I had an order for one of my personal favorites, red velvet cupcakes. For those of you unfamiliar with red velvet, it is a buttermilk cake, tinted red, with a hint of cocoa. The buttermilk helps make the cake really moist and soft. It satisfies those chocolate-sweet cravings without being too much.

Traditionally, it’s paired with cream cheese frosting, which I find extremely delicious, but I’ve also seen variations in either a white chocolate or chocolate frosting. I made a light milk chocolate buttercream for my cupcakes and was really pleased with the result.

I also punched out some fondant circles (aka wafers, a la Martha Stewart) and stamped them with the letter “D”, to celebrate the birthday girl monogram-style. Of course to do this required clean, unused stamps and a trip to Michael’s Crafts revealed quite the upgrade in stampery…they make clear stamps now that allow you to create your very own stamps in endless combinations! Quite the find and definitely something to consider for future personalized projects.

A few days later I was making miniature-size cupcakes from a yellow cake batter enhanced with ground ginger. This time I topped them with a bittersweet chocolate buttercream and sprinkles, of course, since they were cupcakes and they were indeed created for a birthday celebration, so it was only fitting. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting seems to be an American birthday classic.  I was very impressed with the chocolate buttercream experimentations this week, they tasted even better than I had predicted!

Of course, once the cupcake production ceased I had time to do other things, like pay a visit to one of the farmer’s markets on Wednesday. I keep returning to buy organic blueberries, which happened to be just right last week: large, firm, and sweet.

We had some ricotta cheese leftover in the fridge so I channeled Tyler Florence and plopped a few spoonfuls in the food processor along with some lemon zest and powdered sugar, just to sweeten it up a bit. The blueberries were sugared and slowly simmered in a pot with some strawberries, raspberries, and fresh lemon juice until soft and compote-like, about 12 minutes.

A few spoonfuls of the berries over the lemon ricotta mixture with a chocolate wafer (leftover from ice cream sandwich-making) and you have yourself the quintessential summer dessert: light, fruity, fresh.

I finished off my weekend with herbal tea and freshly baked croissants (pain au chocolat for my mom), because I have missed them eating them in pastry school.

This week I am looking forward to creating an assortment of petit fours for my mom’s book club. More to come on this later!

Here’s an update to that. We met today for our “cupcake transaction”. She is a very sweet girl and I wish her all the best of luck. I am happy we got the chance to work together.

These are photos of some of the cupcakes she wanted.

1. “The Emily”. Kat wanted this cupcake to be very girly in a fluffy, white, volumptuous way. I made three variations, one with coconut, one that was swirly and high so she could put a fancy liner on it if she wanted, and the third was a spiky meringue.

2. “The Joan”. This cupcake needed to represent Kat’s art teacher, who was kind, warm, caring and the epitomy of an “art teacher”. Joan was also into intricate bead artwork. I made two variations; one with an “artist’s palette” color frosting, and the other with some bead-style decorations added.

3. “The Andy”. Kat wanted this cupcake to have a tube sock look to it, with white, red, and blue stripes. I did two variations, the first was swirled white frosting with red and blue sprinkles on a white cupcake with a red and blue liner. The second was a piped white frosting layered with colored fondant stripes.

4. “The Damon”. This cupcake needed to represent a flashy, over the top personality. I made two variations, each with spiky chocolate frosting and dramatic touches, such as chocolate lettering and silver dragees.

5. “The Neil”. Kat wanted a masculine, handsome cupcake that also demonstrated a life devoted to the United States Army. I covered white and chocolate cupcakes with army green frosting, fondant stars painted with gold luster dust, and white star sprinkles.

6. “The Ken”. Red was the color that came to Kat’s mind for this cupcake. I swirled red frosting and sprinkles on top of white cake to convey a popular, nice cupcake.

7. “The Vanessa”. Kat envisioned a cupcake that almost blends into the background and conveys a talented, other world. For this cupcake I swirled pale blue frosting on white cupcakes and decorated each with either tiny pearl decorations or small fondant flowers.

8. “The Justin”. This cupcake needed to be “soft turned hard”. For this one, dark chocolate cake was covered with soft marshmallow filling and dipped in chocolate, to create a shell.

9. “The Chad”. Kat wanted a cupcake that was slightly angry, so I used a red velvet cupcake that was covered in soft marshmallow filling and dripping with chocolate.

