Christmas Themed Red Velvet Cupcakes

I received a request for red velvet cupcakes a couple of months ago. I decided Christmas would be the perfect time to experiment with a recipe I randomly found. I figured since the cake would be red anyway, it would not be difficult to make the frosting green and make a Christmas themed garnish. I used the same cream cheese frosting I had used to make the carrot cake cupcakes and I modified the cake recipe to become a cupcake recipe. The result was more than I had hoped for; the cake was very moist, while the cream cheese frosting was the perfect balance of sweet and cream cheese to compliment the chocolate cake. 

Ingredients

For the batter:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 ounce red food coloring 

1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar

1/2 cup of prepared plain coffee

For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter

8 oz cream cheese

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt/ Set the bowl aside.

In another mixing bowl, mix together the sugar and vegetable oil.

Add in the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and red food coloring and mix well. 

Stir in the coffee and white vinegar. While mixing, slowly add the dry and wet ingredients together.

Pour batter into muffin sheets that are lined with cupcake tins. Be sure to only fill tins about 3/4 of the way as the batter will rise while baking.

Bake cupcakes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

Once muffin pan is taken out of the oven, pull cupcakes along with their liners out of the pan and put on a surface away from the heat to allow them to cool. 

While the cupcakes are cooling, combine the butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Next, add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Also, add in some food coloring if you would like the frosting to have some color.

Once the cupcakes are completely cool, spread the frosting on top using a spatula. 

Feel free to add garnishments. I used pomegranate seeds and parsley to make mistletoe. 

Enjoy!