Hummingbird Bakery Red Velvet Cupcakes

These are the signature red velvet cupcakes sold by the Hummingbird Bakery.  The recipe features in both 'The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook', and 'Cake Days' - both of which are easily my favourite books for baking.

You will need a good deep muffin for baking 12 cupcakes, or 2 tins if you're going to make smaller fairy cakes. I would also recommend buying a good quality red gel food colouring from your local craft store - the liquid food colouring that they sell in the supermarkets isn't really the best at giving the desired effect for red velvet. However, if you do choose liquid food colouring, go for the best quality option - natural food colouring will make these go orangey/brown.

Ingredients (makes 12-16):

Sponge:

120g softened unsalted butter

300g caster sugar

2 large eggs

20g cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

300g plain flour

1 tsp salt

240ml buttermilk

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Red food colouring (until colour resembles red velvet!)

Frosting:

100g softened unsalted butter

600g icing sugar

250g full-fat cream cheese

Decorations

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 190C and line a muffin tin with cases

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy (use an electric whisk if available). Add the eggs one at a time, and beat thoroughly to mix in.

3. In a separate small bowl, stir together cocoa powder, food colouring and vanilla essence to form a paste. (Note: if you use gel rather than liquid food colouring, you may need to add a small amount of water to make the paste). Add to the mixture and mix thoroughly until the paste is incorporated.

4. Sift together the flour and salt in another bowl. Add to the batter in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix thoroughly after each addition.

5. In another bowl, mix the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda by hand. Add to the batter and mix in until fully incorporated.

6. Spoon the batter into the cases until 2/3 full. Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes (note: the sponge should bounce back when lightly pressed). 

7. Allow the cakes to cool for 5 minutes in the tin, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

8. Whilst the cakes are cooling, mix the butter and icing sugar together on a low speed until the resemble a sandy texture. Add the cream cheese and continue to mix slowly until incorporated. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy but take care not to over mix as this will cause the frosting to warm up and it will become runny!

9. Pipe the icing on to the cool cakes and add your decorations.