From the Kitchen: My Favorite Red Velvet Cupcakes

Until about 2 years ago, I wasn’t really a huge fan of red velvet cake. I guess I never really understood it. Was it white cake? Was it chocolate? What was the red all about? I tend to stay away from adding food coloring to anything that isn’t an easter egg. But for some reason, red velvet was and is wildly popular and when I used to bake for events, it was by far the most requested flavor. It always irked me that people went gaga for this obviously confused cupcake. Well, after experimenting with many recipes over time, I finally found one that I not only like, but I actually love. While, I’m still not keen on adding artificial coloring, I’ve found natural substitutes like these…and for occasions like Valentine’s day, it seems pretty fitting. So, without further ado, my favorite recipe for red velvet cake! xoxo!

Red Velvet Cake a la {Love+Cupcakes}

Makes 24 regular or 48 mini’s

Ingredients for cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cups bakers sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups safflower oil

1 cup buttermilk, room temp

2 eggs, room temp

1 teaspoon distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon red food coloring (or equivalent in beet powder, follow measuring instruction on packaging…adding color is OPTIONAL! You’ll still get a reddish/brownish cake without)

2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F and prep cupcake pan with liners.

Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the buttermilk safflower oil, eggs vinegar, vanilla and food coloring on low just until barely mixed. Add the dry ingredients in 1/3 cup at a time until the batter is well mixed. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake about 20-30 minutes depending on your oven. Check about 15 minutes in to see where they’re at and turn the pan if needed.

Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

2 8oz packages cream cheese

2 sticks softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-4 cups powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a large mixing bowl or with a stand mixer on high until smooth. Add sugar a 1/2 cup at a time until you reach your desired sweetness. I usually stop at about 2 1/2 cups because I prefer a less sweet frosting. Scoop icing into a piping bag fitted with a tip (in this case a star tip) and frost away.

Add a cute fondant heart to sweeten the deal. Voila! Valentine’s Red Velvet Cupcakes! Enjoy!

P.S. Read about the origins of red velvet cake here…the redness originally came from a chemical reaction between the cocoa and the buttermilk!!