Red Velvet and Un-red Velvet Cupcakes

I first made these Red Velvet Cupcakes for a viewing of the "Red Shoes." Delicious!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. milk
1 oz. red food colouring
2 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream butter and sugar together for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs until combined. Mix in sour cream, milk, food colouring and vanilla.
3. Mix remaining dry ingredients together. Add to the creamed mixture.
4. Line tins with cupcake liners. Fill cups 2/3 full.
5. Bake 20-25 min.
6. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. 8 oz cream cheese
2. 1/4 c. butter
3. 2 Tbsp. sour cream
4. 2 tsp. vanilla
5. 16 oz. icing sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream, vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in icing sugar until creamy.

Un-Red Velvet Cupcakes

These came about when I meant to make these for a party but didn't have any red food colouring or and cream cheese. They still turned out delish with just regular buttercream frosting. Successful versions of Un-Red Velvet Cupcakes include:

• vanilla yoghurt instead of sour cream
• no red food colouring
• dark cocoa instead of regular cocoa
• a combination of all three.