Cupcakes and Calzones

The wait is over! True Blood is back in full effect with the premiere of season four last night. Finally! They definitely set up the eps to come by introducing [SPOILER ALERT!] witches, faeries, and mohawks, oh my! Sunday nights are back!

I, of course, had no idea what I was going to make for my viewing "party" with True Blood super fan, WendyB, who arrived wearing her I ♥ Eric t-shirt. Check her out here! I guess she's more of an Eric super fan. (Who isn't?!?) Just minutes before her arrival I finished icing my red velvet mini-cupcakes, the only blood red "food" I could think of at the time. (BTW it took an hour of pounding the pavement to find red food color!)

For some reason I thought that a bunch of gooey-oozy calzones with tomato sauce would be another perfect recipe. Big mistake. My smoke detector kept going off (sorry, Wendy!) and they really didn't go with the True Blood theme. I'll revisit them for another post...maybe in the winter. Incidentally, since I can't get my recipes together before the episodes air, consider these day after recaps prep for the next episode. I'm really just planning ahead!



Red Velvet Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart

2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color, or 1 (1-ounce) bottle of liquid red food color
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line two standard muffin tins with paper liners (or several mini-muffin pans). Whisk together the cake flour, cocoa, and salt in a medium bowl.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together the sugar and oil until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in the food color and vanilla.

3. Reduce the speed to low. Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of the buttermilk, whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add the mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed for 10 seconds.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes (10 minutes for mini-cupcakes). Transfer the tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing the cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

5. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Makes 24 standard size cupcakes or a gazillion mini-cupcakes.