Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp white vinegar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 oz red food dye
1 tsp vanilla






Preheat oven to 375 degrees for a conventional oven at high altitude. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for a convection oven or if you are at sea level. Beat eggs in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or regular bowl. Slowly add oil and then sugar. Once blended, add vinegar, buttermilk, and red food coloring. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt and coca powder.

Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in three parts, beating just until blended and scraping sides of bowl with a spatula in between. Once batter is ready, let it rest for 15-20 minutes before baking. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into cake comes out clean.

While cupcakes are baking, you can make the icing.....

Frosting Ingredients:

4 cups powdered sugar

1lb cream cheese, room temp

1lb butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing
In a mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Then add vanilla and one cup of powdered sugar, beat until blended. Then add 1/3 cup of milk and another cup of powdered sugar. Keep adding 1 cup of sugar at a time, blending in well after each addition until desired consistency is reached. Up to 6 cups of powdered sugar may be used. Consistency is best when icing does not drop from the paddle attachment when lifted from the bowl or the beaters of the handheld mixer.