Sunday was a friend of mines’ birthday. So on Sunday when I was scrambling to figure out what to make for today’s recipe from the cookbook of the month a cake seemed perfect (I don’t like to make a lot of sweets unless I can share them with others because if they are left at my house then I eat WAY too many).
This month’s cookbook had quite a few cake recipes and of course I wanted to try them all. I settled on this one since I have been craving red velvet cake and because the picture in the book looked sooo pretty (gotta love those pictures).
Anyways, I thought this cake (or cupcakes) turned out great and everyone raved about them (and ate them all up) at my friend’s birthday get together, but I am still unsure how I feel about them. Don’t get me wrong they tasted great and I ate one too many but it was not until I starting making the recipe that I realized that it might have been easier to just make a cake mix cake that was red velvet flavor and used cream cheese icing in a tub. Not that this was an extra hard cake to make and it did seem a bit more chocolaty than the boxed red velvet and we did add coconut extract to both the cake and icing (which by the way is a nice added touch) but it did not seem like we made that much of a difference from what a store bought boxed red velvet cake would be.
However, with the recipe below I can honestly say that I feel like I made the cake from ‘scratch’ because there was more work and ingredients involved rather than just completely buying a box mix and a tub of icing. So when people were complementing me on the cupcakes and asking if I made them from scratch I ‘honestly’ told them yes. Sandra, I have to say I like the way you think- if it is ‘semi-homemade’ it is still ‘homemade’ so you can still take all the credit that comes with making something from ‘scratch’.
(Did y’all follow along with all that rambling or did I loose ya at the first sentence!)
(The picture in the book is WAY better then mine; but Sandra also made a six layer cake in the book and I just opted for cupcakes).
Red Velvet (Cup)Cakes
adapted from Sandra Lee’s Semi-Homemade Cooking 3
Cake:
1 box German chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups milk
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 (1 oz) bottle red food coloring
Icing:
1 can (12 oz)fluffy white whipped icing
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Cake:
In a large bowl combine all cake ingredients. Use an electric mixer to beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides and beat for another minute or two or until no lumps. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake 15-17 minutes or until done. Cool completely before icing.
Icing:
Combine all icing ingredients in a owl. Use an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes with icing. Store cake in refrigerator to kept cream cheese icing from melting (especially important in August heat).