THE BEST RED VELVET CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

The BEST Red Velvet Cupcakes are a light cake with a beautiful red color and a slight chocolate flavor with a little tang from the buttermilk. They are perfectly moist and topped with cream cheese frosting. You will agree that these are the best!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 2 Tbl. liquid red food coloring
• 3 Tbl. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar
• 3 1/3 c. cake flour not self-rising
• 3/4 c. 12 Tbl. unsalted butter, room temperature

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 Tbl. milk plus more if needed

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and spray with cooking spray; set aside. In the [url:1]bowl of a stand mixer[/url], combine butter and sugar and mix on medium speed until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a [url:2]small bowl[/url], whisk the food coloring, cocoa powder and vanilla together; add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix well. Stir the salt into the buttermilk and add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the cake flour, starting and ending with flour. In a small bowl, stir together the vinegar and baking soda; add to the batter and mix well.
2. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter and bake in preheated oven for 17-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not over bake. Repeat with remaining cupcakes. Cool completely and top with Cream Cheese Frosting. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cupcakes.
3. For the Cream Cheese Frosting: In a large bowl, mix together butter, cream cheese, salt and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. If frosting is too thick, add a little milk. If you are planning to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes, you want it thick enough to hold its shape. This makes enough frosting to pipe a big swirl on the top of each cupcake. I used a Wilton 1M piping tip.
4. *If you do not want to pipe a large swirl onto each cupcake and prefer to spread a small layer on top instead, the amount of frosting can be cut in half.

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