Red Velvet Cupcakes

I am a big fan of red velvet cake. BIG fan! It is definitely one of my top choices among desserts. Several months back I attempted a batch of homemade red velvet cupcakes, but unfortunately... they burned. I was pretty shocked because up until that point I had never burnt a batch of cupcakes. I was certain I could correct my error, so I tried them again. I lowered the temperature of the oven, I set my timer for a few minutes less and I waited with a watchful eye to make sure I didn't overlook when they were ready to come out, but unfortunately... they still burned. So, I threw out the recipe. I tried a few different cupcake recipes after my twice lived disaster, but my results were not improving. I was devastated. My confidence at cupcake baking was quickly diminishing, and I knew I had to do something because this is one form of dessert I cannot live without. So, at that point, I threw out my muffin pans. They never seemed to fully recover after the first burnt batch, so it was time to part ways with them. I have since bought new muffin pans, and so far I love them! But, I figured my true test would be to have another go at red velvet cupcakes. When Annie from Annie's Eats posted her red velvet cupcakes I knew it was time to try again. I have baked a few cupcakes from Annie's blog and have always swooned over the results. It was fate. I had to try these.

Woohoo! My muffin pans did not fail me. In fact, they completely surpassed my expectations. These are amazing!! I used a white chocolate cream cheese frosting that I've been waiting to try and the pairing was beautiful. It is such a delicate frosting, and when you marry it to this moist cupcake you "ooh and ah" all over it. So good!

Ingredients
Cake (yields 24 cupcakes):
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt 
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp (1 oz) liquid red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp distilled white vinegar 

Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 oz white chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 tsp milk or cream
4-6 cups confectioners sugar 

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 standard muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Gradually mix in dry ingredients on low speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Divide the batter evenly between prepared liners. Bake 18-20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Cupcakes are ready when a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Place pans on wire racks to cool. Cool in pans 5-10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool completely.

For frosting, cream together cream cheese, butter and melted white chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Beat in vanilla and milk. Gradually add confectioners sugar until frosting reaches desired consistency (a stiffer consistency is ideal for piping onto cupcakes).

Source: cupcake adapted from Annie's Eats, frosting adapted from Random Anderson