3rd 52! Red Velvet Cupcakes!

I have never had red velvet cupcakes before but I think that I will make these again VERY soon! I loved these, they may possibly be my favorite cupcakes ever. Unfortunately its a LOT of dishes to wash! While I was making these I was having some doubts, for instance I tried the buttermilk, BLECH! And when I mixed the food coloring and cocoa powder it was all clumpy and the recipe made it seem like it was supposed to be smooth. But these turned out amazingly! I was planning on only making the cake and using store-bought icing but it wasn't until after I started cooking the cupcakes that I realized I didn't have any icing. So I looked through my cook books and found a very simple recipe for vanilla icing (I had wanted to make cream cheese icing but we didn't have enough cream cheese).  It was kind of messy because my butter wasn't completely room temperature.  But it turned out DELICIOUS.  It was very rich though so you don't need a lot but everyone said that it was good with the cupcake.
So if you want to learn how to make these look below!

Ingredients (for the cake):

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 ounce bottle of food coloring*
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick) softened**
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tsp baking soda

* The recipe I used said 2 1 ounce bottles of coloring but I only used 1 and my cupcakes were very red.
**I found out 2 new ways to make butter room temperature! (Because I ALWAYS forget to take it out of the fridge). You can use a hair-dryer on the butter or stick it in a ziplock bag seal the bag and stick it under hot water (or in a bowl filled with hot water)

How To Make Them:
Preheat Oven To 350 F.  Combine Flour and salt in a medium bowl. Combine Buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl. In another small bowl stir cocoa and food coloring together until combined (and maybe a little clumpy). Beat sugar and butter in electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (or so it looks combined).  Add eggs to mixer and beat well. Add coca mixture to mixer and be well (until its all the same color red). Add flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately until blended.  Combine vinegar and baking soda in yet another small bowl (I used my flour mixture bowl because that was the cleanest). Fold Mixture into batter don't use your mixer. Spoon batter into cupcake tins and bake for 18-20 min or until toothpick comes out clean.        Makes 18 Cupcakes 
Adapted from 100 Best Cupcake Recipes

And Now for the icing!
Ingredients:

• 3/4 a cup butter (a stick and a 1/4) softended
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups confectioners sugar (same as powdered sugar)
• 1-2 tsp milk (if needed)

Here's How to make it:
Cream the butter and vanilla until combined.  Add the sugar in 2 or 3 batches scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. And the milk if needed to make the frosting creamier. See I told you it was easy just make sure your butter is softened!
Adapted From Cake Pops By Bakerella
And here are some pictures of the cupcakes and icing!


                                                                                                   

I love this picture its so perfect!