Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentine’s Day is upon us – the perfect occasion for decadent treats.  These Red Velvet Cupcakes definitely fit the bill – moist and full of flavor, it’s hard to eat just one.  Now, I realize that there are some red velvet cupcakes that aren’t red and many of those recipes are really good, but how fun can a brown red velvet cupcake really be?!

As a side note, I’m really pleased with how well the frosting looks on a few of the cupcakes  - for some reason I have the hardest time frosting baked goods, they rarely look good in photos!  I got lucky this time – good motivation to keep working on my frosting skills.

Makes 24 Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

2  1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1  1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1  1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

2 extra-large eggs, room temperature

2 tablespoons red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

1 pound cream cheese, softened

2 sticks butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

Directions

Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.  In a large bowl of an electric mixer, gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla.  Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins – fill each cup about 2/3 of the way.  Bake in the oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, halfway through the cooking.  Test the cupcakes with a toothpick to ensure they are done. Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth.  Add the sugar and mix on low speed until incorporated.  Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.  To add a little color, I sprinkled some of the cupcake crumbs on top of the cream cheese frosting.