Red Velvet Cupcakes with Triple Choc Brownie Hearts

A traditional red velvet cupcake with tangy cream cheese frosting topped with a triple chocolate brownie heart...



Look at those darling little sprinkles.



 

Ahhh Valentine's Day. The scourge of many and the disappointment of many others. I joke, I joke. I love Valentine's Day. Many people disparage Valentine's Day as a commercial money grab but to me, if there's a day celebrating love, what's wrong with that? Love between your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your bestie, your furbaby...all types of love are for celebrating! And it doesn't have to be commercial or expensive. Why not bake something for your sweetheart? Like these cupcakes!
 

This is the brownie ingredients...



And here we have the cupcake ingredients.


Many recipes were going through my mind for Valentine's but when I thought about what really felt like Valentine's, I couldn't go past red velvet cupcakes. And if I were thinking of my Vvlentine, there would have to be copious amounts of chocolate. So these little bambinos are topped with heart shaped triple chocolate brownies.
 

Making the brownies!

I was pretty late to the red velvet party. They really came onto the scene a few years ago and I refused to be swept up in the red velvet hysteria. You know they're just chocolate cupcakes with red food colouring. I couldn't see the big deal. But then I was asked to make them for an order and well, I came around. They're pretty nice after all! And with that cream cheese icing, come on. Who wouldn't be swayed!

Now this isn't the most economical way of making hearts, you will have a lot of brownie left over.

 


But there's no such thing as too much brownie.

I use this recipe for Heritage Red Velvet cake from Sprinkle Bakes for both my cakes and cupcakes. As a general rule, a 8 - 9 inch two layer cake will make about 24 cupcakes. This red velvet cake uses vinegar to keep the colour nice and bright, and I always mix a little vinegar into my cakes if using food colour.


Making a paste with the food colour.



This colour is called Oxblood and it's really in this season. Rub this into your clothes to be in fashion.



 I use gel colours to colour my icings and frostings but in cake batter, I use liquid as it spreads evenly through the batter and gel tends to be expensive to use a lot of it. Liquid works just fine.

 

This batter is getting fashionable.

 


So oxblood, so cool.



The red colour of the red velvet is pretty Valentinesy by itself, but when I bake for my valentine, Mr. Cakes there needs to be chocolate. And a lot of it. To say Mr. Cakes is a chocoholic is possibly the understatement of history. And these brownies are the shiz. Then cut into little hearts and boom. Valentine's Day in a cupcake.


You put the icing in the bag and you put the bag on the cupcake.



Donna Hay's Triple Chocolate Brownies are my go to brownie recipe, they're so easy. And as I think I've said before, I love a recipe that can be done by hand. I use a mixture of sugars to give both a fudgy, soft brownie and a nice chewy top and edges.


I bought strawberry Nesquik just for these photos.



The brownies need to be cooked in a pan that's about the same height as your heart cutter. So as the pan depth will be shallower than a normal brownie pan, you need to bake them for less time and keep an eye on them as to ensure they don't get overcooked. You could always just cut them into squares to put on top but it's Valentine's Day, goddamit! You get that heart cutter out!

And I bought these doily's just for this too. You'd be surprised at how hard they were to find,

I'm partial to using either plain white or brown cupcake wrappers as I think simple is best, but it's Valentine's Day! Time to break out the fancy pants wrappers!

Symmetry.

 

So cute.



Topped with the traditional smooth and tangy cream cheese frosting, a brownie heart and some heart sprinkles if you've got them, these cupcakes are a great gift from your heart to your valentines.
 

And there's more! Photos, that is.



 


Aerial shot.



 


Mr. Cakes ate these cupcake almost exclusively for 3 days.



 



Love the colour!



