Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet is sort of a family tradition for me. I had never even heard of red velvet until I met my husband, and I have to be honest...the first time I ever had it I thought it was awful. I think, though, it was because I was expecting it to taste like a chocolate cake or vanilla cake, and it doesn't. It definitely has it's own flavor!

After my husband and I got married, and I knew it was his favorite cake, I tried several time to find a recipe that was 1) easy 2) moist (nothing is worse than a dry red velvet!) and 3) husband approved. My first attempt was a three-layer cake with buttercream frosting for Valentine's Day one year. While the cake was okay, it was a little dry and I didn't love the pairing with the buttercream.

My next attempt was also a cake, and still dry. I used (gasp - don't judge me) canned cream cheese frosting. Still, not amazing, and I learned that day that I was never going to use canned frosting again.

After all this, cupcakes became all the rage in Foodie land. So I found a few red velvet cupcake recipes and after several attempts at each, I combined elements of each that I liked and created what my family thinks is the perfect red velvet cupcake recipe!! It is so easy to make and very elegant for any occasion. We make it for Valentine's Day every year and Christmas too. You could also substitute the red food coloring for green and make green velvet cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day!

**If you don't have buttermilk you can make your own! Place 1 1/2 Tablespoons white vinegar in a measuring cup. Pour milk into cup until it reaches 1 1/2 cups total. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Ta-da! Buttermilk!!

 LOVE the ruby red color!

I frost mine with a large star tip

Red Velvet Cupcakes
by Girls in Aprons

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cocoa powder
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 T red food coloring
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake papers. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. (Sifting is important here because it helps the texture to be more fluffy). In a large bowl gently beat the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the went and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake papers, about 2/3 full. (I find it really easy and lots cleaner to pour the batter in a gallon-size baggie and snip of a corner. Then I can just squeeze the amount of batter in the cupcake liner without dripping all over the pan like I do when I fill with a spoon.) Bake in oven 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once halfway through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING:

1 cube unsalted butter, softened
1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 3/4 to 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar (I use a little more because I like my frosting stiffer)
1 tsp vanilla

Beat the butter and cream cheese together. Add powdered sugar a cup at a time and vanilla.

Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Syrup

I feel like I have a lot on my plate. I have three kids (ages 7, 5 and 3), I'm co-VP of the school PTSA, I teach the 14-15 year olds at church every Sunday, plus all the little stuff that comes up throughout the day. So what does a girl do who doesn't really have a spare moment in the day? She gets hooked on Pinterest! You all know what I'm talking about (and if you don't you should! Although I'll warn you, it's addicting!). I have added so many things to my boards on Pinterest that I'm feeling overwhelmed! But one of the things I saw that I knew I had to make was Red Velvet Pancakes.

Now, a couple of years ago, I had never tried red velvet before. I had heard mixed reviews about it, mostly because people feel it's supposed to be a chocolate cake but it's not, or the oil in it makes it weird. My first encounter with red velvet was Celeste's cupcakes and they are divine. In fact, she's posting the recipe later today or tomorrow, so stay tuned!

So for the pancakes, which I got off Pinterest but were from a website called Kojo Designs. It calls for red velvet cake mix, which I've never used since the recipe Celeste has is from scratch, but it does exist! It made these pancakes super easy to make. It only calls for 2/3 cup of the mix, so you can double the recipe and still have some left over to make these pancakes another time. As for the frosting, I made the recipe on the site but it was super watery so I ended up changing it a little until it was thicker, like syrup.

My kids loved these and ate them up. Perfect for Valentine's Day or any other day!

Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Syrup
submitted by Girls in Aprons, slightly adapted from kojo-designs.com

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup red velvet cake mix
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk

Mix the dry ingredients, add in the wet ingredients.  Mix with a blender until there are no lumps- it should look like pancake batter. Pour into a medium-hot skillet, about 1/4 a cup per pancake. Cook for about a minute on each side (maybe more). Serve warm, with cream cheese syrup and sprinkles!

Cream Cheese Frosting Syrup

8oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 TBL vanilla frosting
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together until smooth. It won't be gooey like regular syrup, but will be slightly thick. Pour on pancakes and top with sprinkles, if desired.