Red Velvet Cupcakes

I have made these once before but I think the recipe I used was a Paula Deen recipe. This time I used the one off the McCormick website. They make great extracts! They turned out great and made plenty. I was able to send everyone home from a party with some.

Red Velvet Cupcakes from: McCormick Website
Cupcakes:
2 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of butter, softened (I used unsalted)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bottle of red food coloring (I just used a big dollop of gel coloring)
2 teaspoons of vanilla

Frosting:
1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons of sour cream
2 teaspoons of vanilla
16 ounces of powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour through the salt together. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add sour cream, milk, food coloring and vanilla. Slowly add in dry ingredients just until blended. I used my 1/4 cup ice cream scoop to fill 30 lined muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean). Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove and cool completely.
Make the frosting by mixing the cream cheese and butter until blended, then add the sour cream and vanilla. (the website says to mix the 1st 4 ingredients together, but this didn't work as well for me and I was mixing like crazy to get a few lumps out) Add the powdered sugar slowly. Frost your cupcakes. I used a Wilton's 1M frosting tip in a ziplock to get the swirls. I love the swirls! I was a little leery of the sour cream in the frosting. I have never heard of adding this, but the frosting was really good. I kind of wonder if it cuts the sweetness down a bit. Refrigerate the leftovers. I thought refrigerating these made them more dense and I liked that.

Carrot Cake

I have been wanting carrot cake for months now. Having people over was the perfect excuse to make it. This is moist without being too greasy, as I have heard some carrot cake recipes can be. I did use a little less oil than the recipe. The recipe comes from my Family Circle magazine from the November 1, 2011 issue. As soon as I saw the recipe, I ripped it out to make. It only took me 6 months to actually make it.

Carrot Cake: FamilyCircle.com

2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup oil ( I used 1 cup)
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 large carrots, finely shredded (1 1/2 cups)
1  8 ounce can of crushed pineapple (do not drain the juices)
1/2  to 1 cup of chopped walnuts ( I used 1/2 cup)

Frosting:
16 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter, softened
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 cake pans with shortening or cooking spray. Line with wax or parchment paper and grease that to.

In a bowl, whisk the flour through the salt. In a separate bowl, mix the the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. I just mixed the batter with a spoon. Slowly add the flour mixture. Stir in the carrots, pineapple (with juices) and the walnuts. Divide batter between the 3 pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Toothpick will come out clean. Cool cakes. Mix the cream cheese and butter with a mixer. Add the vanilla and then slowly add the powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Frost the cake and refrigerate for 1 hour or more until set. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Linking up to: Sweets for a Saturday