Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Red is the color of Valentine's Day, the color of love, and the color of cupcakes!  Red Velvet cupcakes are a hit with almost everyone and make a wonderful sweet treat for Valentine's Day, which is just around the corner.  For another Valentine's Day recipe, check out my Chocolate Sugar Cookies.

I've created a recipe using a combination of Vanilla Garlic's recipe on Simply Recipes and from Martha Stewart.  This recipe yields about 24 cupcakes, so feel free to half it for a small batch of 12.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick)
• 1 1/2 Cups White Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 1/2 Cups Cake Flour (can substitute 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour + 1/3 Cup Cornstarch)
• 2 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 Cup Buttermilk (Note: You can make your own buttermilk by combining 1 Cup Milk + 1 Tbsp. Vinegar and letting sit for 10 minutes)
• 1/2 tsp. Red Food Coloring (use gel) (or use beet juice if you want to avoid food coloring)
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp. Distilled White Vinegar

Frosting:

• 1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick)
• 8 oz Neufchatel or Light Cream Cheese
• 2-3 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place 24 muffin liners in 2 muffin pans.
2.  In a large bowl, combine the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3.  Using a mixer, whisk together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Add in the eggs, one at a time (scraping sides of bowl as needed).  On low, whisk in the food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar.
4.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk in alternating batches (just easier for consistency--so it's not too difficult to mix and so it doesn't splash everywhere).  Mix on medium until well-combined.
5.  Pour batter into muffin liners about 3/4 of the way full.  Bake for 14-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely.

Frosting:
1. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar and vanilla, mixing until smooth.

Decorating:

1. Using a pastry bag and your preferred tip, pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.  I used a pastry bag with a Wilton #1 tip.  You can also cut a hole in a plastic/ziploc bag or even spread it on with a spoon or butter knife.  Top with red sprinkles, chocolate shavings, a piece of Valentine's Day candy, or whatever other creative topping you can come up with!

Enjoy!