Magnolia Bakery's Red Velvet Cupcakes

I made these Red Velvet Cupcakes last weekend & only managed to post the pictures in my FB page when the cakes were just out of the oven. I wanted to share the pictures & recipe here soon after but it was just impossible. My father & both my parents-in-law are in the hospital. That & my regular daily activities  have kept me super busy & when I come home in the evening, I'm just too exhausted to do anything!

These cupcakes were made using the recipe by the renowned Magnolia Bakery. I've read good reviews about this recipe, just like its vanilla cake recipe which I used to make my pandan cupcakes. Once again, Magnolia Bakery's recipe gets my thumbs-up! The cake is very delicious & moderately sweet. It goes well with the not-so-sweet cream cheese frosting. Its light & moist texture makes it such a delightful dessert. No wonder many who have tried baking & tasted it are full of praise for the recipe. Besides, it's quite easy to make since the recipe uses the creaming method, so not much mess to clean up!

Notes:

1. I used only half the original recipe & it's good for 22 medium cupcakes. 
2. I also converted the measurement into metric & made some changes to the  method. 
3. The cream cheese frosting is the one I usually used for my cinnamon buns. I used less than 140g of sugar as I didn't want the frosting to be too sweet.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients:
165g cake flour (not self-rising)
12g unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Valrhona.)
1/2 tsp baking soda
100g unsalted butter, softened

180g granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla paste.)

2 eggs, at room temperature
125ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk (I replaced buttermilk with a mixture of 1/2 cup milk & 1 tsp vinegar.)
1/2 tbsp red food colouring (I used Star brand artificial cochineal red colour.)

1/2 tsp vinegar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and lightly flour a cupcake pan (12 cupcakes). If using liners, no need to grease. I used 22 medium paper cups.
2. In a small bowl, sift the cake flour, cocoa powder & baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar, salt & vanilla until very light and fluffy, about 5 mins. 
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. In a measuring cup, stir the red food colouring & vinegar into the buttermilk. 
6. Fold in the flour into the batter in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until the ingredients are incorporated & the mixture is smooth but do not overmix. 
7. Divide the batter among the prepared pans or paper cups (I filled mine 3/4 full.) Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 mins, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack before icing. 

Adapted from recipe by Magnolia Bakery.

Source: ivillage.com.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
250g cream cheese
70g salted butter
140g powdered sugar (adjust according to your preference)
1 tsp vanilla paste

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat until smooth & creamy. To ice cupcakes, mound  frosting on top of each cupcake and use a spatula to make a swirl on top.