I recently made red velvet cupcakes for my lovely friend Thrya’s Alice in Wonderland themed Birthday party! We all met at Sketch; a fittingly psychedelic center for food, art and music. I placed them in a nice decorative box and surprised her with them. They got devoured in a instant! Here are a few snapshots of the evening:

My husband the Mad Hatter, I was the WHITE Queen of Hearts, the beautiful Mad Hatter birthday girl, and a lovely Rabbit!

The birthday girl!

Alice

This is a room in Sketch… can you guess which room?

To get baking here’s what you’ll need:

For the cupcakes (24 cupcakes)

2 cups of cake flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup softened margarine
2 eggs
4 tablespoons red food coloring- you may choose it to be tartrazine free
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk (1 cup milk and 1 teaspoon of white vinegar, let sit 10 minutes)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup sour cream

For the cream cheese frosting

1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
1 package of philadelphia cream cheese (8 oz.)
3 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

To get the Alice in Wonderland theme:

1 bag of sugar letters
1 red icing food piping tube

Preheat oven to 4G/350F/180c. Put a dab of butter in each muffin cup and put in the oven for 5 minutes till melted. Make sure you spread evenly around the muffin cup and then line the muffin cups with cupcake liners. Let sit till ready to add the mixture.

In a mixer or food processor, cream the butter and sugar on high for about 1-2 minutes till light and fluffy. Add 1 egg at a time continuously beating

In a separate bowl mix together all the dry ingredients: cocoa, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda

In another bowl mix together liquid ingredients: red food coloring, buttermilk, vanilla extract and vinegar

Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mix, alternating with the liquid mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Continue to beat on medium until the mixture is fully combined. Now mix in the sour cream and continue beating for about 1 minute.

Now spoon into the muffin cup to about 3/4 full

Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. To check their readiness, stick a tooth pick through the center and if it comes out clean then they are ready

Preparing the cream cheese frosting:

First, cream the butter and cream cheese together for about 2 minutes, scraping the sides to ensure all is incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and sugar and mix well for 2 minutes. Now pipe onto the cooled cupcakes. 

Take half the cupcakes and gently place the “eat me” sugar letters onto the cream cheese frosting. With the other half, in one go, pipe a rectangle. Now also in one go, draw a small heart inside

And VOILA!