Princess Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe

If there is anything I know better than Disney, it's how to make a good cupcake.  In fact, before this blog, I started a cupcake blog (of which I forget the url), which ended because of my freshman year in college and my lack of oven to continue my craft.  From there, my love of cupcake baking sort of fizzled out...but for special occasions I'll still whip some up from time to time.

I made these Princess Red Velvet Cupcakes for my 3-year-old cousin.  I typically spend a lot of time with her over the summer, but because of my internship I won't see her much at all.  We always play with her Disney Princess toys when I visit her, so I knew this would be a cupcake we would both love.

For 24 red velvet cupcakes, you will need:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (softened)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 bottle (or about 2 tablespoons) red food color
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Begin by mixing the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, and salt) in a separate, smaller bowl.  Next, cream together the butter and sugar until fulling incorporated, then add the eggs one at a time.  Carefully add the red food coloring (because it will make a mess) and vanilla, and mix until the batter is thoroughly red.  Add the dry mix and the milk in parts, 1/3 of the dry, 1/2 of the milk, 1/3 dry, rest of the milk, and the rest of the dry. Mix until just incorporated...do not over mix.  Last, add the baking soda and vinegar, letting the two react on top of the batter only briefly before mixing them into the batter.

Fill cupcake liners between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way full.  Bake for 18-21 minutes, checking at 18 minutes.

A trick I learned to tell if a cupcake is done is to press on the top of the cupcake with your finger.  If an indent is left in the cupcake, they need 1-3 more minutes.  If they spring back into place with no indent, they are done!

For the cream cheese frosting, you will need:

• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (softened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4-6 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 teaspoons milk
• Pink food coloring

To begin, cream together the cream cheese and butter until the two are completely mixed.  Add the vanilla and mix.  Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until the desired consistency is reached.  If you add too much powdered sugar, add milk to thin the frosting out a bit, one teaspoon at a time.  Once you like the consistency of the frosting, add pink food coloring (or just a little red) until the color is what you want.  I went with a bright pink.

Allow the cupcakes to cool, and frost with whatever tip (or knife!) you want to make the cupcakes as fancy-looking as you would like.

To make the tiara garnish, you will need:

• Yellow decorators chocolate
• Pearl sprinkles

Melt the chocolate (I use the double boiler method).  Prepare a surface to put the chocolate on (I used foil that I sprayed with a non-stick spray).  Place the melted chocolate in a squeeze bottle or a piping bag with a small round tip.  Carefully create tiara designs (as shown below) as simple or elaborately as you want!  Decorate the tiaras with whatever sprinkles you prefer, such as the pearls.  Allow to harder for a few minutes in the refrigerator.

If I were doing this again, I would probably use the edge of a can with foil and non-stick spray on top to design the tiaras, allowing them to have more curvature than these.  I ended up carefully cracking these to try and curve them around the top of the cupcake.  It would be a bit more complicated, but it would look really cute!

    This is the finished product!

You might feel so inclined to add a hidden mickey...like me!

Though not a recipe from Disney, these cupcakes will make any Disney princess lover feel like royalty!  And they taste pretty delicious too!

So, do you think you'll make these cupcakes for yourself, your friends, or little cousins like I did?  Do you have any questions on how to make them?  Leave a comment!

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