The Best Red Velvet Cupcake You Will Ever Make (and eat)!

I love a good dessert (doesn't everyone?)!  One of my most favorite desserts of all time is Red Velvet!  Red Velvet what you may ask.  The answer is I don't really care!  Cake, cupcakes, brownies...you name it and I like it in the form of Red Velvet!

Cupcakes happen to be an all time favorite of mine.  I feel like it is such a fun way to give every person you are feeding their own mini cake!  Plus if you make cupcakes the right way, you get a ton of icing (a.k.a. the BEST part of any cake or cupcake)!

I have made a few different Red Velvet recipes in my years of baking, and this particular recipe happens to be my favorite!  I recently made it for John's birthday back in June and Lacie's birthday last week!  They did not disappoint!

What You Need for the Cupcakes:

• ½ cup (one stick) butter, softened (I use regular salted butter...I never use the unsalted stuff even when I am baking...I think that the extra salt gives it better flavor)
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 ½ tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 ounces red food coloring (I use two McCormick bottles of Red food coloring...yes 2 whole bottles...you can find them by the Vanilla and other flavor extracts in the baking aisle)
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 ounces water
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

What You Need for the Icing:

• 2 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup (two sticks) butter, softened (again I like salted butter, I think the flavor is better)
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Now Let's Make the Cupcakes

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Line two cupcake pans with cupcake liners (this recipe will make 24 regular size cupcakes)
3. Cream butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy (I like to use my PINK kitchen aid stand mixer for this recipe)
4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition
5. In a separate bowl combine cocoa powder and food coloring (be careful not to dye your hands or kitchen counter red like I did) and add the colored mixture to the butter mixture
6. In a small mixing bowl combine flour and salt (I whisk them together - I actually never sift anything but if you like sifting flour go right ahead).  
7. Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet mixture, beating on low until combined
8. Add the vanilla, buttermilk, and water to your batter and mix until combined
9. In another bowl combine the white vinegar and baking soda (it will fizz up).  Then, fold this into your batter 
10. Divide batter evenly among cupcake cups
11. Bake for approximately 20 minutes (it may be a little more or less depending on your oven) until a toothpick comes out clean
12. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans, transfer cupcakes to wire racks to cool completely

Now Let's Make the Icing

1. Blend together softened cream cheese and softened butter
2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract
3. Blend until smooth - you can add a little more or less powdered sugar to achieve the thickness of the frosting you would like
4. Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!  

Here we are blowing out the candles on Lacie's Red Velvet Birthday Cupcakes!  

A Few Notes

Make sure that the cupcakes are totally cool and frost them.  I like to use a star tip from Michaels Arts and Crafts Store.  I put a lot of icing on each cupcake!  STORE YOUR ICED CUPCAKES IN THE REFRIGERATOR!!!  You will most likely have some left over icing...trust me this is not a bad thing!  You can eat it on graham crackers, make up a batch of cinnamon rolls and use it as icing, or just eat with a spoon!  You could also cut the icing recipe in half and use less icing on each cupcake, but I don't recommend doing that.  

Here are the finished cupcakes before I put them on the cupcake stand!  See how much icing there is?!?