I baked these before work this morning & had a glitch with the frosting so I didn't finish them until after work this evening---maybe that is why they seemed to take forever.
The instructions were clear until Ina's suggestion to use a 2-1/4" ice cream scoop which seemed better suited to "Texas-sized" cupcakes. That amount filled my standard size muffin tins almost to the top---they puffed up but didn't overflow as they baked. Ina knows her scoops.
Next came the frosting fiasco. When I finished mixing the frosting it was full of tiny lumps. I'd followed the steps---ingredients at room temp,sift the powdered sugar, don't whip--etc. Then I looked closer at my cream cheese wrapper and saw that it was "Fat Free" cream cheese. Apparently when it met up with the butter it went into shock and CURDLED...down the garbage disposal with that mess! This evening I came home with regular Philly, made the frosting with no problems.
In fact the frosting was my favorite thing about this recipe. I found the cake just so-so, kind of heavy textured and not the "rich chocolate" cake as Ina mentions in her introduction. I'm thinking 1/4 cup of cocoa,( even our good cocoa) just isn't enough. So would I make it again? I think the frosting is a keeper but I'll pass on the cake.
Nancy, I also made these cupcakes, and agree with you completely. I thought the cake was heavy and dry. The frosting was good, but I was raised with red velvet cake that has frosting which begins with cooking flour and milk, then adding sugar, butter and vanilla and beating it until very fluffy. IMO it's just so much better on red velvet cake.
ReplyDeleteYOUR CUPCAKES WERE BEAUTIFUL!