Sunday, June 12, 2011

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Caramel Sauce

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It was a wild night last night, I mean a Saturday night no less. I was watching Cupcake Wars on The Food Network. I know, crazy right? The first challenge was for a red velvet cupcake and I thought, I haven’t done that in a while. And after watching the entire show and seeing those amazing ladies just think up flavour combinations on the fly, I was inspired!


It’s also been a couple days since I baked something, the Rainbow Jello doesn’t count.


I pulled out my red velvet recipe, made a minor change as I didn’t have white vinegar only apple vinegar, and made 24 really light, red little cakes!


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Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe:



  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons red food coloring
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar ( I used apple vinegar today)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

  2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

  3. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins. Bake in oven until toothpick comes out clean, about 20mins. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

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I also had a craving (so NOT pregnant) for caramel sauce and since I’ve actually never made it before, I thought what the heck. First attempt was a complete flop, so I gave myself another go and if it didn’t work, no caramel. But alas, SUCCESS!!


Caramel Sauce Recipe:



  • 1 cup sugar

  • 1/2 cup water

  • 6 tbsp butter

  • 1/2 heavy cream


  1. In a heavy bottom 3 or 4qt sauce pan, mix sugar and water. You can do it without the water but it burns very quickly. Whisk continuously until the sugar is dissolved then stop whisking.

  2. Bring sugar water to boil and remove from heat when it turns an amber colour.

  3. Add the butter and whisk until melted (it will start to bubble a lot).

  4. Add cream and continue to whisk.

  5. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then move to glass container. The sugar will still be really hot, so be careful!

I filled half the cupcakes with the caramel sauce and left the others plain. Then I added caramel sauce to my buttercream (had some in fridge) and voila a flavour combination created!


So now the big test. Did it go well together? The answer from my husband was a resounding yes! The girls just wanted the plain cupcakes because they haven’t acquired the taste for caramel yet. So sad :)


I am really pleased with how they turned out. I thought the apple vinegar gave the cupcakes a nice addition and the caramel center, in my opinion, is always a nice touch!


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Thanks for looking!



Linking with:
Mingle Monday
Melt In Your Mouth Mondays
Mouthwatering Mondays
Muffin Monday
Mangia Mondays
Made by You Mondays
Creative Bloggers Blog Hop
Feature Yourself Friday
Get Your Craft On
Handmade Tuesdays
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesdays at the Table
Delectable Tuesdays
Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits
Hearth & Soul Blog Hop
Tuesday To Do Party
These Chicks Cook
Share the Wealth Wednesday
A Themed Bakers Sunday

15 comments:

  1. These look really yummy! I love caramel, never tried making it though! I think the flavor combo would be great together too!

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  2. yummo! I love me some red velvet cake!

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  3. That looks great! Love the addition of caramel!

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  4. love red velvet but caramel puts it over the top oh so yummy come see what I shared at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

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  5. Beautiful looking cupcakes and the caramel sauce is a wonderful addition. Congrats on getting the sauce recipe on only the second try!

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  6. I just got so excited when I saw these! They look so yummy. Please stop by www.laughloveandcraft.com and link up to my Share the Wealth Wednesday Link Party! I'm your newest follower!

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  7. Not only do these sound so delicious they look so pretty! Thanks so much for linking them up at Muffin and Cupcake Monday! Have a great week!

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  8. I love that show, it always makes me crave cupcakes! Red velvet are my favorite!

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  9. Wow! Those not only look delicious, but gorgeous also. Wow!

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  10. Caramel and red velvet cake is an inspired combination! It sounds just fantastic. This has got to be comfort food at its best, and the cupcakes look so beautiful too! Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe with the Hearth and Soul blog hop :)

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  11. I love the airy velvet cupcakes and the caramel really adds another dimension of flavor-yum. Great post!

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  12. I bet the caramel took these from great to spectacular!

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  13. Those cupcakes look fantastic. Good job on making your own caramel sauce. It looks delicious. Thanks for coming by to share! Have a great weekend.
    Katie

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  14. Red velvet cupcakes are great but it is the caramel frosting that sold me. I am glad you got it to work out. When I saw it on the linky, Let's Do Brunch, I knew, it had to be featured and it is. Drop by and see yourself, tomorrow or at least see your fabulous cupcake.

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  15. Wow this looks sooo yummy. I Like your Blog

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