No Thank You Bite: Pink Velvet?

Since it's FINALLY cold outside (I actually wore a sweater the entire day without getting too hot!), I decided it's high time to start on some serious Fall baking. In honor of yesterday's post and the baby shower this weekend for Sometimes Sweet, I decided to try my luck at red velvet cupcakes from scratch. I used Paula Deen's recipe and to my (pleasent) surprise, they weren't overly sugary.

Here's what you're gonna need.

(ps my bowls are from Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie as is my precious little egg holder)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 tablespoons red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Now, what you're SUPPOSED to do is mix all dry ingredients seperately from the wet ones. This just goes to show that I'm a lazy baker. I didn't want to have another bowl to clean so I just threw it all in the mixer together. You know what? They turned out fine! So suck it, sifting! (just kidding, sifting rules.)

For all of you un-lazy bakers combine all dry ingredients in a seperate bowl and use a mixer/hand mixer/wisk to combine your buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, oil and vinegar. Slowly add in dry ingredients.

Mix until the batter is smooth. Notice on my beautiful mixer how the front knob isn't there? Yeah it went flying into the batter when I turned it on because I didn't have it secured in there. Oopsy.

Have your oven pre-heated to 350. Line 2 12 cup cupcake tins with papers. Fill them up 3/4 of the way. Don't do what I did and fill them up 100% of the way. It's my goal to have you all learn from my mishaps.

Set your timer for about 22 minutes and bake away. I'm really excited about my new timer being a magnet so I can't lose it.

The photobooth pictures are with my BFF from an event we went to a few weeks ago, please ignore (or praise) the 2nd picture down where I'm pickin' my nose. I'm not LITERALLY picking my nose, I just ran out of poses.

Anywho...here's what you'll need for the cream cheese frosting to make while your cupcakes are baking.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 pound cream cheese, softened

2 sticks butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

I used closer to 3 cups of sugar, because this makes A LOT of frosting. Basically chuck it all into your mixer and let it do all the work. (If you can't tell I'm obsessed).

After your cupcakes are done take them out of the tins to let cool. Please be sure to let them cool completely before icing them or the frosting will melt. I've done that way too many times. Remember when I said I shouldn't have filled the papers up all the way? Yeah, this is why.

Oh well, extra big cupcakes then!

Go ahead and ice your cupcakes and enjoy! OH, wondering why I called the post pink velvet? Because I only had 1 1/2 tablespoons of red food coloring so theyre closer to hot pink than deep red. How girly!