Red velvet cupcakes with marshmallow filling and a chocolate frosting (Perfect Valentines Recipe)

[schema type=”recipe” name=”Red velvet cupcakes with marshmallow filling and a chocolate frosting” author=”Rachel Howard” pubdate=”2013-02-10″ image=”http://www.sundaybaking.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/choc_marsh_700.jpg” description=”Easy and delicious Red Velvet Cupcakes, filled with marshmallow and topped with chocolate frosting.” prepmins=”20″ cookmins=”25″ ]

The office are getting used to the cakes now…so much so that I am getting requests!  My first request was for a red velvet cupcake. As it’s nearly valentines day I thought now was the time to try them so I searched my cookbooks and websites before I came upon a recipe that sounded perfect on a brilliant blog– Faux Red Velvet Hostess Cupcakes. These looked amazing so were a definite must try.

I have made mine slightly different as the chocolate glaze went wrong. For some reason I just couldn’t get it right and it tasted awful. After trying twice and wasting way too much chocolate I decided to just go for a hummingbird bakery chocolate buttercream icing recipe instead of the glaze. My husband ate two in a row as soon as they were ready so to me, this means they were a definite success.

I used a Dr Oetker red gel colouring from Asda as recommended, but I didn’t feel it made the cakes red enough. When I make these again (which I will because they tasted soooo good!) I would go back to using my Wilton colour pastes as they give a much deeper colour.

[callout title=Ingredients for the sponge:]

• 125g unsalted butter – at room temperature
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
• 100g self raising flour – sifted
• 25g cocoa powder
• 50ml vegetable oil
• Red gel food colour

[/callout]

Method for making the cake:

• Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a muffin tray with paper cases
• In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar on medium high speed for 5 minutes until pale and fluffy
• Add in the eggs, one at a time. Add in the vanilla
• Add the vegetable oil, flour and cocoa powder and mix until combined
• Add the red colouring until fully mixed in
• Divide the batter into the cases and bake for 20-25 minutes

While the cupcakes are cooling make the marshmallow filling:

[callout title=Ingredients for the filling:]

• 125g marshmallow fluff (I got mine from Sainsburys but it is also sold in Waitrose and Asda)
• 50g unsalted butter – at room temperature
• 50g icing sugar – sifted
• 1 tsp milk

[/callout]

Method for making the filling:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the marshmallow fluff and butter together
• Add in the icing sugar and milk and beat until fluffy
• Once the cupcakes are cooled cut a cone shape out of the centre
• Fill the hole with the marshmallow filling
• Spread a thin layer of the marshmallow over the top of each cake
• Let the marshmallow set for about 10 minutes before topping the cake with the buttercream

[callout title=Ingredients for the buttercream:]

• 300g icing sugar – sifted
• 100g unsalted butter – at room temperature
• 40g cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp milk

[/callout]

Method for making the buttercream:

• Beat the icing sugar, butter and cocoa in an electric mixer on medium slow speed until the mixture comes together
• Turn the mixer down to a slow speed and add the milk a little at a time
• Once all the milk has been incorporated turn the mixer up to a high speed
• Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy (about 5 minutes)
• The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes!

 

I use a piping bag to ice the cupcakes and then I decorated with chocolate hearts, gold sparkle and dried strawberries.

The red cupcake cases and chocolate hearts came from Just Bake – A great website!

Not only do these cupcakes look beautiful, they also taste amazing. You’ll be sure to win hearts if you bake them for anyone this Valentines!