Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

I am writing this blog post in haste as a few people have asked me how to make this delicious dessert. To me, its the cupcake of all cupcakes. If you are going to cook something naughty, you might as well make it good. And by gosh... red velvet cakes are GOOD! This recipe is inspired from Sweet Pea's Kitchen Blog, who in turn was inspired by Martha Stewart's recipe. 

(ps. I don't think too highly of this first picture. I think I might have to re-make them during the day so I can post a nicer looking cupcake. I'm sure my colleagues, who seem to score the left overs, won't be too devastated about it). 

Makes 18 cupcakes | 45 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour (sifted)

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1½ cups caster sugar

1½ cups vegetable oil

2 large eggs (at room temperature)

2 Tablespoons Queens Box Pillar Red food colouring

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

1½ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

(for the icing)

220g Philadelphia cream cheese

3 cups icing sugar (sifted)

2 teaspoons vanilla extra

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line muffin pan with paper liners. Mix together plain flour, cocoa and salt; set aside.

2. Beat sugar and oil using a mixer (with paddle attachment preferred) until well combined, then proceeding to  add eggs one at a time. 

3. Alternate in adding the flour mixture as well as the milk and food colouring in two to three batches.

4. In a separate bowl, stir together the baking soda and vinegar which will foam up. Add this to the batter and mix in. 

5. Fill the cupcake papers with batter. Ensure the batter is distributed evenly and is three-quarter's full. Place the muffin tray into the oven and cook for 20 minutes, rotating the tray half way through to ensure consistent baking. 

6. Pierce the centre of the cupcake with a toothpick; if cooked, the toothpick should come out clean. Transfer muffin pan to wire racks to cool completely before removing the cupcakes.

7. Combine the icing ingredients and mix together until smooth. Spread or pipe the icing onto the cupcakes.

Simple Banoffee Pie

I went to work one day and told my colleagues about the dilemma I was facing - I had some over-riped bananas and I didn't quite know what to do with them. I know I've posted a few banana-based recipes on my blog but I wanted to try something different. One of my colleagues suggested I try Banoffee Pie.

I did a quick Google search and found Taste Australia's recipe to be quick and simple. I knocked this up one work night to bring to work for my colleagues to try. I was nervous because not only had I not seen or know of this type of pie, I didn't even know what it was meant to taste like! When my husband and I tasted it, it was delicious but we weren't entirely sure whether what we were tasting was right. To my relief, my colleagues loved it and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this recipe was!

Serves 12 | 20 minutes + chilling time

Ingredients

2x packets of Coles sweet shortcrust base (six to a packet)

1x 395g sweetened condensed milk

70g brown sugar

50g butter

Bananas

Thickened Cream for Dolloping

1. Place the pre-made shortcrust bases onto a baking tray and warm up in the oven for approximately 5 to 10 minutes on low heat. Remove from the oven and let it sit in the fridge until needed.

2. Over low heat, combine the sweet condensed milk, sugar and butter in a saucepan. Cook, stirring continuously until you get a nice, thick consistency. Be sure not to boil the caramel while mixing.

3. Once you get that thick consistency, pour the hot caramel evenly among all the bases. Place the caramel tarts into the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, to chill and set the caramel.

4. Once the caramel has been set, peel and thinly slice bananas to place on the top.



5. Top the pies up with a generous dollop of thickened cream and serve immediately to enjoy.