Cupcake Perfection

11:53:00 AMUnknown

Kyle and I went to a Christmas party on Saturday at one of his coworkers which was a lot of fun. I made yummy red velvet cupcakes with a vanilla cream cheese frosting and oh my lord, they were amazing. I am putting the recipe down below. If you don't want to bother making the cake from scratch, just use a box mix BUT you should definitely make the frosting on your own... no container of cream cheese frosting can even come close to comparing!

Red Velvet Cake Recipe
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bottle (1 oz.) Red Food Color
1 tbsp. vanilla

Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl (you can use an electric mixer... I use my stand mixer) on medium/high for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Mix in sour cream, milk, food color, vanilla. Gradually beat beat in flour mixture on LOW just until blended. Do Not Overbeat.

Pour batter into greased pan (or muffin cups).

Bake in preheated oven at 350 F. for 35 - 40 mins or until toothpick comes out clean. Completely cool before frosting.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat 1 pkg. (8 oz) softened cream cheese, 4 tbsp. (half a stick) softened butter, 2 tbsp. sour cream, 2 tbsp. lemon juice (don't bother using fresh), and 1 tbsp. vanilla until smooth. (again, stand mixer is what I use) GRADUALLY beat in 1 pkg. (16 oz.) confectioner's sugar on medium until light and fluffy.

[I recommend clicking on the pictures, especially the closeup ones, to see more detail...]