day 249: red velvet cupcakes

red velvet cupcakes for valentines day :)

day 249 and is there a recipe more perfect for valentines day than red velvet cupcakes?  i think they are the best idea for this day of love so today i am making them for my sweet husband and mum to take to work for their colleagues ... and, of course, the peeps and i will be saving a couple for morning tea tomorrow (totally taking morning tea off my 17 day diet so i can take part in eating one!).

i found this recipe on pinterest from joy of baking and it looked like one i could follow, even if it did require heavy machinery for the batter AND icing :)  it's worth it, after all valentine's day only comes once a year and we are talking about cupcakes here!  the recipe is pinned to my st valentines love board on pinterest.  i didn't sift the flour, i never sift, i should, but i don't.  apart from that, the recipe was followed according to instructions :)  i didn't watch the video clip, but for those who want a more in-depth recipe, there is a you tube demo provided.

there was a lot of red and pink at my house tonight ...

and things got even redder :)

lucky for me this was a family affair and everyone helped ...

even the peeps, pollyanna was in charge of mixing the frosting :)

and there they are ready to have their chocolate hearts added ... we made almost fifty of them!

outcome:  SO GOOD!  i love these, definitely going to do green ones for st patrick's and put gold coins on top! they are quite labour intensive and have ingredients for miles but they are totally worth it ... so cool looking and the sneaky taste i had was divine!  hopefully everyone at both workplaces will love them too :)

my thanks to the joy of baking website for this cool recipe ... no doubt about it these cupcakes are RED!  not surprised with so much red food colouring, totally perfect for valentines :)