Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Red velvet cake showed up a lot around my house when we were younger... It is no surprise that it is both my mom and my dad's favorite cake and that is probably the reason why! :) I am not a huge fan of it, it always seems kind of dry to me - but it was my dad's birthday and that was his request! Instead of going for the standby cake, I searched online and found this recipe for cupcakes and that sounded much easier, so that's what he got! :) Look, they even have strawberries on top - I went all out decorating!



Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
(recipe found at www.foodnetwork.com)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon 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

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 (12 cup) muffin tins with cupcake liners. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20-22 minutes, turning the pans about halfway through. Test cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

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.