Sarah Pasquesi
My Favorite Cupcakes

I'm not an experienced baker even though Yolanda thinks I am. She asked me to pick a recipe. Something easy(ish) we could bake together. I thought it would be fun to make sweets for Valentine's Day. I came across a copycat recipe of one of my favorite desserts- THE Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcakes, cream cheese frosting and all.
They taste just like them! I had the cutest baking assistant (Yoli) but they were easy to make and the recipe is perfect.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup salted butter , firm but not cold*
1 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp red food coloring
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting , recipe follows
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
1/2 cup salted butter , firm but not cold
6 oz cream cheese , cold (I used Philadelphia brand)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda, set aside. In a separate large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, whip together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time stirring after each addition. Add red food coloring (be careful of clothing- this stuff stains) and vanilla extract and mix until combine. In a small mixing bowl (or in the measuring cup you used to measure milk), combine milk and 1 tsp vinegar. Add milk mixture and flour mixture to cupcake mixture, alternating in two separate batches, mixing until combine after each addition. Divide batter evenly among 15 paper lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven 18-21 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool about 2 minutes in muffin tin, then transfer to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, whip together butter and cream cheese until pale and fluffy (about 1 minute on high speed, then 3-4 minutes on medium high speed). Mix in vanilla extract. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Once cooled completely, spread generously!

We threw some festive sprinkles on top, but the original recipe detailed how you can get the true Sprinkles look. Each batch yields 15 cupcakes. We had so much fun making these and will definitely be back in the kitchen again soon. Stay tuned and enjoy! #sarahandyolanda #inthekitchen
Recipe Source: Cooking Classy