Red Velvet Cupcakes

Sometimes I look back on my old photos. Then, I start to cry. Followed by hysterical laughter, embarrassed under the bed hiding and vows to pretend I don’t know who I am if I ever meet myself in public.

Mind you, I’m still far from a world class photographer. Bon Appetit isn’t going to be printing any of my photos anytime soon. Heck, sometimes I refuse my own photos and send myself haughty emails saying “don’t call us, we’ll call you”. But all of that aside, I like to think I’ve gotten a wee bit better over the years. Aside from all of that though, I have a couple dozen more readers than I did back when I started. Maybe. On a good day. And some of the things I did back in the day were quite tasty, but one would never know it based on the photos. I actually bake some of the goodies I made back when I started. So I’ve decided to periodically redo some of my older recipes. If they need revamped, I’ll do that. If they don’t, I’ll simply remake them and hopefully give them better photos.

The latter is the case today. I made these Red Velvet Cupcakes Christmas and Valentines Day are the times when everyone goes Red Velvet happy. I didn’t do anything red velvet for Christmas, so Valentines Day it is. Chocolate is the perfect food for romance and love. I know, some say oysters are, but I want one person to explain to me how something that looks like a lump of snot is romantic. Wait… too blunt and kinda gross? Sorry. But seriously (heh… *I* used the word seriously. Me. Feel free to giggle.), chocolate is romantic.

Are cupcakes, though? I think that depends on ones manners. if you are the type to eat daintily and offer bits to your s/o. maybe. If however, you shove the whole thing in your face and then burp and giggle, you may want to make alternate plans for your Saturday nights. Just sayin’

These are yummy cupcakes and easy as boxed mix. Wait. They are boxed mix. Guess what. They can also use Cool Whip in the frosting. That one is optional. You can also sub real freshly whipped cream. I’ve done both and prefer the whipped cream because it makes the frosting less sweet. But these are intensely chocolatey cupcakes with a rich, creamy frosting. Chocolate…romance…love… just leave oysters out of it. And burps.

You know the drill… 🙂

Red Velvet Cupcakes

• 1 box red velvet cake mix
• 1 4 ounce box of instant chocolate pudding
• 1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, room temp
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
• 1 cup whipped cream or cool whip

1. Preheat oven to temp suggested on cake mix box. Line 20 muffin cups with liners, or grease them well.
2. Prepare cake mix as package directs, adding in the box of instant pudding and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extract. Beat well for two minutes. The mixture will be thick. It will also be tasty…. don’t eat too much. 😀
3.  Fill the prepared cups about half full. Don’t overfill; this batter rises like crazy. If you need to use more cups, just line more. But I got 20.
4. Bake according to package directions. When done, turn out onto a rack to cool.
5. While they cool, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter and remaining vanilla extract until light and fluffy looking. Add in the powdered sugar; here is where I usually stir it with the beater OFF, just to prevent being covered in sugar dust. When it’s mixed, turn the beater to high and beat until the mixture is thick and creamy, about three to five minutes.
6. Spread or pipe frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Decorate as desired.

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