Red Velvet Heaven!

As promised, I'm going to share some amazing recipes with you. This recipe was originally from Paula Deen (love her!) but I tweaked it just a bit.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use Softasilk Cake Flour)
1 1/2 cups sugar (I use superfine sugar for baking)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 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
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (make sure you sift so it is smooth!)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

*For the buttermilk, I never go buy expensive buttermilk from the store. I simply add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk and let it sit for five minutes, and voila! Instant buttermilk!

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

I use the large star tip to frost the cupcakes.

That's my friend's little boy Jake ready to dig in, YUM!

xoxo,
~L