Red Velvet Cupcakes

Our wedding cake was this lucious, moist bright red cake with a white chocolate and cream cheese frosting that was to die for. It's almost chocolate almost vanilla cake with it's own unique flavour.

Martha Stewart is the one I follow when it comes to any baking recipes and these Red Velvet Cupcakes are just perfect.

I tend to add extra food coloring as I like my cupcakes extra red and use the gel ones. I also change the amount of sugar in the frosting until I reach the consistency I want. However as baking is a science I tend not to fiddle too much with a recipe otherwise it becomes a disaster!

Sometimes it's just easier to have someone else bake the cake...

[photo not mine]

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
• Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.
   
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.
   
3. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.
   
4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
   
5. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting.
   

Cook's Note

Gel-paste food color is much more concentrated than the supermarket liquid variety; if you substitute the liquid, you may need to add an entire bottle (1.5 ounces) to achieve the desired shade.