Red Hot Velvet Cupcakes with Whipped Ganache

It's true. I quite literally turn up my nose at Red Velvet cake. I mean, really, who does that cake think it is? Kinda chocolate? Electric red? Let's be honest with ourselves here. Beyond looks, your typical Red Velvet Cake isn't a strong competitor. Plus it's usually coated with thick cream cheese frosting, which I adamantly despise.

Enter Red Hot Velvet. Now this cake's got it going on.

Imagine a moist and tender chocolate cake speckled with spices and crushed red hots. Seriously. Look at that beautiful texture! And then to finish things off, these little babies are topped with a thick pillow of Whipped Ganache Frosting. Oh. My. Goodness. Somebody get the rest of those cupcakes out of my kitchen asap.

So in honor of Cinco de Mayo and my (slightly) Mexican heritage, let's bring on the heat!

Red Hot Velvet Cupcakes with Whipped Ganache [click to print]
Makes about 12 cupcakes


For the Cake

• 1-1/2 c. flour
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. sour milk
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. red hot candies, crushed

For the Whipped Ganache

• 1-1/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 c. heavy cream
• 2-3 T. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare muffin tin with liners or coat generously with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, soda, salt, pepper and chili powder. Add butter, milk, water, vanilla and egg. Mix just until no butter chunks remain. Stir in red hots. Scoop batter into cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes or until center springs back when lightly touched.

While cooling, prepare ganache. Put chocolate chips in small, deep bowl and set aside. Heat 1/3 c. cream in small saucepan until just simmering. Immediately pour over chocolate chips and allow to sit for one minute. Stir until mixture is smooth and allow to cool until just firm. Whip with a handheld mixer until fluffy, adding an additional 2-3 T. cream until reaching the desired consistency. This stuff will firm up nicely so frost your cupcakes immediately. Devour.

Source: Cupcake recipe adapted from Oh SO Delicioso

Sweet Sixteen: Bar Cookies

After so much cookie cuttering, dough ball rolling and batter scooping, I still crave something sweet...but a little less time intensive. Take a look at this week's photo round up and bake a batch. Cut them into small squares for a crowd or cut a big bite for yourself!

Row 1: Snickerdoodle Blondies, Molasses Spice Bars, Coconut Macadamia Nut Bars, Cranberry Lemonade Bars

Row 2: Cookies and Cream Cheesecake, Nutella No Bake, Chocolate Peppermint Sticks, S'mores Brownies

Row 3: Kitchen Sink Cookies and Bars, Chocolate Peppermint Bark, Key Lime Bars, Italian Rainbows

Row 4: Peanut Butter Caramel Shortbread Bars, South African Munchies, M&M Sugar Cookie Bars, Cookie Bar Trees

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Every Christmas, my mom and I (and sometimes my sister) would bake and bake and bake. We'd scoop and cut and slice probably hundreds of cookies and sweet breads, and, thanks to our benevolent taste testers who would die before we delivered any less-than-perfect treats to our neighbors, we ended the whole project with just barely enough to go around. My mom would sweetly scoot us kids out the door, reminding us to smile and sing loud enough for our old neighbors to hear, and off we went! My favorite house was right next door, at Reverend Fred Donaldson, or "The Rev" as his license plate said. He was a giant of a man, was missing part of one finger on his left hand and always sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" right back to us in his booming choir voice.

I know it's a little past Christmas and pumpkin season now, but this has gotta be one of my absolute favorite sweet breads. There's nothing like the smell of pumpkin and ginger baking in a hot oven to warm up your home and singing voice!

Pumpkin Gingerbread [click to print]
Makes 1 loaf

1 c sugar
1/2 butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 c molasses
1 c. pumpkin puree
1-3/4 c. flour
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (OR 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp nutmeg)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside. Combine sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla; mix until smooth. Add molasses and pumpkin; mix until blended. Add dry ingredients in about 3 additions, scraping, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Mix until blended.

Coat loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 for 55-65 minutes. Reduce heat by 25 degrees if using glass loaf pan.

Source: Adapted from AllRecipes

Sweet 16: Glitter and Sparkles!

In honor of our sparkly New Year, this week's photo roundup is everything with glitter and sparkles!

Row 1: Sparkly Spice Bites, Valentine Cupcake Pops, White Snowball Sprinkles, Gold S'mores

Row 2: Valentine's Day Truffles, Gooey Vanilla Sparkle Cookies, Sparkly Pear, Sparkly Red Velvet Brownie Bites

Row 3: Glitter Cake Pops, Sweetheart Sugar Cookies, Super Sugar Sparkle Cookies, Shiny Black Cats

Row 4: Sparkly Peppermint Macarons, Persimmon Rice Pudding, Rock Candy Trees, Peppermint Ice Cream Sandwiches