Happy Friday everyone, I hope you’re all having a wonderful end to the week. I’ve been in the kitchen all morning baking a delicious wedding cake, so I thought I would share some lovely Red Velvet Cupcakes -  they’re such a classic cupcake and would be perfect treat to bake over the weekend. I hope you all have a lovely weekend planned, oh and don’t forget to enter the wonderful LET LIV’s Kitchen Week Giveaway, it’s beyond gorgeous! x
Click read more for the recipe.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream

125g butter, softened
1 ½ cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 bottle (50ml) of red food colouring
2 heaped tablespoons cocoa
1 cup buttermilk
2 ¼ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Preheat oven to 180°C, line your cupcake trays with liners. Cream butter, sugar and eggs together until nice and fluffy.  In a small bowl make a paste of food colouring (yes you’ll need the whole bottle) and cocoa, mix until smooth and add then to the butter mixture.
Add the buttermilk and alternate with flour to the butter mixture until combined, next add the salt and vanilla. Mix the baking soda and vinegar in a separate bowl, it will foam up, once settled add to the mixture and beat for another 2-3 minutes or until combined and smooth.
Spoon batter into the prepared cupcake tins, fill 3/4 full and bake for around 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when interred into the center of the cupcakes. Allow to cool in tin for around 5 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing

cream cheese swiss meringue buttercream

5 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine granulated sugar
500g salted butter, cut into cubes to soften
2 tablespoons vanilla essence
1 tablespoon of cream cheese
Before you start you need to wipe the bowl and beater of an electric mixer with paper towel and vinegar, to remove any traces of grease. Add egg whites and sugar and whisk to combine, place over a pot of simmer water (not boiling). Whisking constantly, until the temperature reaches 140 degrees F – if you don’t have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very runny and the bowl and egg whites are too hot to touch.
With a whisk attachment on a electric mixer, begin to whip on a medium speed until the mixture is thick, glossy and sift peaks have formed and the bowl is cool to touch. Switch over to paddle attachment and, while mixing on continuous medium speed, gradually add the softened butter until combined, mix until it is silky smooth – if it starts to curdle, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth. Add the vanilla and cream cheese and continue to mix well until combined – you can’t over beat this icing, it will just get silkier and whiter the longer it’s mixed.

assembling your cupcakes

Once your cupcakes have cooled and your icing is made, fill a piping bag half full. Using a 1M wilton tip start in the middle of the cake and pipe a star before twirl the icing tightly either clock wise or anticlockwise around the star - ta da, a beautiful rose. Enjoy your beautiful rosette red velvet cupcakes with a warm cup of tea. x