Red Velvet Cupcakes

It has been quite a while since I have made and posted cupcakes here but Valentine's Day was the perfect excuse to get back to baking. And what better Valentine cupcake to bake than Red Velvet? If you have issues with using food coloring there are recipes out there using beet juice but I am just too lazy to mess with that and there was enough cocoa in this recipe to counter the weird food coloring taste. Although, they did have a funny aftertaste when they were still warm. It went away at room temp and colder.

These were firm and dense and I urge you to watch the oven carefully when you are nearing the end of the baking time. They easily could become dry and you should err on the side of pulling them out a bit early. I topped mine with cream cheese frosting (a classic pairing) and they were quickly consumed!

Check out that deep red color!


Red Velvet Cupcakes
(courtesy of allrecipes.com)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (or just add regular milk to 1 T. of vinegar till you get a cup and let stand 5 minutes)
  
• 1 fluid ounce red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 12 cup muffin pans or line with 20 paper baking cups.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, buttermilk, red food coloring and vanilla. Stir in the baking soda and vinegar. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, frost with desired frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
(you'll probably use about 3/4 of this)

- 6oz. of softened cream cheese
- 1/2 c. softened butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 1/2 - 4 3/4 cups of confectioners' sugar

Combine the first three ingredients and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.