Crappy Red Velvet Cupcakes

Today I'm going to an engagement party thrown by co-workers. The weather is beautiful, food's going to be on the grill, there will be drinks, and I wanted to do something special for everyone who put this amazing party together so I thought I would make Red Velvet Cupcakes which hints at love! I found the recipe in February 2009 Runner's World Magazine and thought it would be successful given that the recipe comes from two runners who own How Sweet It Is bake shop in New York City.

When I think of red velvet, I think of a moist light dark chocolate muffin with sweet cream cheese frosting on top. That's pretty much what I think all cupcakes should be like...light, fluffy, with a nice butter cream frosting that sets off the not super sweet muffin.

Well, this recipe did not turn out well at all. While this was my first time making these cupcakes, it was not my first time making cupcakes in general, and considering my previous successes, I would like to think it was not me that caused the ensuing poor results. I followed the recipe exactly, excluding the food coloring. The cupcake, after being baked, did not even look like it was chocolate. It was a very light brown, like mocha or walnut. The cupcake was also very dense and was poorly flavored. It did not taste like chocolate. After trying one without the frosting, I decided I could not bring these cupcakes to the party. I didn't even bother making the frosting. I'm throwing them all out because they're not worthy enough to serve to folks. If I'm not eating it, I'm not serving it to anyone else, especially people who are putting together a nice afternoon shin ding. I was sort of surprised to see that 3 individuals gave it positive reviews in the magazine.

I'm back to the drawing board with red velvet cupcakes.