RED-RED VELVET CUPCAKES

My hubby keeps telling me if I don't stop whining he is going to call the waaambulance...and many of my friends offer me cheese to go with my whine.

So, when I was thinking about recipes with wine...my brain kept going to whine.  It's too bad I'm an occasional whiner...because I tend to dislike whiners.  I want to tell them to put their big girl panties on and deal with it!  Sometimes I have to tell myself just that.

Today, however, I'm not talking whine...I'm talking WINE.  flipflop Wine to be specific.  I've had a nice bottle of their 2009 California Pinot Noir waiting to be sampled for weeks now...but I'm not a big red wine fan (not enough of a fan to open a bottle to drink by myself, although I'll happily drink a glass or two if someone is helping or after using for a recipe) but we didn't drink wine last time my hubby was home so here it sits. 

I ran across a blog from a couple of years ago that pictured some red wine cupcakes...and I thought, hey, I could do that...and I could add some chocolate to make it like a red velvet cupcake - red wine and chocolate can pair well...I'll add some cream cheese frosting...I think it's a "go"!  Worst case scenario, it tastes like crap and I drink the rest of the bottle of wine by myself to drown my sorrows.  Win-win!

I LOVE THESE LABELS...the flip flops, the sail fish...just a great look
for a great product.  You know I had to sample it before using it!!!
Very drinkable...and that comes from a white wine fan :-)

I'm basing this recipe, with a few tweaks, on the recipe I found on the blog Scrumptious Photography.  The blogger posted it back in 2009...so obviously cupcakes with wine in them aren't an original thought....but, since I don't see a lot of them posted, it bears trying.  I also used her beautiful idea of placing the cupcake in a wine glass...I'd like to say it was my idea...so creative...but, it wasn't.  So, anyway, here we go.

RED-RED VELVET CUPCAKES
(Red Wine and Red Velvet...Red-Red)

Ingredients:

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white pastry flour
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs - room temperature
1/3 cup red wine (I used flipflop Wine's Pinot Noir)
1/3 cup buttermilk
Red Food coloring - use enough to make your batter quite red

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cupcake pan with paper liners (12 standard size AND 12 minis OR I estimate 16 standard size cupcakes).

In a stand mixer, mix sugar and vegetable oil to thoroughly combine.  Add eggs, one at a time until incorporated. (it starts to look like batter now) Add vanilla extract. 

the dry goods before whisking together

While it is mixing, in a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients with a whisk. 

all of the ingredients out and ready

Mix red wine and buttermilk together then alternate adding flour mixture and liquids until batter is smooth.  Add red food coloring and beat until thoroughly incorporated.

the wine and the food color and the chocolate make for a deep red color

I use the Wilton unflavored red gel color.  It took about "three toothpicks full"...which means I grabbed as much as I could on the toothpick and quickly plopped into the batter.  That stuff stains so be careful not to plop it on something you don't want it on!

standard cupcakes

mini cupcakes

I used a large cookie dough scoop to evenly distribute the batter between the liners in the standard muffin pan and a small cookie scoop to evenly distribute the batter between the mini muffin cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until top springs back when gently touched, or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with crumbs slightly clinging for the standard size...about 12-13 minutes for the minis.  Cool in pan for a few minutes and then move to cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

hot from the oven

I always like to test one just out of the oven...oh MY they are good!

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 8 ounce brick cream cheese - softened
3 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, add confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing completely between cups and add the vanilla at the end. 

Frost cupcakes after completely cooled!

Cupcakes and Wine...who'd a thunk it?

I just ate one of the minis hot out of the oven.  Nice crumb...really tasty...the chocolate is there and I can tell there's something "else"...it's got just a hit of cinnamon...sort of the Mexican chocolate taste...but still something "else"...yee haa...it's a red wine red velvet cupcake that has just a subtle background taste that no one would know what it was if I didn't tell them.  THIS is what they talk about when they say "depths of flavor".  It all tastes good together...but I would challenge anyone to tell me it had red wine it in!  Wow, how come this stuff isn't more prevalent?  I had to dig to find recipes to "tweak".  I'm so thrilled.  Thanks flipflop Wines for such a great addition to my baking arsenal...now my brain is whirring...I'm thinking about a Pinot Noir sweet syrup...with...something?

You'll have to endure my photos...I had fun taking the treats out to the balcony...

Cheers!

Dolphins, Flip Flops, Wine, and the Bay...oh, and cupcakes!
Life's little pleasures!!!

My reward after baking and blogging :-)
Life is good!
(I had to laugh, I was reading the back of the bottle
while sitting on the deck...it said "sweet spice",
"hints of vanilla", "pair with...chocolate chip cookies".
Soooo, I was right on target and it is a perfect match!
My neighbors were jealous as they looked up at the bottle
of wine on my deck table!!!

No relation to food...just a lovely coastal bird...
I love living on the Laguna Madre :-)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!