Few meals are extra emblematic of 2005 than a crimson velvet cupcake from Sprinkles. Once I was rising up in Los Angeles within the early 2000s, trekking to Sprinkles Cupcakes’s first location in Beverly Hills for a crimson velvet cupcake — a taste I had by no means heard of earlier than — was a ceremony of passage. Because it opened in 2005, Sprinkles has bought shut to twenty million of the long-lasting, red-hued chocolate treats, turning into a frontrunner and mainstay of the cupcake increase whereas different opponents have since petered out. The chain nonetheless operates 60 shops and cupcake ATMs (a revolutionary idea when it was launched) and sure, crimson velvet continues to be a best-seller. However in the event you don’t have a Sprinkles close to you, or simply wish to attempt your hand at baking its most recognizable cupcake, you possibly can — and the recipe is much more approachable than you’d assume.
Sprinkles Pink Velvet Cupcake Recipe
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon high quality sea salt
½ cup buttermilk, shaken
1½ teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon crimson meals coloring
10 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, barely softened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 massive eggs
Cream cheese frosting (see under)
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 levels. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk collectively the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
Step 3: In a small bowl, stir collectively the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and meals coloring.
Step 4: Within the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high pace till gentle and fluffy, 2 to three minutes.
Step 5: Scale back the pace to medium-low, add the eggs one after the other, beating nicely after every addition.
Step 6: Add the flour combination in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk combination, starting and ending with the flour combination.
Step 7: Divide the batter evenly among the many ready cupcake cups. Bake till a toothpick inserted within the middle comes out clear, 18 to twenty minutes.
Step 8: Cool the cupcakes within the pan for five minutes, then switch to a wire rack to chill fully earlier than frosting.
1 (8-ounce) package deal cream cheese, barely softened
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, barely softened
1/8 teaspoon high quality sea salt
3¾ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Step 1: Within the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, and salt on medium pace till gentle and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Step 2: Scale back the pace to low, step by step add the confectioners’ sugar, and beat till integrated.
Step 3: Enhance the pace to medium, add the vanilla, and beat till totally blended, 1 to 2 minutes, ensuring to not incorporate an excessive amount of air into the frosting.
Dina Ávila is a photographer dwelling in Portland, Oregon.
Recipe examined by Ivy Manning