Cupcakes, anyone?

Red velvet is my favorite type of cake- it is in its own category of cake and taste. It has a hint of cocoa in it, and a slight tang from buttermilk and vinegar, as well as an intriguing red color. This recipe also has sour cream in it, which makes for a moister, softer cupcake.

Frosted with a generous dollop of cream cheese frosting and red and green sprinkles, these cupcakes are perfect for Christmas, although I would gladly eat them any time of the year.

Christmas Red Velvet Cupcakes (The Pastry Queen Christmas by Rebecca Rather)

• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) red food coloring
• 3 1/2 tablespoons high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Fill muffin cups (approximately 2 1/2 dozen) with paper liners.

In a small bowl, stir the red food coloring and cocoa powder together to make a smooth paste. Set aside. using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, then add the cocoa paste while continuing to beat. Reduce the mixer speed to medium, and beat the batter for about 4 minutes. In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir the vanilla into the buttermilk (this can be done in the measuring cup).

Add the flour mixture in three increments, starting and ending with the flour. Beat on medium speed just until the ingredients are combined. Add the sour cream and vinegar and beat on low speed until combined.

Fill the muffin cups three-fourths full with batter. Bake for 18 minutes or so, just until the cupcakes feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake, or the cupcakes will dry out. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then unmold onto a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Yield: Approximately 2 1/2 dozen standard cupcakes

Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting (The Pastry Queen Christmas by Rebecca Rather)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup (8 ounces) cream cheese at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone (Italian cream cheese, available at most grocery stores)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or mint extract

In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone on very low speed until just combined (Be careful, once you add the mascarpone, excessive beating can make the frosting curdle). Stir in the vanilla or mint extract.

We chatted for a long time last night about her project and I am excited to get the opportunity to do some very creative custom cupcakes. She is painting portraits of people she’s known throughout her life who have passed away. Each painting will also have a cupcake in it that channels the personality and traits of each individual. 

What’s great about Kat is that she seems as obsessed with cupcakes as I am, so I think we’re going to work really well together. The cupcakes will be completed in the next two weeks for Kat to photograph while she is in town for the holidays.

I will be sure to post pictures of the cupcakes and updates on Kat’s thesis work. The photograph pictured above is one of her paintings. You can check out her website at www.katgallery.net and her blog at http://appleseed.tumblr.com/.

Some other things that are adding a skip to my step:

1. I received information from the French Pastry School today about my schedule for the first week of classes. Exciting!

2, Seckel pears, lady apples, and red currants. The pears and apples are miniature-sized. I was able to find them at Meijer and they make beautiful, edible table decorations.

3. www.chefscatalog.comhas free shipping on all orders until the 15th. They also have Cuisinart Green Gourmet cookware on sale. It is eco-friendly. Also related, not in a food way, but an online shopping way, is  www.retailmenot.com. My Mom is currently obsessed with this website. You can find coupon and discount codes for websites when online shopping. Score!

4. Eclairs. I am going to make eclairs this weekend that have a spiced pate a choux dough, dulce de leche pastry cream filling, and a milk chocolate glaze. Check back for the post and recipe!

• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) red food coloring
• 3 1/2 tablespoons high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Fill muffin cups (approximately 2 1/2 dozen) with paper liners.

In a small bowl, stir the red food coloring and cocoa powder together to make a smooth paste. Set aside. using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, then add the cocoa paste while continuing to beat. Reduce the mixer speed to medium, and beat the batter for about 4 minutes. In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir the vanilla into the buttermilk (this can be done in the measuring cup).

Add the flour mixture in three increments, starting and ending with the flour. Beat on medium speed just until the ingredients are combined. Add the sour cream and vinegar and beat on low speed until combined.

Fill the muffin cups three-fourths full with batter. Bake for 18 minutes or so, just until the cupcakes feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake, or the cupcakes will dry out. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then unmold onto a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Yield: Approximately 2 1/2 dozen standard cupcakes

Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting (The Pastry Queen Christmas by Rebecca Rather)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup (8 ounces) cream cheese at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone (Italian cream cheese, available at most grocery stores)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or mint extract

In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone on very low speed until just combined (Be careful, once you add the mascarpone, excessive beating can make the frosting curdle). Stir in the vanilla or mint extract.