A Battle Entered And Won

Working the the wedding industry I have seen every type of cake/cupcake flavor imaginable; strawberry and lemon tart, coffee and caramel, chocolate, vanilla and orange, and yes... red velvet. I generally stay away from eating the sweets at weddings because lets face it, eating cake every weekend can have quite a negative effect on someone. There is one weakness though, red velvet. It is quite a trendy flavor in the industry currently, but I have loved that flavor since who knows how long. Having never been a fan of chocolate, this very light hint of chocolate was surprisingly pleasing to my pallet. However, MOST bakers DO NOT get the cake right. Too much chocolate, a cupcake paper full of frosting and a smidge of cake, too dense,  and the worst... too dry.


So venturing into the world of red velvet seemed a little daunting for me considering I have had some CRAPPY excuses for the deliciously elegant dessert. Buuuuut I had a delicious cupcake at the last wedding I shot. (Shout out to Sprinkles out of La Jolla, CA... awesome job guys).

I figured it can't be toooo hard to make a cupcake that doesn't suck. There is where my logic started to kick in. I am the cook between my sister and me, she is the baker (and an adorable one at that). I threw caution to the wind and just dove head first. After a little research online I found a few variations and kinda just made my own concoction between 3 I found that had seemingly good ingredients. This may not be the best option for some of you non-adventurous or unsure bakers. But hey, worst that could happen is that they sucked.

I ran out of regular cupcake pans, so I had to make a few minis. Which by the way, the minis came out the cutest.

Here is the lovely recipe I used in case any of you bakers out there want to try the AWESOME result

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk 1 cup milk + 1 Tbl applecider vinegar. Let sit for 5 min)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 (1 ounce) bottle McCormick® Red Food Color (I kinda just poured in red until I liked the color, about .5 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

 Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 (16 ounce) box confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely. Frost with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting.
4. Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat cream cheese, softened, butter, sour cream and McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.