Recipe courtesy of the book Red Velvet Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

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Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups white (granulated) sugar
• 1 stick salted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsps red food color gel or liquid
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down when you measure it)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar or white

For the frosting:

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup salted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F, rack in the middle position.

For the cupcakes:

Cream the white sugar in the bowl and add the butter and vegetable oil. Beat until the mixture is nice and fluffy. Mix in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Add the 2 teaspoons of red food color gel and the vanilla extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add one cup of flour to your bowl and mix it in thoroughly. Pour in a half-cup of buttermilk and mix. Add a second cup of flour to your bowl. Add the rest of the buttermilk (1/2 cup) to your bowl. Mix well. Then mix in the rest of the flour (1/2 cup) and mix thoroughly. Lastly, mix in the red wine vinegar. The vinegar may make your batter foam up a bit. Thats perfectly all right. Fill the cupcake papers with batter until they’re 3/4 full. These cupcakes don’t rise very much so you dont have to worry about them overflowing. Bake the cupcakes for 20 to 23 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the frosting:

Mix together the cream cheese and the butter in a medium-size bowl. Add the vanilla extract to your bowl and stir that in. Add the powdered sugar, a half-cup at a time, stirring after each addition. Continue to add powdered sugar until the frosting is spreadable, not runny. Beat until fluffy. Lastly, spread onto the cupcakes.

Original recipe from: