Makes 24 cupcakes
2 1/2 cups + 3 tablespoons sifted cake flour
scant 1 teaspoon baking powder*
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon red gel food coloring (I used Wilton brand. It is cheaper than buying regular food coloring)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups baker's sugar (use slightly less than 1 1/2 cups)
2 extra large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
scant teaspoon baking soda
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. (I did half regular white cupcake liners and halt nut cups. For the nut cups, make a small snip on the edge of the cup to make it easier to remove the cupcake from the cup.)
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Using my Kitchenaid it took about a minute. First start off slow and increase speed.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time and then beat in vanilla and red gel color. Remove from stand mixer.
5. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Using a spatula, fold until incorporated. Add half of the buttermilk and fold until incorporated. Fold in last half of flour mixture and then last half of buttermilk. (The reason why I use a rubber spatula instead of finishing with the Kitchenaid is because I do not want to overmix the batter. It is too easy for my to overmix in the stand mixer. I sometimes walk off to do something and then momentarily forget that the mixer is still running. It is a habit because I do a lot of bread dough.)
6. In the mixing cup used to measure the buttermilk, add baking soda and vinegar. Add the vinegar mixure to the batter and mix well.
7. Fill muffin cups half full. Bake in a single layer in middle rack for about 20 minutes. Do not open the oven door.
8. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting from the Barefoot Contessa:
- 1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
- 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted
High altitude and tips for success:
1. Use slightly less leavening (baking soda and baking powder).
2. Increase flour by a few tablespoons.
3. Use extra large eggs when recipe calls for large eggs. The lecithin in the eggs help. The Barefoot Contessa said in her most recent book that her baking improved when she started using extra large eggs. I now buy only extra large eggs.
4. Use slightly less sugar.
5. Fill only half the cup. These cupcakes gets so much rise. I have to bake the ones in the nut cups in muffin tins. I once tried baking them on a baking sheet. I also filled them 2/3 full and they overflowed and there was no lip of the muffin tins to catch the overflow. They went straight down the sides of the nut cups. They were not pretty.
*I tried a recipe that only used baking soda as the leavening. The cupcakes sunk in the middle. When I used baking powder in addition to the soda, the cupcakes started to sink but as they heated up, they started to rise. Baking soda rises when wet. Double-acting baking powder rises when added to liquid and rises again when heated. I also read somewhere that in order to get domed instead of flat cupcakes I should heat the oven to 400 degrees, put the tins in and lower the temp to 350 degrees. I'll try it next time.
I used two different liners. I used nut cups and regular white liners. I also have red liners that I found in the asian section of Cost Plus. Both are very pretty. I don't like those pastel Reynold's baking cups. I buy cupcake liners whenever I find cute ones. I would love those fancy wrappers but they are too expensive to be practical. I am cheap.
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