For the Love of Red Velvet and Cream Cheese

I've been obsessed with red velvet cupcakes for around 5 years now. Now one would think if I was so in love with them, I'd probably have made them from scratch by now. Nope, wrong, never... Well, that was until yesterday when I went on a baking bender for a small party with friends. As the clock ticked away towards the time of my friends' arrival, I noticed that I had made all sorts of wonderful progress on the other calorie filled delights, including the cream cheese frosting for my yet to be baked cupcakes, but no actual cupcakes. Then, I had a terrible, terrible thought.... What if I resorted to my old standby, Betty Crocker Red Velvet Cake Mix? Could I do it? Could I really do that?! I quickly phoned my sister who is quite the gifted baker and explained to her my dilemma. We agreed that cake mix was the way to go given my time debacle. Besides, half of my motivation in making these from scratch was to make better-than-can frosting, and I had already achieved that. So, off to Treasure Island I went. If any of you reside near Chicago, you're familiar with this not so lovely grocery store chain. It's known as "America's Most European Grocery Store". The only thing European about the store is that all of their products are priced based upon the Euro and not the dollar! You pay twice as much for the same product and they have half the selection as a normal grocery store. I should've known better than to look for such a Southern product at a European store! Silly me! I came up empty handed and was forced to create the cupcakes from scratch after-all. Through it all, I am actually grateful that TI did not have the mix. From the color to the taste, my cupcakes blew the box-mix out of the water! They were a huge hit at the party!

So, without further delay, here is the recipe:

For the cake:

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
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


For the frosting:

1 brick of cream cheese (8oz)
1 stick butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until no lumps exist.

Divide the batter evenly among 24 cupcake tins. Bake for 22-24 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat together the cream cheese, butter and salt at medium speed. Mix for 2-3 minutes until you reach a creamy consistency. Add the confectioners' sugar in small batches until the frosting becomes thick and gooey. Refrigerate for 2 hours prior to frosting.