Deliciousness Part 2...

So now we get to finish the cupcakes.  Yay!  Like I said the day before, cupcakes are just a vehicle for a lot of frosting.  What frosting does everyone think about when they think about red velvet cupcakes?  That's right cream cheese!  Probably one of my favorite types of frosting, it pairs so well with so many different kinds of cupcakes.  Carrot cake, spice cake, chocolate, plain vanilla, it goes with it all!  So again, like the red velvet cupcakes, the recipe for the frosting comes from Martha Stewart.  To start you cream the butter and cream cheese in a mixer, or you could do it with a hand mixer, or you can do it by hand (you'll build serious arm muscles!) until they are light and fluffy.  Then you add your powdered sugar by 1/2 cup increments until it is all mixed in and looking gorgeous!   After all the powdered sugar is mixed in you add your vanilla and I add salt, even if the recipe doesn't call for it.  You might be thinking ewwwww salt?!  Why is she adding salt in a sweet recipe.  While I am a HUGE fan of the whole salty sweet thing, that was not my goal here.  When you add salt to a sweet recipe it just brings out the flavors of everything.  It doesn't end up tasting salty it just ends up tasting better.  So once everything is mixed in it will look something like this....

Doesn't it look amazing?!  I could eat the whole bowl!  Just get me a spoon!  Anyway, once you're done mixing you can either use it right away, which I did, or it will keep in the refrigerator in a container for a few days.

There are many ways to decorate a cupcake, depends on how fancy you want to get.  You can grab a piping bag and go to town making big beautiful swirls with different shaped tips, decorate with fondant, lots of different options.  This time my weapon of choice, a plain old butter knife.  I just wanted them to look lovely and homemade, but not sloppy.  So just pile it on swirl it around and make it nice and neat. 

So I am making these for a friend of mine to give to her husband for Valentines Day.  Her little pet name for him is fish.  So I came up with a little simple decoration that was just too perfect and delicious all at the same time.

Aren't they cute?!  Happy cooking!  <3

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 tablespoons unsweetened dutch-process cocoa
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

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Whisk together flour cocoa and salt.
-With 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.
-With mixer on low add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, mixing well after each addition.  Stir together baking soda and vinegar (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.
-Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.  Transfer to wire rack to cool.


Cream-Cheese Frosting  

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

-With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low and add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until all incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  Add vanilla and salt and mix until smooth and creamy.