Blue Velvet Cupcakes Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans, or spray with baking spray with flour.
• In large bowl, beat cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed about 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Divide batter evenly among pans. Bake 22 to 27 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched in center. Cool 15 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.
• Spoon marshmallow creme into large microwavable bowl; microwave uncovered on High 15 to 20 seconds to soften. Add butter. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and salt until smooth.
• If necessary, trim rounded tops of 2 cake layers to flatten before assembling. Place 1 cake layer, top side down, on serving plate; spread with about 1/3 cup frosting. Top with second layer, top side down; spread with about 1/3 cup frosting. Top with untrimmed cake layer, top side up. Frost side and top of cake with remaining frosting. Store loosely covered.

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cupcake or muffin pan with 24 regular-size cupcake liners.
• Place the oil, buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, vanilla, and sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until thoroughly mixed. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder together and slowly add to the mixer on low speed. Scrape down the bowl thoroughly, as needed. Add the food colorings in a steady stream until desired shade is achieved; it should appear bluish-purple. Beat for another 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl one last time and mix for 30 seconds by hand.
• Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full with batter and bake until they form a semi-hard crust on top, about 25 minutes. Immediately remove the cupcakes from their pan and place on a cooling rack.
• For the blackberry curd filling: Bring the blackberries and water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. Turn down the heat to low and simmer until the blackberries are soft and separate easily, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a sieve and pass through using a spoon to help mash the blackberries. Discard the pulp and reserve the juice. Place the flour and sugar in a clean saucepan and slowly pour in the blackberry juice, reserving 2 tablespoons. Whisk constantly. When thoroughly combined, add the whole eggs and egg yolks, whisking and cooking until the mixture thickens. When the curd has formed, after about 7 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Cover tightly and place in the refrigerator until fully chilled.
• For the cream cheese frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter together in the bowl of an electric stand mixer until pale and creamy. Add the blackberry juice and lemon zest and continue to beat until the color is even. (The lemon zest has a tendency to adhere to the beater blade. When removing from the mixer bowl, be sure to scrape this off and blend back into the frosting by hand.) Reduce the speed to low and slowly begin adding the confectioners' sugar. Keep adding until the frosting has a medium-stiff consistency. You may not require the full 5 cups sugar. Beat on high speed for a further 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• To assemble: Remove the center of each cupcake using an apple corer. Fill the cavity with the blackberry curd until it is level with the top of the cake. Pipe the frosting on top using a plain pastry tip. Crumble one of the cakes into small pieces and scatter a few crumbles on top of each cake so that it adheres to the frosting. Garnish with a whole fresh blackberry, if desired.

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the oil, granulated sugar, buttermilk, brown sugar, food coloring, vanilla, vinegar and eggs. Mix on low speed until combined. With the mixer running, add the dry ingredients, one cup at a time, to the wet ingredients until just combined. Divide the cake batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer the pans to a cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans; if necessary, run a knife along the edges of the pan to help. Place the cakes on the rack and cool to room temperature.
• For the frosting: In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, beat together the confectioners' sugar, butter and cream cheese. Add 1 tablespoon of the milk and the vanilla. Gradually beat in just enough of the remaining milk to make the frosting smooth and spreadable. Beat at high speed until light and fluffy.
• Place one of the cakes on a serving plate and top with a layer of the frosting. Place the second cake on top, and use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake. Serve at room temperature.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cupcake pan(s) with paper liners. Make the cupcakes: In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food colorings together to form a paste, and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into cupcake papers. Batter will be thick! Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting. Make the Frosting: In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy. Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip. Embellish as desired.