When someone asks you what you favorite desert is , it is often hard because you may like differnt ones at different times of the year and different occasions.It may be a daunting decision, but red velvet with cream cheese frosting needs to be seriously considered in the end. I have made these cupcakes countless times and I’m still not sick of it. That must mean something. Some may think of red velvet as a Valentine’s treat, but for me this is a year-round type of love. If you’ve never tried red velvet cake, you need to. The flavor can’t really be adequately described, you just need to taste it to know. I’ve made many versions but this is my favorite for sure, both for flavor and the perfect red coloring. (And yes, I use the artificial coloring and I have no qualms about it.) One thing I learned during my cupcake adventures is that using clear vanilla extract in the frosting makes for a prettier color and a better texture. Normally I’m all about the natural stuff, but in this case I go for the clear kind.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Yield: about 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cake:
2½ cups cake flour
1½ cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1½ cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp. (1 oz.) liquid red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
For the frosting:*
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. (I used a large, unlabeled star tip to frost these cupcakes.)
*If you are big on frosting as I am, you may want to increase the quantities by 50%. That is what I typically do for a batch of 24 cupcakes. I usually end up with some left over, but I would rather have too much frosting than not enough!
