My daughter Natali loves this pic of garish cupcakes which I took at the Wholefoods Super Store in Pasadena, Los Angeles. It’s the largest Wholefoods outlet in Southern California and my eyes were boggling as I wandered around, not just because of the brightly coloured cakes (surely they must use food additives?), but because of its overwhelming size and the variety of foodstuffs available.
Wholefoods prides itself on selecting the highest quality organic and natural produce, so I guess they’re good for you…hmmm. I had a look on their webpage and found a recipe for pumpkin gingerbread cupcakes which would be good to make with the kids for Halloween. You can choose whether to frost them or not, and how (or if) to colour the frosting. Vegetable dyes such as beetroot and carrot would be more in keeping with the Wholefoods philosophy.
The legendary American cook, Julia Child, the subject of the movie “Julie and Julia“, was born in Pasadena. There’s no recipe for cupcakes in her tome, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, though I did come across one for Cup Custards (Petits Pots de Creme) or baked custards in ramekin dishes. I wonder what Julia would think of these psychedelic cupcakes from her home-town, just as I wonder what she’d think of Julie and Julia, the movie made in her name. Frankly I found the whole concept irksome because Julie Powell, the Julie of the title basically plunders (plagiarises?) Julia’s recipes and life.
Just across the road from the gigantic Wholefoods is a tiny little shop, easy to miss, called dotscupcakes. That’s where I discovered Red Velvet Cupcakes, all the rage in Los Angeles at the moment. According to the owner, Hailey Kwon: “Everyone’s shoutin’ for the red velvets nowadays. I don’t know what that’s about.” Try my recipe below and find out (though, before you do, I should warn you there is red food colouring in the ingredients).
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Red velvet cake is in fact a traditional Southern American specialty often referred to as “the chocolate cake of the south”. Its name derives from its incredibly soft texture and moist crumb, a result of the buttermilk’s reaction with vinegar. Most red velvet cakes use cocoa although there’s not an overly strong chocolate flavour. The red colour comes from food colouring, although apparently this may have its roots in traditional cocoa (pre-Dutch processing era) naturally turning reddish-brown when reacting with alkaline vinegar. For those who’d like a brighter red colour, add another teaspoon of cochineal!
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cochineal (red food colouring)
2 1/2 cups plain flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons white vinegar
3/4 teaspoon bi-carbonate of soda
Preheat oven to 180degC. Line 24 medium size muffin tins with paper cups.
Beat together the sugar and oil on high speed until combined. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and food colouring. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl.Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt and add in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat well to combine after each addition. In a small bowl, stir together the vinegar and bi-carbonate of soda until it foams. Add to the mixture and beat well to combine.
Spoon the batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Spread with frosting when cool.
Frosting: combine 125 softened butter with 375g softened Philadelphia cream cheese. Add 1 – 2 teaspoons vanilla (and/or a few drops of cochineal). Beat in 4 – 5 cups sifted icing sugar or enough to achieve the consistency you like. For red icing, use red food gel (available from gourmet kitchen stores).
