Red Velvet Marbled Cheesecake Cupcakes.

If your mouth doesn't water when reading the title of this blog, I just want to let you know, there is a world you need to discover, and it's called red velvet cheesecake! These were SOOO yummy!

They might look a little funny and uneven, but the taste will definitely make up for that, and with a dash of cream cheese frosting on top....heaven. I'm first going to share the recipe with you and then give a rundown of my experience in making them, along with any helpful tips I can think of.



Red Velvet & Cheesecake Marbled Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 325F and put muffin papers or silicone cups in 12 muffin cups.

Orange Cheesecake

• 1 four oz package of cream cheese (not low fat)
• 2 tablespoons of freshly grated orange peel
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Beat together until creamy and well blended. Do not whip because you don’t want to incorporate air.

Red Velvet Cake

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
• 4 tablespoons food grade red food color
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup whole milk buttermilk (do not get skim or low fat)
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar (it has less flavor than any other type)

1. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.
3. Use a rubber scraper to pull any remaining butter mixture off the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Mix again until well blended.
4. In a separate bowl mix the food color and the cocoa until it makes a paste.
5. Add the cocoa mixture to the butter mixture and mix until it is evenly blended. Spoon through to check for streaks.
6. Add 1/4 cup of the buttermilk and beat on low speed until blended.
7. Add half of the flour and blend.
8. Add the remaining buttermilk, blend and then add the remaining flour. Now stir in the baking soda and vinegar until blended.

Assemble

1. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 the way with the red velvet batter.
2. Add a tablespoon or so of cheesecake batter to the top.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cupcakes are firm to the touch. Don’t overbake!
4. Cool completely.

First of all YES there is a hint of orange in the cheesecake, I liked the citrus twist it added, but obviously yes, the orange can also be optional.

Second, when purchasing the red food coloring, you need to purchase the LARGER bottle, I only had a small one and it only gave me about 2 tablespoons, so I had to adjust the cocoa a bit to make sure it still became a paste.

Third, DONT FREAK OUT when you pour the vinegar into the mix at step 8 and it bubbles, it's normal!

My fourth and last tip would have to be if you really really really like cheesecake, like me, I would double the cheesecake recipe. That would allow for you to have an equal layer of cake and also cheesecake.

That's about all my tips and tricks I have for you, sprinkle with cocoa and enjoy!