i can’t help it…i love love. i love valentine’s day and i love all the wonderful people that read this blog and comment and also those of you with mountains of knowledge and advice. so, these are for you, red velvet cupcakes with vanilla bean cream cheese, because i think valentine’s day should be somethin’ special and these are just that. a little kitschy, a little silly, and a lot of yummy goodness…just for all of you.

and, before i forget i have to thank elyse for awarding me two (2!) blog awards. i can’t even express how awesome that makes me feel…i’ve never really been awarded anything. thankyouthankyouthankyou!

red velvet cupcakes
recipe from smitten kitchen
this makes a 3 layer cake, but i did cupcakes…i ended up with 24 cupcakes and there was extra batter, which i used to bake up a pan of mini cupcakes.

3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar.

preheat oven to 350 degrees. line cupcake tins with paper liners or grease well. for cake layers grease and line pans with parchement.

whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl. place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. beat in eggs one at a time. with machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring (it may spash!). add vanilla. add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. beat for 10 seconds.

divide batter among muffin tins, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes (40-45 for cake layers). allow to cool competely before frosting.

very vanilla cream cheese frosting

i doubled the recipe below since i like my cupcakes to stand tall and look dreamy.

adapted from sk

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter room temperature
3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean scraped and seeded (optional, but that is the very part)

place cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with vanilla bean seeds. with a handheld electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. add sugar and vanilla. beat, on low speed to combine. if too soft, chill until slightly stiff, about 10 minutes, before using.