recipe: red velvet cupcakes

there are a plethora of cupcake bakeries here in new york: magnolia, crumbs, buttercup, sugar sweet sunshine, chikalicious, etc. i could go on and on. whenever i visit a new shop, i always end up ordering the classic red velvet. my favorite one so far is from crumbs. the cake is dense and moist and the buttercream frosting is rich and delicious. it would probably be more economical to bake these at home, but that just means i end up devouring 3-4 cupcakes a day which is just not good. so i'm happy to pay $4 for my large crumbs cupcake. however, when the occasion calls (such as a friend's birthday for example), i gladly bake up a batch and keep some extras to eat some days afterward.



red velvet cupcakes
cake adapted from the new york times red velvet cake recipe
frosting adapted from paula deen's cream cheese frosting recipe
(makes 36)

ingredients:

cupcakes
3 1/2 c cake flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 c vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 large eggs
6 tbsp (3 ounces) red food coloring
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c buttermilk
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp white vinegar

frosting
2 8 oz. pkg (1 1/2 pounds) cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 c sifted confectioners' sugar

instructions:
preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 3 12-cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

in a large bowl, whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt. in a separate bowl, add oil and sugar and with an electric mixer beat at medium speed until well-blended. then beat in eggs one at a time. with machine on low, very slowly pour in the red food coloring (take care: it may splash). then pour in the vanilla. finally, add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

put baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. beat for 10 seconds.

divide batter among 3 12-cupcake pans, filling each about 2/3 full. bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

for the frosting, in a large bowl beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until very fluffy. add vanilla and mix until well-combined. finally, beat in confectioners' sugar.

let cupcakes completely cool before frosting. store in refrigerator.