Red Velvet Cupcakes (And the Apt Where Everything Breaks)

Having an apartment that overlooks Union Square and the Greenmarket is awesome. But living in it is not so great. So many things have broken since we got here in September. The fridge leaks, the bathroom doesn't drain, the soap dish broke off, the cupboard broke off, two gas burners don't light, and our AC only emits heat. The list goes on and on and new things break everyday! Case in point, when Lilly was making her red velvet cupcakes, our oven door handle broke off! *tear*
Despite this, the cupcakes turned out great! Lilly loves red velvet cupcakes. She is always in search of the perfect recipe. This time, she decided to use Cake Man Raven's famous recipe (remember Booby Flay's Red Velvet Throwdown?). It was moist, soft and flavorful. It's topped with a traditional cream cheese frosting.

Tip! When you're making cream cheese frosting, don't use cheap $1 cream cheese like we did! Your frosting will not turn out great. Stick to Philadelphia - the taste makes up for the price.

Red Velvet Cupcakes (Adapted from Cake Man Raven's Recipe for Red Velvet Cake)
Ingredients

* Vegetable oil for the pans
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon fine salt
* 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
* 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
* 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
* 2 large eggs, at room temperature
* 2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
* 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 12 cup cupcake tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.
Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.
Fill 2/3 of the each cupcake liner with batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, rotating halfway through
Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes and then remove to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 pound cream cheese, softened
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.


BTW Cake Woman Lilly demands that you make these cupcakes!

How to Roast Peppers (Like a Badass)

I reallly love having a gas stove! Back at home, we have an electric one, so whenever a recipe calls for roasting something, I have to do it in my crappy oven - which never gets it right! So, when I'm in new york, I loveee roasting vegetables. It's fun because we do it like we're standing over a campire. I used wooden chopsticks to roast them, but skewers work too! Or tongs (but that's a luxury I can't afford) Don't try doing it with forks though, unless you want to throw them out after you're done!

1. First, start off with some beautiful sweet peppers. I got a whole box of these for $2 from the vegetable man on the corner of 14th and University=)

2.Impale a pepper on your roasting utensil of choice (Chopstick, skewer, tong)

3. Roast it into oblivion! Or until the skin turns completely black - about 5 minutes.

4. Hot box them in a plastic bag to let the skin steam a bit!

5. Peel off the blackened skin, rinse off the excess particles under the sink.

6. And you're done! You can toss them into salads or make a soup! Whatever you want=)

And now you're officially a badass!