, I didn’t use nearly as much red food coloring as I anticipated. Sometimes red can be a tricky color to make because a lot of times it will end up pink. But I think having that cocoa powder in the dough really helped enrich the color of the red. I only had to use 1 tsp of the gel food coloring to make it that vibrant red dough. 

However, if you use liquid food coloring, you may have to add a bit more. 


And just like with my other sugar cookies, I like to let this dough rest in the fridge for a bit to chill and also help the flavors all meld together. But, if you are in a big of a time crunch, you can roll these out right away. 

Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

Isn’t the red dough so pretty??

Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

I just think they turned out so wonderfully! The red is so vibrant and they taste wonderful! Just like red velvet! I think they would be delicious smeared with a little cream cheese frosting and topped with some sprinkles. Which would be great for Christmas, but also would be great for Valentine’s Day with pink sprinkles. Oh! What about 4th of July if  you add some blue sprinkles? These cookies are turning out to be more versatile than I thought!  

Or you could go simple and just dust them in powdered sugar, appropriate any time of year.

Or…

Red Velvet Christmas Cookies

You could decorate them with royal icing for the holidays!! I just used my favorite royal icing recipe to make some festive designs. The best part is you don’t have to do as much icing because you want the red cookie to show through!

I bet who ever is on the receiving end of these cookies (even if its just your stomach) will be delighted!

 

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:104]

/ Filed In: Cookies, Cookies New, Eat
Tagged: cookies, red velvet, sugar cookies

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Hey There!

Hey there, I'm Lindsey. I'm a number cruncher by day and a home cook and baker by night. While I love to eat healthy and find fresh and healthy alternatives for my favorite foods, I will never turn down dessert! Life is all about moderation, right?

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