V is for Victory!

Today was a great day off! 

Officially made it to 38 weeks which feels amazing. Two more weeks till I can meet baby Marlee! I also was able to put both my engagement and wedding ring on! Victory! The lack of lemonade and pasta must be working because I didn't gain any weight this week either... hate admitting the doctor was right. My ankle swelling has also been so much better, or as the doc put it, my ankles are still "slightly skinny." Hey, another victory in my book.

Appointment Summary 

Blood Pressure: 128/78

Weight Gain: None! 

Uterus Height: 38 cm 

Marlee's Heartbeat: 150 BPM

Goals: Continue with less sugar, more water! 

My sister, mom, Nick, and I decided to go to the Party in the Park for fireworks so I wanted to make something festive for the occasion. I decided on red velvet cupcakes with blue frosting and white sprinkles! I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought it sounded delicious so figured I would give it a try. The original recipe is from Cooking Classy but I found it from another tester here: Heidi Bakes

The only thing I changed was that I used 2% milk and the cupcakes could have probably been cooked a minute or two less.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup salted butter, firm but not cold 

1 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon red food coloring (I used the whole little bottle)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole milk 2% milk

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda, set aside. In a separate large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, whip together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time stirring after each addition. Add red food coloring and vanilla extract and mix until combine. In a small mixing bowl, combine milk and 1 tsp vinegar. Add milk mixture and flour mixture to cupcake mixture, alternating in two separate batches, mixing until combine after each addition. Divide batter evenly among paper lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven 18-23 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool about 2 minutes in muffin tin, then transfer to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to an airtight container to cool completely (this just helps them retain more moisture). 

I gathered all the ingredients. 

And went to work! 

I mixed all the dry ingredients. 

Whisked the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. 

Added the milk and vinegar together and let it sit for a second. This essentially makes buttermilk... I mean who has buttermilk sitting around? Not this lady. 

Added the eggs and vanilla.

Now time for the food coloring! 

Added the dry ingredients and milk mixture. 

Mix. Mix. Mix. 

Great color and texture - light and fluffy! 

I usually have pretty cupcake liners but these white ones were on sale... can't pass up a good sale.

Popped the cupcakes in the oven and did a little clean up. Brusco helped of course. 

The icing was nothing fancy. Just 2 cups confectioners sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsp milk (more or less for texture), and 3 tbsp butter. Of course, I added some blue food coloring too. 

My husband does not like icing. So I try my best to go light on the icing. I added some sparkly white sprinkles to top them off.

My kitchen lighting is terrible.

These cupcakes were great. Moist and full of flavor. I will definitely be adding these to my recipe folder. And if you do not have a cupcake carrier, buy one. I love it. (Shout out to Delvyn for the great gift!)

The rain ruined our picnic so I didn't get any feedback from the cupcakes but will take them to tomorrow's festivities. We ate at Kozmo's Grille for dinner and saw some fireworks from the car. Still a great day/night overall!