I have made this recipe a few times, originally from Ina Garten. There are a lot of steps, but you end up with a delicious soft red velvet cupcake thats worth it.
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
1 stick butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp gel food colouring (+1 tsp water) or 2 tbsp liquid food colouring
2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cup cake and pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp white vinegar
For the icing
8 oz brick of cream cheese, room temp
1 stick butter, left out for 30 minutes
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
For the Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350˚F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
In a small bowl, mix gel food colouring with 1 tbsp of water and cocoa powder. Mix with a fork until it becomes a paste.
Add cocoa food colouring mixture to the butter mixture and beat until combined.
Add eggs and mix well after each addition.
Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add vanilla to buttermilk. I didn’t have any buttermilk on hand so I made a substitute at home. I put 1 tbsp lemon juice in a 1 cup measuring cup and filled to the top with 1% milk.
Add dry and wet ingredients, alternating between the two until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl mix baking soda and vinegar. The two will bubble (similar to your grade 7 science experiment). Mix until it stops bubbling and add to the batter. Mix well.
Transfer to muffin liners.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
For the Icing:
With a paddle attachment, cream butter and cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time.
Add the tsp of vanilla and mix slowly. If it is too thick at 1/2 tsp of milk at a time until you have the right consistency.
Science Fact of the Week:
As you can probably guess, seeing as this recipe relates to a classic middle school science experiment, it seemed important to explain the science of mixing baking soda and vinegar. The mixing the reaction generates carbon dioxide gas. This is an example of an acid base reaction. It helps the red velvet rise well to make a light and airy cupcake.
The Science of Baking 