BY BRITTANY CLINE (’16)

Since Valentine’s Day is on Saturday, I decided to take a recipe from tasteofhome.com for pink velvet cupcakes!

Ingredients   (makes 2 dozen)

• 1 cup of butter
• 1 ¼ cups of sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon of pink paste food coloring
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon of baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of buttermilk

White Chocolate Ganache:

• 2 cups of white chocolate baking chips
• ½ cup of heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• Pink coarse sugar and pink sugar pearls

Procedure:

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and food coloring until light and fluffy
2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
3. Beat in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
4. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk
5. Fill lined muffin cups 2/3 full
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 23-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean
7. Cool for 10 minutes

For the White Chocolate Ganache:

1. Place the white chocolate chips in a small bowl
2. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil
3. Pour over the chips and whisk until smooth
4. Stir in the butter
5. Chill for 30 minutes
6. Beat on high for 2-3 minutes, or until soft peaks form
7. Frost the cupcakes and roll the edges of the cupcakes with coarse sugar
8. Decorate with the sugar pearls and store in the refrigerator
9. Enjoy!

My Thoughts:

The cupcakes were perfect! They had a really good flavor and the perfect consistency. The icing was really sweet and went well with the pink velvet. I honestly would not change a thing about the recipe! With the icing though, I would chill it for at least a half an hour so it isn’t runny.

Happy Valentine’s Day!