A Weekend of Baking...Red Velvet Cupcakes and Oreo Cupcakes

When we returned from our fantastic holiday in Rome I decided to do some baking to cheer myself up as I was so sad to leave. It was my fourth trip and every time I go it just gets better and better, it really is my favourite place in the world!

I decided to try red velvet cupcakes and also experiment with some cupcakes i've seen pictures of but never a complete recipe, Oreo cupcakes! Who doesn't love an Oreo! The red velvet recipe I found was in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (which can be found here) Their speciality is red velvet cake, so I though what better place to start.

As the name suggests, the cakes should be red, so I experimented with Dr Oetker bright red gel food colour which can be found in supermarkets. I used the whole tube, however when mixed with the cocoa powder and into the sponge mix, the cake was more maroon than red which was a shame, so I will have to keep looking for a richer red substitute. 

Once the red velvet cupcakes were baked, I started on the Oreo cakes. I placed an Oreo in the bottom of each cupcake case and then made up a chocolate sponge that I know is always delicious, and filled the cupcake cases up and baked them. When I pushed a cake tester in to the cakes to check, the cookies at the bottom had gone completely soft, however when left to cool they did firm up again.

The frosting for both cakes was quite different. The red velvet cakes called for a cream cheese frosting, whilst for the Oreo cupcakes I experimented again. I blitzed up some of the broken Oreo biscuits in the blender and had bought some mini cookies for the decoration. I made up a basic vanilla butter icing and then tipped in the broken Oreos, which gave a lovely mottled colour and a different and tasty texture to that of normal buttercream. 

The cream cheese icing had a looser consistency than I expected, so I decided to use a palette knife to smooth it on intend. I then added gold stars and shards of red glitter to the tops to make them sparkle. The Oreo buttercream had the same texture that I had expected, so I used a star nozzle to pipe a swirl on top of each cupcake and then top with a mini Oreo

Red Velvet Verdict: If you have never tried one before you might be in for a bit of a shock. Nowhere near as sweet as a normal cupcakes, with vinegar in the batter and cream cheese on top, the taste is closer to a cheesecake than that of a cake. I actually found the taste improved with a couple of days, but still as delicious fresh.

Oreo Verdict: People couldn't get enough! The popularity of the Oreo biscuit is undeniable, but people really loved them! The surprise cookie at the bottom gave everyone a surprise and they loved the chocolatey sponge with the slight crunch in the buttercream icing. The cookie on top will go a little soft if you keep the cakes in an airtight tin, but I think this is a small price to pay for something so yummy!