Chuck Hughes and Red Velvet Cupcakes

I don't watch much TV these days, but when I do I typically watch cooking shows.  Recently the Fine Living Network became the Cooking Channel and I couldn't have been happier.  It's all cooking shows 24/7, and a lot of them are really good.  Most come from the BBC or Canadian networks, but they also show old cooking shows like Julia Child's The French Chef and Two Fat Ladies.  Two of my favorites are Indian Food Made Easy and Chuck's Day Off.  Chuck Hughes is co-owner and head chef of a restaurant in Montreal, and on Mondays his restaurant is closed and they film Chuck's Day Off.  The premise is, he cooks a meal for someone who helps him keep his restaurant afloat, whether it be his repair guys, his beer distributor, or his wait staff.  He films it in the actual kitchen for his restaurant and he only films it on Mondays, his actual day off.  But the food he makes is simple and always fantastic.  I've made several things of his and they always come out really well.  I highly highly highly recommend DVRing this show.  It's worth it.

Last week he made some Red Velvet cupcakes with mascarpone (Italian cream cheese) icing.  Now, I don't like to bake.  In fact, I actively dislike baking.  Half the time I bake things they come out horrible, but these just looked too good to pass up.  Well, my wife came home from work yesterday in a terrible mood.  She'd had an extraordinarily bad day.  And when she's in a bad mood she likes to bake cupcakes and work out all of her frustration...  except last night she was too busy studying for a big test she had this morning.  So not only was she in a terrible mood, but she also had to study...  no good.  So I decided to bake for her, and it just so happened that I had something in mind.

INGREDIENTS

Cake:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1 cup plain yogurt
Red food coloring (lots of it)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Icing:
2 cups mascarpone
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup 35% cream (heavy whipping cream)
Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat your oven to 350.

Mix your dry ingredients and your wet ingredients in separate bowls.  As far as the food coloring goes, you'll have to have an eye for color.  It's going to take a lot to turn your batter deep red.  Something to keep in mind is that the cocoa is going to turn your batter from a bright red to a deep, blood red, so if the color isn't quite right when you mix your wet ingredients, wait until you add the cocoa.  Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients a little bit at a time.

Line a muffin tin with liners and grease the inside of them.  Fill up your liners a little more than halfway and bake for 25 minutes, rotating them at 12 or 13 minutes.  When you take them out, stick a toothpick in them.  If it comes out clean your cupcakes are done.  If not, keep baking them.

For the icing, combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until a smooth, creamy texture.  It doesn't take long to do by hand and you work off a few calories doing it.  Wait for them to cool before you ice them.  Eat them.  Enjoy them.  Pretty darn good, huh?

The official recipe can be found here.  Chuck Hughes - Red Velvet Cupcakes