Red Velvet Cupcakes with Triple Choc Brownie Hearts

Prep time: 40 mins

Cooking time: 1 hr 10 mins

Total time:  1 hr 50 mins plus cooling time

 

Servings: 24

 

Triple Choc Brownie Hearts

200g dark chocolate, chopped       

250g butter, chopped

1 cup brown sugar 

1/2 cup caster sugar      

4 eggs

1/3 cup cocoa powder      

1 cups plain flour  

1/4 cup self raising flour    

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

150g dark chocolate melts       

150g white chocolate chips

150g milk chocolate melts  

 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
250g butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting

250g cream cheese, softened

125g butter, softened

4 cups icing sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
      

Triple Choc Brownie Hearts

1. Preheat oven to 160°C
2. Melt 200g of dark chocolate and butter together over a low heat in a small saucepan. Set aside.
3. Place eggs, brown and caster sugar into a large bowl and stir to combine.
4. Add the melted chocolate and butter and stir to combine.
5. Sift the flours, cocoa and baking powder into the bowl.
6. Fold through dark, white and milk chocolate bits into the bowl.
7. Spread mixture into a 30 cm tray lined with baking paper.
8. Bake for 40 mins, or until edges are firm.
9. Allow to cool and cut in to hearts with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Dust with icing sugar.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Line a 12 cupcake tray with chosen liners.
3. Sift flour and set aside.
4. In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar until creamed and lighter in colour.
5. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Add flour to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour then mix in the vanilla.
7. In a small bowl, combine the cocoa and the red food colouring til it forms a paste, then add to the batter. Mix well.
8. In a small bowl, stir together the baking soda and vinegar. Mix vigorously then add to the batter. Mix well, until batter is well mixed.
9. Add heaped tablespoons to the cupcake liners til two thirds full. They should weigh around 50g each.
10. Bake for 22 mins and repeat with remaining batter.
11. Allow to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting 

1. Beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. Add vanilla and icing sugar and beat until fully combined and smooth.
3. Refrigerate until required.

Assembly

1. Add frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large, open star piping tip.
2. Pipe a large swirl onto completely cooled cupcake.
3. Top with a brownie heart and sprinkle with sprinkles, if desired.

REVIEW: Little Saigon Grill

The line can be long but it moves quick!

I wish I could tell you I was letting you in on a well kept secret but Little Saigon Grill goes off every day. Tucked away in a little laneway off Albert street, Little Saigon Grill serves up well priced Vietnamese food. I've been to Little Saigon Grill a few times for workday lunches and usually get a banh mi. The pork belly ban mi is just amazing, but this time I was on the hunt for pho.

Banh mi station on the left and everything else on the right

Since my visit to Pho An restaurant in Sydney, I've been hankering for that amazing taste of authentic pho. I've had it around here and there and it's just never quite hit the spot. Given the amazing banh mi at Little Saigon Grill, I had high hopes.

As I said, Little Saigon Grill gets very busy during the work week but the line moves fast and they have an efficient system, with a busy banh mi station down one end and the hotbox and al a carte items available from the other. I ordered Pho Bo Vien - beef pho ($11.90) and my dining companion ordered Banh Mi with tofu ($6.90).

Tofu banh mi

The tofu banh mi comes with aioli, pickled cucumber, pickled carrot, shallots with the option of fresh chillies and obviously tofu. The whole lot is placed into a deliciously crispy French-Vietnamese baguette and toasted. The bread at Little Saigon Grill is amazing, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and really puts it on to the next level. As usual, the banh mi was really good and no exception what we've come to expect.

The pho before my customisations.

Now my pho. Sigh. I don't know what I would have thought of this pho before my transcendental experience in Bankstown. Perhaps I would have been quite pleased with this pho. But I can't lie, it didn't come close. It was okay. Maybe I could stretch to it was fair. It definitely wasn't bad but the incredibly complex and depth of flavour simply wasn't there. I added a lot of chilli to add flavour and I did finish it. There was nothing to complain about as such. I think Pho An has simply ruined me for pho. If you know anywhere in Brisbane to get pho and you think it might match Pho An, you simply must tell me, okay? It's not fair to keep that from me.


And after! I love me some srirachia.

We also got a Watermelon juice each for $5. It was very refreshing and the perfect treat on a warm day.


Watermelon juice.

So overall, I enjoyed our visit to Little Saigon Grill and I will definitely be back as they're quick and well priced but I will be sticking to banh mi or try a few other menu items. Not the pho though, it just makes me sad.

Food: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Price: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 3/5