Hearty Wellcome - Strawberry Red Velvet Cupcakes

Recently, I fell in love with cupcakes, especially because I bought several types of colourful cupcake cases when I visited Nottingham in January, and also because they are easy to transport which comes in handy when you constantly travel back and forth and want your family and friends to eat what you baked so that you have a reson to bake some more...

I'm a scientist... so as soon as I've heard about red velvet, I knew I had to try it.

Even though the red colour is, according to most recipes, achieved by artificial food colouring, the red colour should originate from anthocyanins, pigments found in cocoa powder. These pigments change in colour depending on pH. In acidic conditions, the resulting colour should be red. Therefore, in theory, if the pH of the dough stays below 7...

...Well...it worked, but not enough...and I wanted them to be bright red, so in the end, I added some liquid artificial food colouring.

Also, the dough is not supposed to be chocolate, and people often flavour it with vanilla extract...

It's not easy to get a good quality vanilla extract in Slovakia or Czech Republic, and I also got a bit bored of the omnipresent vanilla dough. The spring is coming and I've decided I wanted to have something fruity instead. Besides, red velvet just calls for strawberries!

...and here they are, my strawberry red velvet cupcakes!

Strawberry Red Velvet Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese and Sweet Cream Frosting

Ingredients (makes for about 12 medium cupcakes)

     Cupcakes
200 g butter
1 1/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup sugar (half white/half brown)
3/4 cup strawberry puree
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup full fat milk
0.75 tbsp. liquid red food colouring
0.5 tbsp. cocoa powder
0.5 tsp. white vinegar
0.5 tsp. baking soda
0.5 tsp. salt
1 large egg

     Frosting - Strawberry
150 g cream cheese
1/2 cup strawberry puree
3-4 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. strawberry jam
   
     Frosting - Sweet cream
1/2 cup cream (at least 33% fat)
1-2 tbsp. powdered sugar
10 g whipping cream stabilizer (CZ/SK smeta-fix Dr.Oetker)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Mix together all the dry ingredients
3. Melt butter and mix it with sour cream, milk, egg, strawberry puree, and vinegar
4. Slowly add the dry mixture to the liquid one and mix thoroughly until smooth, add the food colouring and mix a bit more
5. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake cases and fill each one a bit over 3/4 full
6. Bake for about 20 minutes (toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean)