Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

- 125g unsalted butter, softened
- 100ml any flavourless oil
- 250g granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 140g buttermilk
- 230g plain flour
- 20g cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- Plus some red gel food colouring

For the cream cheese frosting:

- 250g unsalted butter, softened
- 250g icing sugar, sieved
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 500g cream cheese

Instructions:

1. Start by pre-heating your oven to 180c. Also, add your cupcake cases into your cupcake tins.

2. In a large bowl, add the butter, oil, sugar and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat these together on high speed for 5 minutes.

3. Add 2 of the eggs, and whisk these in. Then whisk in the remaining 2 eggs. Now whisk in the buttermilk and red food colouring.

4. Add the flour and cocoa powder to this and whisk just until you get a smooth batter.

5. In a separate small bowl, add the baking soda and then pour the vinegar over it. This will start bubbling, give it a quick mix, then immediately pour it into your cake batter and mix until incorporated.

6. Fill your cupcake cases with this batter until they're 3/4 of the way full, then bake them for around 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Once baked, leave these aside to cool.

Making the cream cheese frosting:

1. In a large bowl, add the softened butter and beat this for 1 minute.

2. Add half of the icing sugar to this and mix. Now add the rest of the icing sugar along with the vanilla. Mix until combined and then beat this on high speed for 5 minutes.

3. Add in the cream cheese and mix until you get a smooth, thick mixture.

Time To Decorate!!!

1. Once your cupcakes have cooled, you can decorate them with any topping that you may like.