Ganache Filled Red Velvet Cupcakes

I am not a cupcake person at all.  I am very much a cake person; the hearty, sturdy type cakes flavoured with lemon, orange, coconut, ginger etc.  I just don’t find the same satisfaction from making cupcakes as I do with making large cakes.  I also don’t like the cake to icing ratio as usually you get more icing on a cupcake than you would on a slice of big cake, unless it’s been scarcely iced but let’s face it, the decorative icing is what lures most people towards cupcakes and which is why it will have oodles of it piped prettily on top.

That’s not to say I didn’t make my fair share of cupcakes in the past, especially when the craze started a good few years ago now.  I remember I bought almost all my cake decoration supplies due to my cupcake activities.  I was so happy when I found the Wilton 1M piping tube to create those big thick decorative curls on top.  Seems a bit excessive looking back on it, since I don’t use them as much now.  But my interests are cyclical so maybe I will come back to the more decorative side of baking at some point.

Saying that, I don’t mind making cupcakes and very occasionally do since there are a few recipes I made in the past that went straight into my favourite’s folder online (everyone has one right?).  And for me, they are good for giving as gifts too. This is partly due to the visual appeal (I can always make a cupcake look prettier than a cake) and partly because I find cupcake boxes from supermarkets very easily now, much more easier than finding large cake boxes and because I don’t have to go online to order packaging from specialist retailers then cupcakes for gifts it is.   Also, six cupcakes for a small family makes a lovely present and will always get exclamations of delight.

So when my sister requested I make something for her driving instructor (long story but he’s a great guy), the first thing I thought of was cupcakes.  Actually that was the second thing I thought of – the first was what flavour of cake.  I get very tense when asked to bake for someone I don’t know very well.  It’s not the same as baking for a stall or a family, or group of people.  This is a specific someone and people can be very particular about what they like.  Like my dad, for instance, who doesn’t like chocolate cake for no reason at all but that he doesn’t like chocolate cake.  It’s difficult to comprehend for people like me who pretty much like most things as long as it’s cooked/baked well.  

I settled on red velvet because of the looks factor and because I think most people like the taste.  Even people who don’t like chocolate cake like red velvet since it’s strictly not a proper chocolate cake.  Red velvet always has this tang to it and funny as it seems a velvet feel in the mouth – or maybe that’s just in my head because the name suggests it so?  I don’t know.  But I wouldn’t define red velvet as chocolate flavoured, especially the recipe I use which contains very little cocoa and tastes just as much of vanilla as it does of chocolate.

One thing I don’t like is cream cheese icing or rather the amount of cream cheese that a lot of recipes contain.  For a long time, I would pair my red velvets with a light white chocolate icing instead but then I devised a cream cheese icing that worked for me and have been using that ever since.  It just contains a lot less of the stuff than in most recipes so has that cream cheese tang that cuts into the sweetness of the icing but without the feeling that I’m eating sickly sweet cheese which I just can’t stand.  I also don’t heap a huge amount of it on my cupcakes.  This icing goes very well with carrot cakes too, I’ve found.

This is a red velvet recipe I found a long time ago online and have been making ever since.  It’s originally from Cakeman Raven and I have adapted very little by increasing the cocoa powder from 1 tsp to 1 tbsp, decreasing the salt from 1 tsp to ¼ tsp, using red wine vinegar instead of white wine vinegar (it just seems more appropriate) and increasing the vanilla extract from 1 tsp to ½ tsp vanilla paste (which is equivalent to 2 tsp vanilla extract). 

I’ve always been happy with this cake except for one thing.  No matter which brand of liquid red food colouring I use, I can never achieve that lovely red colour of cake that I see on TV and on American websites.  I know a lot of people find it artificial but I want that colour – not the bright neon red but just a red.  I’ve tried Dr Oetker’s, Langdale’s, Tesco brand, Asda brand and a few more whose names I can’t remember and none give me that colour.  It just turns out to be this mid-brown colour with a very slight tinge of red that’s barely noticeable.   

I think it’s the red cases that saved these, giving them the look of red velvet, rather than the cake.  I’ve heard that I might want to use red food colouring paste next time so will try that.

Despite the colour this cake is just incredible tasting.  It causes me problems because every time I make it I get requests for more.  Serious requests, which don’t stop until I’ve made a few batches of this and people have eventually had their fill.  Although I love baking, I love baking different things and don’t usually bake something that I’ve already made recently.  But people obviously need to get this cake out of their system so I have to prepare myself for tedious repetition.

The cake is very moist, fluffy and soft from all that oil.  It has the subtle chocolate flavour mixed with that delicate tang and a rounded sweetness from the vanilla.  This cake feels satisfying in the mouth and tastes exquisite.  The cream cheese icing is the perfect complement and that little bit of chocolate ganache inside (mines hardened up so it felt like biting into a truffle centre – God it was good!) just makes this the type of thing you would have in your top five desert island desserts.  Make it the top three.

Ganache Filled Red Velvet Cupcakes (adapted from Cakeman Raven)

Makes 20

·         300g sugar

·         350g plain flour

·         30g cornflour

·         1tsp bicarbonate of soda

·         1 tbsp cocoa powder

·         ¼ tsp salt

·         2 eggs

·         375ml vegetable oil

·         250ml buttermilk

·         2 tbsp (30ml) red food colouring

·         ½ tsp vanilla paste

·         1 tsp red wine vinegar

Preheat the oven to 180C, prepare a muffin tin with muffin cases.  Mix the sugar, flour, cornflour, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and salt together in a medium bowl. 

In a large bowl beat the eggs, oil, buttermilk, colouring, vanilla and vinegar together until very well combined.  Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix it until fully incorporated (until you get all the flour).  You might want to use an electric whisk as there is a large amount of oil here that tends to sit separate unless you can really whip it into the other ingredients.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake cases and bake for about 20-25 minutes.  Start checking after about 15 minutes though as your oven might run a little hotter than mine.  Once out of the oven, allow to cool on wire racks.

Ganache Filling

·         200g dark chocolate (not more than 60% cocoa)

·         100g extra thick double cream

Make the ganache by breaking up the chocolate into small pieces and placing in a medium bowl.  Heat up the cream in a saucepan until it comes to a simmer and is just bubbling on the edges.  Give it a stir to make sure its heated through then pour on top of the chocolate.  Leave for at least 30 seconds to a minute. 

With a smallish whisk, gently begin to mix the cream into the chocolate until they emulsify and mix in together.  Extra thick cream has a lot of fat in it and the ganache should be quite glossy. 

Cream Cheese Icing

·         100g unsalted butter, softened

·         150g cream cheese, room temp

·         500g icing sugar

·         5 tsp extra thick double cream (or double/single cream, milk)

Make the cream cheese icing by beating the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy.  Add in half the icing sugar (no need to sift) and beat together until mixed in then add in the other half.

The icing will be quite stiff, so add in tsp of the cream until you get the consistency you are happy with.  I used 5 tsp and this made the icing soft but easily able to hold its shape.

Assembly

When the cupcakes are cool, cut the insides of them with an apple corer so have space to for the ganache.  It’s easiest to use a piping bag to pipe the ganache into the middle but if you don’t have one just do your best with a teaspoon. 

Again if you have a piping bag and nozzle you might want to use it here with the cream cheese.  The amount of cream cheese should be enough to ice all 20 cupcakes if you don’t go overboard (you can hopefully gauge from the pictures the amount I used to ice each cupcake).  Decorate as you will.