red velvet Archives - a sweet baker

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner I wanted make something that I’ve never made before. I’ve seen so many recipes that include Red Velvet cake that I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Can you believe that I’ve never tried it before? Yup, you heard it right. Never! I don’t know why I haven’t, it’s just been something that’s never interested me.

But, seeing that Valentine’s Day involves so much red stuff, I went for the Red Velvet…..with cinnamon, of course!

I don’t know about you, but Valentine’s Day isn’t a big deal for me. Sure, I like it when my husband does something sweet or romantic for me, but I don’t get upset if he forgets. To me, Valentine’s Day should be any day throughout the year when I get to be alone with my hubby and we can forget about packing lunches, driving kids to gymnastics practice, or breaking up fights about who got more dessert! If those dates happen to involve Red Velvet Cinnamon Buns, well even better!

Red Velvet Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients

FOR THE DOUGH:
1 box of Red Velvet cake mix
2 packages yeast
2 & 1/2 cups of warm water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
5 cups of flour
FOR THE FILLING:
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
FOR THE FROSTING:
1 package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
1 & 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

Instructions

In your stand mixing bowl, combine the yeast and warm water. Stir until dissolved. Add the cake mix, flour, salt and vanilla. Using your dough hook, knead until all ingredients are combined. Move dough to a large, lightly greased bowl and cover. Let sit for about 1 hour. Once dough has almost doubled in size, punch down.

On a clean, floured surface, turn out dough. Shape into a ball, using flour when needed. Roll dough into a rectangle about 10X20 inches. Spread softened butter all over the dough. Mix brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the buttered dough. Using a sharp knife, start cutting the dough into 1 inch strips from the top (so your strips are 10 inches long). To make the heart shapes, take each end and roll towards the middle. Pick up your strip of rolled-up dough and place on a cookie sheet. Use your fingers to shape into a heart, squeezing the bottom together to form the point. I had a whole left in the center so I filled it with the sugar mixture that fell out on the counter. Place each heart about 2-3 inches apart so they don't touch when baked.

Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.

While the hearts are baking you can go ahead and make your frosting. In a stand mixer, using your paddle attachment, mix together cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix until icing is creamy and smooth.

You can enjoy your frosting on warm buns or pipe on hearts once the buns have cooled.

Enjoy!

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Recipe slightly adapted from No. 2 Pencil