Will Bake For Clothes

I've been sort of reluctant to accept payment for my baked goods in the past....I mean baking is what I like to do. But when a friend and former coworker requested a batch of cakes for a party and insisted on paying me with the above grey Gap sweatshirt that i have been coveting I couldn't really resist. So consider this my first paying gig in sweets!





I decided on the red velvet cupcakes with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting, as they are always a crowd pleaser....the buttermilk-cocoa cake and the tangy vanilla frosting wins over even the most staunchly skeptical. (For unknown reasons, people have weird prejudice against red velvet...some "fear" of red cake. Come on people, it's a weird southern tradition, and it's GOOD!)
Red Velvet Cupcakes, slightly modified from Epicurious.com
*makes 24 cupcakes*

2 1/2 C All Purpose Flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
4 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 oz hot water
2 oz red food coloring
1 C buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp baking soda

Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350, line muffin pans with papers
- Cream butter and sugar to fluffy
- Add eggs, blend well
- In separate small bowl, make past of cocoa and food coloring, then add the butter mixture
- Sift flour and salt together into mixture
- One at a time add the buttermilk, then vanilla, then water, mixing on med-low
- In a small prep bowl combine vinegar and baking soda- will fizz up. Fold this fizzy mixture into batter by hand to just incorporate
- Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake 15-20 minutes
- Cool completely before frosting

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting (unfortunately don't remember where i picked up this recipe, but it's pretty basic, and so good that people, i'm not going to name names here, have been known to eat it by the spoonful on it's own.)

12 oz cream cheese (1 1/2 packages), softened
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
4-5 C sifted powdered sugar, depending on your taste (i like scant 4 cups)
seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped from bean (vanilla bean is spendy but worth it. if you're not up to buying it, use a little extra vanilla extract).
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

- Beat butter and cream cheese to creamy
- add 3 cups of sifted sugar until combined.
- Add vanillas and beat until combined
- Add more sugar til you get the consitency and sweetness desired.


*note these aren't as red as they should be- i forgot that when using regular food coloring, as opposed to icing colors i usually use which are concentrated, you really do need to use the full 2 oz to get the true red red. If using more concentrated icing coloring (like wilton, for example), which is more like a paste that comes in pots, can use like 4 or 5 swirls of a toothpick full of the paste.

**Also, a word about the sweatshirt, which i think is merited. Can we talk about it's perfect jennifer-bealeness. It's just the right amount of 80's a gal might need to punch up her tired ole skinny jeans and ballet flats. I wore with a black and white horizontal stripe knit turtleneck underneath, grey black skinny jeans, and black flats and was rather pleased with the results! I could get used to this whole baking-for-apparel thing....