I’ve not eaten at all the cupcakeries in America (sadly). The many that I have had the pleasure to frequent and of all the flavors I’ve seen and tasted I have only ever seen the combination of red velvet and peanut butter in the UK (mainly at Harrods).
When I lived in Prague when I was a kid anything labelled “American” at the supermarket or in a restaurant had corn in it. The most American pizza topping I can think of is ham and pineapple, but 15 years ago in Eastern Europe the most American thing they could think of was corn. Strange huh?
It almost makes sense to me. Red velvet and peanut butter are pretty much American as apple pie but we (the Americans) wouldn’t really put them together. In Cupcakes at Carrington’s the main character, Georgie’s, favorite cupcake is red velvet topped with a nondescript butter cream frosting. In her honor I made a buttermilk red velvet cupcake topped with a peanut butter mascarpone frosting.
I added just a very small amount of peanut butter so as not to overpower the the flavor of the red velvet cupcake.
Ingredients
Cake
100g plain flour
1 tbs cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
100g unsalted butter, softened
100g granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
150ml buttermilk
1/2 tsp vinegar
1/4 tsp baking soda
red gel color
Frosting
200g mascarpone, at room temperature
1/4 cup marshmallow fluff
1 tbs creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup double cream
Instructions
- Preheat the 350 F/180 C and line a muffin tin with paper liners. In a medium sized bowl mix whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugar for five minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and then the vanilla.
- Add the buttermilk and flour mixture in two additions, alternating and beating in between each. Add in the red color until desired shade is achieved. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
- Make the frosting. Whisk the double cream until stiff peaks form. In a seperate bowl beat together the peanut butter, mascarpone and fluff. Fold the peanut butter mixture into the cream until combined.
- Once the cupcakes are cool top with a swirl of frosting.
Notes
Omit the peanut butter for a more pure mascarpone frosting.
An American Cupcake in London original recipe
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- Book Club #8 Creations - An American Cupcake in London | An American Cupcake in London - [...] made Georgie’s favorite, red velvet, and topped it with a peanut butter mascarpone buttercream for something a little more ...
These look delicious. However, every time I try something “red velvet” I’m disappointed. It just doesn’t have a taste to me. Sad because it always looks so great…
red velvet is it’s own taste and category of cake so it’s not surprising that not everyone loves it. It’s a very American cake as well and if you didn’t grow up with it it may not be to your liking. Getting the taste right is a fine balance between cocoa and vanilla.
Peanut Butter Mascarpone frosting sounds like a dream to me! Might have to have it on its own ;)
The frosting is very good! it would be nice on a dark chocolate or banana cupcake I think. I’m not 100% convinced that red velvet in pb go together but it was worth a try :-p
Is it so very wrong that I want to put my face in that cream?