Monday, May 28, 2012

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Wow- it has been a while- sorry for the delay in posting everybody- life has been crazy busy but crazy good too :)



Tonight I started practicing a Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese frosting.  For the cupcake I used the standard WASC recipe, but used Red Velvet mix and added a 4th egg to try a new texture (which I must say I like better than the normal 3 egg recipe).  Instead of Almond extract, I just added an extra teaspoon of vanilla. I got a thumbs up from hubby which is a good thing- because he hates red velvet.

The cupcakes were great- but the reason I REALLY made this post was to highlight the cream cheese frosting.  I scoured the Internet for a cream cheese frosting recipe that would be heat-stable (due to the fact that this wedding is Mid-July in California- what was I thinking?! Lol) but still tasty and not over-sugary.  After reading MANY blog, forum and website recommendations (too many to even count at this point)- I decided to branch out and try my own mixture in hopes that something stable yet tasty would come out of it.  I think I might have something worth keeping- but I'll know better tomorrow after the cupcakes have been sitting out for a day on my table in this lovely California heat-wave we're having (tomorrow should be 91 F, so that will be a good test I hope).
 
Cream Cheese Cupcake Frosting Recipe
2/3 Cup Shortening
1/2 Cup Butter (Unsalted, room temperature)
8oz Cream Cheese (I prefer whipped)
1 teaspoon clear vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 drops concentrated Cheesecake extract 
4 Cups powdered sugar (you can sift after measuring to avoid lumps)

Steps:
1) Blend together all ingredients (except the powdered sugar).  Mix long enough to get the lumps of butter/cream cheese/shortening out of the mixture- but not so long that the mixture starts to break down- approximately 45 seconds on high using a stand mixer- about 1.5-2 minutes using a hand-mixer.
2) Sift the powdered sugar, if desired, into another bowl.
3) Mix in the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer set on low, until all powdered sugar is incorporated.
4) Pipe onto cupcakes immediately, or cover and refrigerate until you are ready to pipe.

I hope this one holds up to the heat- I'll let you know what my findings are tomorrow!


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So did the frosting work out in the long run? I need a stable cream cheese frosting for a wedding cake myself.

Anonymous said...

This was a great frosting- BUT, I figured out a better combo that I guess I should have posted :)

1/2 C Butter
1/2 C Vegetable Shortening
1 8 oz pkg of cream cheese
4-5 Tbsp Meringue Powder
4 tsp Pure Vanilla or Clear Vanilla
8-10 C Powdered Sugar (sifted is very helpful to keep from clumping when piping)
1-3 Tbsp water (to pull it together- depending on the weather sometimes it needed more, sometimes less).

I did an outside wedding in mid-July in 90+ degree weather, and the cupcakes were transported 1.5 hours, then placed outside and had no shade for about 3 hours. The frosting held up great- no wilting with the frosting "roses" you see in the decoration.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and it worked great under the fondant. I used a little more powdered sugar (that's the reason for the 8-10 C) for the icing under fondant, but I also did a CC-BC for another wedding cake that was BC only (no fondant) and used this recipe- it had a very nice crust on it that held up in Vegas heat at the end of July. No wilting, no melting. And the flavor is very nice- especially if you can use real vanilla extract- or the clear vanilla is good too.

CakeBatternRoll said...

I have a cake I have to make this weekend & they want cream cheese frosting. I'm going to try this as I haven't had luck with my cream cheese frosting being sturdy enough to pipe with. I'll let you know how it turns out! Wish me luck! :)