Red Velvet Cupcakes

I love the south. John took me to Savannah, GA 3 years ago and I fell in love with it. We've been back every year since.  Red Velvet Cake is such a big deal down there, and yet, I've never really had it or made it. I didn't get what the big deal was... what?. Because it's red? I don't know! Well I figured I'd give it a shot so I looked up about 50 recipes and finally settled on one from the joyofbaking.com- It came out super moist and delicious. I'm still not really sold on fact that it's anything super special but it's definitely good. I apologize for my poor looking cream cheese frosting. It's not as stiff as I'd like (that's what she said, HA) but I didn't have any heavy cream and I used a little milk. I should have skipped adding the milk but you live, you learn.  Here is what I did to make these southern belles:


1 stick butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder (i added that bc i wanted them to rise a little)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder 
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 tbsp red food coloring
I baked at 350 for 20 minutes- batter made 16 cupcakes


For the frosting I used 3 tbsp soft butter, 1/2 cup shortening, 3/4 cup soft cream cheese, 3 cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract (clear vanilla)- I also added about 1/4 cup milk- I wish I hadn't bc it thinned it too much. I piped the icing on the cooled caked and then crumbled a cupcake up and toasted the crumbs slightly and sprinkled on top! Try em out and tell me what you think...