Blue Velvet Cupcakes

Blue Velvet Cupcakes

I'm making these for my son, Alex's school carnival.  The school Mascot is the Panther and their colors are blue and white.  I found these amazing cupcakes on Pinterest!  P.S.  Pinterest is an amazing site (Mostly for women - in my opinion) where you can find recipes, home decor, clothing, craft ideas, etc, and pin them to boards (categories) that allow you a really visually pleasing way of keeping track of all of your favorite things.  I've found so many great recipe ideas that I can't WAIT to try so I will post them on my blog as I complete them.  I've started a Mommy + Kids blog where the kiddos will be helping me with the recipe.  These cupcakes are pretty complicated (For me anyways) so the kids were left out of this one, but if it goes well I will definitely make it again with their help!

Well, here goes nothing, wish me luck!

I'll be back with the step by step instructions and my thoughts on how the recipe went and if I will be making them again! (Pics included!!)

And I'm BACK!

The recipe was so much fun, but unfortunately I cooked this late and was too tired to make the homemade frosting and finally gave up and used the can frosting.... The color was not at all what I wanted, but the taste was WONDERFUL...Definitely cream cheesy so if you aren't a fan, these wouldn't be for you.  They came out really good and Alex had a blast showing them off at his school carnival.   Fun was had by all and the experience was well worth it.

Here's step by step instructions and the way it should turn out, and the bottom pics are mine.  I didn't have violet food coloring so I mixed red & blue but I think I was too heavy on the red and didn't get the deep blue color I wanted.

Still, great fun

4/5 on fun and 4/5 on taste!

A new twist on a Southern favorite! Blue Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cupcake pan(s) with paper liners.

Cake:
In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together to form a paste, and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture.

Pour batter into cupcake papers. Batter will be thick! Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy. Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip. Embellish as desired.

Cupcakes will be moist, and slightly dense. Exactly what you would expect from a Red Velvet Cake- gone BLUE!

Note: You can also use 1 tablespoon of Wilton royal blue food coloring gel in place of the liquid.

Ingredients

• FOR CAKE:
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 sticks Butter, Room Temperature
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1-½ Tablespoon Liquid Blue Food Coloring
• 1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder
• 1 drop Violet Gel Food Coloring (optional)
• 2-½ cups Cake Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
• _____
• FOR FROSTING:
• 1 pound Cream Cheese, softened
• 2 sticks Butter, Softened
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 4 cups Sifted Confectioners Sugar

(This isn't the prettiest picture out on the web though, the one I wanted wouldn't let me save)

AND MINE.........

Lighter blue... but still TASTY!