I love cake and I loooooove frosting! Seriously, I think about both all the time and usually have a container of home-made frosting in my freezer to snack on from time to time every night. My husband and I have even talked about what our final meal would be, in the rare case of us facing the death penalty. Along with a cheeseburger, fries and never-ending Diet Coke, I would finish my meal with four corner pieces of a cake with tons of frosting. Mmmmm, frosting. I used to order cakes from a woman I so cleverly called “the cake lady” until she ruined it all by closing her shop…sad, sad day. Since then, I have made it my goal to find perfect recipes for all of my favorite cakes. I was asked to make red velvet cupcakes for a baby shower back in October, and I found THE red velvet cupcake recipe that I will always use. To me, red velvet is such a unique cupcake. It has a hint of chocolate flavor for chocolate lovers but not too much to turn the white/yellow cake lovers away. It’s a flavor for everyone and perfect for Valentine’s Day! My fellow special education teachers were thrilled when I brought these in last week.
Recipe (adapted from Paula Deen) 24 cupcakes
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder (I increased it to 1 tablespoon)
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons red food coloring (one whole bottle!)
- 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin tins 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.
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 frosting (from Annie’s Eats)
I usually make 1.5 times this recipe to have enough frosting since I pipe the frosting on the cupcakes.
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
In bowl of electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter. 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 was even lucky enough to find some Valetine’s Day sprinkles in my cupboard to make them extra festive!
I know Paula Deen has not had the best press lately, but this recipe is fantastic. Your sweetheart will not be disappointed with these wonderful cupcakes. I can vouch because I had not one but two, because as I said earlier I LOVE cake and frosting!
WivesUnscripted 