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RED VELVET CUPCAKES WITH CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

RED VELVET CUPCAKES WITH CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
These Red Velvet Cupcakes are super moist and topped with a delicious chocolate cream cheese frosting! They’d be great for any time, but with some super cute heart decorations, these babies are all decked out for Valentine’s Day!
The frosting is a chocolate cream cheese. You could totally leave out the cocoa and add in a bit more powdered sugar for a regular cream cheese frosting if you like. I just decided to change things up and add some chocolate. It pairs well with the red velvet and chocolate is yummy, so I went for it. But either would be delicious.
Once the frosting is added, the sides of the frosting are dipped into sprinkles and the cupcakes are topped with cute little hearts. I made the hearts with red candy melts, which are super easy to work with and dry nice and firm. You could even make other shapes, or little words like I did with the “love” on these strawberry cupcakes. So many options! No matter what though, these cupcakes are super moist, fluffy and totally delicious! A great treat to share – or keep to yourself!

INGREDIENTS:
RED VELVET CUPCAKES
  • 1 1/4 cup (163g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (207g) sugar
  • 1 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp natural unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp white vinegar
  • 2 tsp red food coloring
  • 1/2 cup hot water
CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
  • 8 oz (226g) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 6 tbsp (86g) butter, room temperature
  • 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup (57g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Sprinkles
  • 3 oz red candy melts

DIRECTIONS:
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.
  2. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking powder, cocoa and salt to a large mixer bowl and combine. Set aside.
  3. Add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, eggs, vinegar and red food coloring to a medium sized bowl and combine.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
  5. Slowly add the hot water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined.
  6. Fill the cupcake liners about half way and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
  7. Remove the cupcakes from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
  8. To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter with a mixer until smooth.
  9. Add about half of the powdered sugar, cocoa and vanilla extract and mix until smooth and well combined.
  10. Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
  11. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 808 to create the swirl.
  12. Press some sprinkles onto the sides of the frosting. I used a small bowl for the sprinkles and lightly pressed the cupcake into the sprinkles.
  13. To create the cupcake toppers, add the red candy melts to a small sized bowl and melt according to package instructions.
  14. Using a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 4 tip, pipe the melted candy into hearts of varying sizes. I mostly went with two sizes – one a little bigger than the other. Allow them to dry and harden, then add a couple hearts to the top of each cupcake.
  15. Refrigerate cupcakes until ready to serve. Cupcakes are best when kept in an air tight container for 3-4 days.
  16. Enjoy!
Recipe Source:lifeloveandsugar.com