Here at Upper Midwest Gourmet, we carry Ghirardelli sunrise unsweetened cocoa, and as a baker looking to expand my horizons, I couldn’t help grabbing a sample of sunrise cocoa to try a few new recipes. (If you find that you have a similar urge, give us a call and we can send you a sample of your very own.) So, I decided on Red Velvet cupcakes and after finding them to be delicious, used some of the ingredients I had on hand for another recipe- buttermilk brownies.

Red Velvet Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 fluid ounce red food coloring*

* This amount of red food coloring is required to get that pure “red” color, but I did not use nearly this much. It is a matter of looks and totally up to you, the baker to decide

 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup Ghirardelli Sunrise unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 12 cup muffin pans or line with 20 paper baking cups.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, buttermilk, red food coloring and vanilla. Stir in the baking soda and vinegar. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter and frost with desired frosting.

I made a Cream Cheese Frosting for these (which was later used for the brownies as well because I made way too much). I generally don’t measure, consistency and taste are my indicators, but here’s a guideline recipe (which is fantastic when strictly followed, but it doesn’t hurt to adjust it either).

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese,

softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Next… Buttermilk Brownies with Blood Orange Marbling and Cream Cheese Frosting. (Quite the mouthful, eh?)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup Ghirardelli sunrise unsweetened cocoa

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 oz Amoretti Blood Orange marbleizing swirl

Directions:

In a saucepan, bring butter, cocoa and water to a boil. Cool. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour and salt. Pour cocoa mixture over dry ingredients; mix well. Combine buttermilk and baking soda; add to batter along with eggs, vanilla, and food coloring if desired. Mix until well combined. Pour into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. greased and floured baking pan. Drizzling marbleizing swirl over batter and swirl with toothpick. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

*Amoretti marbleizing swirls as well as other Amoretti pastry ingredients maybe special ordered from us at : 612-728-7208.

(For Amoretti pricing or additional product information from Sarah, please Contact Us. Thank you.)