Cannoli at Carlo's Bakery
Ever since I went to Carlo’s Bakery (the bakery from TLC’s Cake Boss) with Ang and Morten, I’ve been wanting to make red velvet cupcakes myself.
Cake Boss
Carlo’s Bakery is just as tiny as it looks on Cake Boss. No, we didn’t see Buddy. But, we did see the sisters and one of the regular male bakers. The place was really busy but they were very efficient at getting orders filled and customers out the door asap.
Carlo's Bakery Cookies
Gotta say though, the baked goods looked really ordinary and less than appetizing – I felt like we were looking at products at a school’s bake sale where you feel the need to hold onto each cookie with a handful of napkins because the butter is threatening to grease your fingers worse than a Wendy’s burger.
Still, you can’t go to Carlo’s Bakery and not try something. So, we got cannoli. The bakery is supposed to be famous for their cannoli and had even devoted an entire episode to them. We bought a box of ten, and the guy at the counter actually said “is that it?” I was a little surprised ’cause I thought ten was a bit excessive. We tried them outside and ended up polishing off the box in under 15 minutes. We went back for more and got red velvet cupcakes for later too.
Damn, they were good! I understood why the guy at the counter didn’t think we were buying much because on our second trip in I listened to see what other people were ordering and it seemed like it was the norm to buy a dozen cupcakes and throw in another box of cookies just because.
My Turn
My First Attempt at Red Velvet Cupcakes
Last weekend, we put up the Christmas tree and decorations. This weekend marked the official start of the holiday baking season with the traditional Norwegian pepperkaker, and my attempt at making red velvet cupcakes. The gingerbread house will have to wait until next week and I’ll probably test out my new Perfect Brownie Pan next Sunday.
The cupcakes turned out fabulously! I guess I picked a really good recipe. 
The cake is fluffy and light, and the cream cheese frosting is to die for (I suspect you could actually die from eating too much of it ’cause it’s really chubbifying). There’s a good chance I’ll make them again for Christmas dinner. Here are the recipes if you want to try making them too:
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Recipe is from the Best Cupcake Recipes Blogspot
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles) or 4 oz beet juice (if you use unprocessed light cocoa you can leave out the food dyes and you’ll get a warm red/brown color)*
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins or silicone pans with cupcake liners.
- Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a smaller bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps and set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the redcocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
- In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Be careful as it will fizz so don’t do it in a shallow bowl. Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Fill cupcake cups with cake batter until they are a little under 3/4 full. I ended up with 20 cupcakes. Place muffin tins in your preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20, rotating pans halfway through. The cupcakes are done when you are able to pat the tops and the cake springs back up. If it sinks down they are not yet complete. Or you can insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake in the center of the tin and if it comes out clean they are done!
- Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe is from Chow.com
Ingredients:
12 ounces of room-temperature cream cheese (this is about 350g or one and a half chunks)
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment*, and beat at low speed until sugar is incorporated.
- Increase speed to medium high and beat until frosting is light and whipped, about 3 to 4 minutes. Use to top cookies, cupcakes, or cakes.
*I don’t have a mixer with a paddle attachment so I just beat the cream cheese mix by hand using a spatula and it worked really well but took a bit longer.
Enjoy!
It’s too bad 
). My bad. The last I remembered through our Best Job e-mail threads (everyone still keeps in touch), he was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and roaming the streets of Europe! I received a message from him when we first arrived in Amarillo, Texas asking where we were planning on going in Texas and if we would be passing his way. He invited us to his family’s annual Pumpkin Carving Party, and we happily accepted his invitation!
