Pink Velvet Cupcakes

I might be the slowest baker in the history of unofficial self-proclaimed bakers.  Seriously, the combination of baking, cooking dinner, not knowing where things are in the kitchen and my mild (self-deemed) ADD creates a 2.5 hour long bake fest (the legal kind).

I found a recipe for Red Velvet cupcakes off of Yahoo back in the winter when I was living in Switzerland.  Since I wasn't sure I'd be able to find some of the right ingredients I decided to wait until I was home to try it out!  Usually I make cupcakes from a box but since Europeans do things from scratch much more (since there aren't really 3 different boxed cupcake brands) I was able to learn how to create cupcakes without the use of the pre-made boxed stuff.  So, with my new desire to make things from scratch I finally got the motivation to make Red Velvet Cupcakes.

I followed the directions pretty easily (minus a sifter, le sigh) but then I came to the 2 tablespoons of Red food coloring.  Well... whoops I only had about 1 teaspoon of the stuff but since it doesn't affect the taste I just decided I'd call them pink velvet cupcakes and let's be honest, pink is way better than red anyway.

 So there are my hot pink cupcakes... nom.

After I finally got them into the oven I took a short break to eat dinner with the family and wash some dishes.  Then I got to work on the cream cheese icing!  I'm pretty sure that I mixed it up a little to much because it was a bit runny, although still delicious.

Here's the directions for anyone else who secretly wants to start their own bakery and have a show on TLC...

Red Velvet Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose 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 extract

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.
• 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.  Makes 24 cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound cream cheese, softened - 2 sticks butter, softened - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract - 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar - Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

• 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.
• Garnish with chopped pecans, fresh raspberry or strawberry, or sprinkles.

Enjoy!