I♥cuppycakes!

Giant Red Velvet Birthday Cupcake

Yesterday was my Hubs birthday.

He’s now the ripe ol age of thirty one. (He says when I spell it out it doesn’t seem so bad.)

(Shout out to my friend, Stephanie‘s boy toy, John, who shares the same birthday too!)

I can’t believe I’ve known him for the last 12 birthdays. And I bake him a cake every year. I wish I had kept pictures of all those cakes. I’m certain I’d be LAUGHING MY A$$ OFF over them.

Let’s just say… I wasn’t a cake baker back then. There were a lot of box mix in a 9×13 pan with sprinkles and cheap $0.99 candle days. But since Hubs wanted to get in my pants make me happy, he ate every one.

He’s a good man. I think I’ll keep him around a little longer.

But I’ve been spoiling him. My cakes are getting progressively better (I hope?) but all he wants is Red Velvet. I offered him chocolate variations, Funfetti, Rainbow, Coffee flavored but he turned his nose up at all of them. His MO (modus operandi) is always the same. It’s Red Velvet or nothing. Ok fine. FINE. I’ll give you your Red Velvet but I’m doing it MY way.

In a GIANT cupcake pan.

It had to be a GIANT cupcake b/c I’ve been playing around with the idea of making a chocolate “liner” for it. And this was the perfect opportunity to try it! Can you believe my horror when I realized that my chocolate liner idea wasn’t as original as I thought?? Wilton had the idea first. I guess my idea was so 2008. I hate when that happens. It makes me feel old. Like when people tell me that side ponytails and leg warmers with heels are out. Say it aint so!

But but but… I can redeem myself. I have ideas on how to expand the original idea. Different color candy melts. Combining 2 colors to make a design… Polkadots, swirls, stripes. I just have to find someone who needs a GIANT cupcake first. Hmmm… My godsons’ birthday is 2 months away. That’s not too early to make his birthday cake right?

Giant Red Velvet Birthday Cupcake
Recipe adapted from Confetti Cakes

Print this recipe

Makes 1-Giant Wilton Cupcake + 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For chocolate cupcake “liner”
3 cups candy melts* (I used 2 cups Merckens Cocoa Dark & 1 cup Cocoa Lite)

* You’ll probably have some chocolate leftover but I’d rather start off with more than less

For red velvet cupcakes
3-1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hersheys)
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 cups canola oil
2-1/4 cups + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 cup (3 oz) of red food coloring (I used 2 oz)
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tsp baking soda
2-1/2 tsp white vinegar

For cream cheese frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
8oz cream cheese, room temperature
8 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

To make chocolate liner—
Place candy melts in a heatproof bowl and melt in intervals of 30 secs in the microwave. Stir between intervals until chocolate is melted and smooth. Dollop some chocolate into the bottom of the Giant Wilton Cupcake Pan and using a food dedicated paintbrush pulled the chocolate up the sides.

Coat the sides liberally and let set in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes or overnight. Feel free to add a second coat if you desire for good coverage. (Just remember, the thicker the layer of chocolate the more you’ll have to trim down your “cake” to make it fit inside.) Unmold the chocolate by using your hand and wiggling slightly until it slips out.

To make cupcake—
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray the inside of the Giant Wilton Cupcake pan with PAM and lightly dust with flour. (I forgot to oil+flour my pan and it still came out with a little jiggling.)

In a large bowl, sift the cake flour, cocoa and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, fitted with a flat beater, combine the oil and sugar. Beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly dd the food coloring and vanilla extract. (Be careful of splashing!)

Alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk in three additions, ending with the flour mixture. In a small bowl, stir the baking soda and vinegar and add to the mixer. Beat for about 10 seconds so everything is thoroughly combined.

(1) Fill “bottom of cupcake” about 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes. Fill “top of cupcake” and bake the whole thing for an additional 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. (This is the method that works for me b/c the “top” tends to come out overbaked if you do both at the same time.)

(2) Fill cupcake liners about 1/2-2/3 full and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

To make frosting—
In a stand mixer, fitted with a flat beater, combine the butter and cream cheese. Add 1 cup of powder sugar. Mix well. Add the vanilla and milk. Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar until everything is well combined and you get a smooth stiff consistency. (Note: You may not use all the powdered sugar.)

To assemble giant cupcake—
Carefully hold the “bottom” above the chocolate liner to estimate how much you will need to carve off to fit inside the liner. Using a serrated knife, carve around the circumference as needed. Then level out the tops of the “bottom” cake and “top” cake. To make a layered cake, cut the “bottom” in half and then each half in half again. (Don’t worry! No leftovers were trashed in the making of this cake. *burp*)

Frost the top of each layer but do not assemble “bottom” yet. Frost the “top” with a crumb coat and put in the refrigerator to set for about 15 minutes. Gently assemble the “bottom” layers inside the chocolate liner one layer at at time.

NOTE: Trust me. I tried to assemble the cupcake bottom layers first and then put the whole thing inside and it DID NOT work out very well. The weight of the bottom was so heavy from the frosting that when I “dropped” it inside, the whole chocolate liner cracked and broke. I think I remember screaming.

Place the “top” on the “bottom” and frost the top with a 2nd layer of frosting in any method you like. I decided to go with the simple uncomplicated spatula “spackled” look rather than dirty up my piping bag+ tips.

Add some sprinkles and sparkler candles and it’s just what a 31 year old needs to feel 1 year older but still young at heart.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
He is a self proclaimed Red Velvet connoisseur so he KNOWS red velvet. And he had nothing but raves for this one esp with the chocolate liner. I think he said something like “… I don’t mind getting older if I get cake like this every year. This might have to be the go-to recipe, Honey.” What? Oh you have no idea how HUGE this moment is.

Wifey rating: A+
This “cake” recipe was moist+fluffy just the way I like cake. It was great with the cream cheese frosting but I J’DORE the chocolate liner. I have a feeling you’re gonna see many GIANT cupcake liners in my future.

Other rating: A+
Our family and friends were smitten with the chocolate liner. There were many raves for the red velvet and all that was left at the end of the celebration were crumbs. That’s always a good sign!