Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes 

If you like to cook, then you must know that it is always a pleasure to cook for friends and family. Working in an environment with many young people, I know that I have people willing to eat my food when I have tons of leftovers. In this case, though, August is a big birthday month at work so I'm kind of knocking out three birthdays in one baking. I asked my friend Iian what he likes to eat in terms of sweets, because his birthday came first, and he mentioned really liking red velvet cupcakes. I haven't baked in a while, and have always wanted to try the red velvet thing, so I decided to go for it. I failed miserably at getting anything done this weekend, as I was at the amazing San Francisco Outside Lands Festival and so I had no time to cook or clean. Anything.

Buuuuut of course I found a recipe on FoodNetwork.com. Surprisingly, it was not a Tyler Florence recipe. Instead, I went with good ol' Paula Deen, y'all! The mo butta, the betta! This was my first Paula Deen recipe, and it turned out pretty well. The cupcakes weren't as sweet as I wanted, but the cream cheese frosting more than made up for it (with THREE cups of confectioners sugar- I even omitted the fourth cup). The blend of the subtle hint of chocolate with the cheese and sweet flavoring from the frosting made for a perfect bite. 

I thought they were pretty tasty, and I hope my friends at work thought so too.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 ½ cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 tablespoons red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 pound cream cheese, softened

2 sticks butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (12 cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers

2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a different large bowl, gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer

3. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined

4. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, turned the pan once, half way through

5. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth

2. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy

3. Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip