Love is in the air, passions are being ignited, Netflix is ready to chill. Yes, its Valentines, which is a little different this year, no flashy meals out, more like a "2 dine" offer from the supermarket. So why not spice up that romantic meal and make these gorgeous classic red velvet cupcakes, they're perfect for sharing!

Most valentines' recipes are chocolate focused or strawberry, but why not red velvet? Bright passionate red cake with delicately light chocolate and vanilla flavour, with sensually soft tangy frosting it's a match made in heaven! This recipe is super easy and quick! You can have a full batch of cakes in an afternoon! Give these a try this Valentine's day and let me know on Instagram (@Make.A.Bake.For.It) how they turn out! And let's hope they win over that special person in your life, even if that person is you!

Ingredients

180 g self-raising flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

170 g caster sugar

2 tablespoon cocoa powder

100 g unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons red gel / paste food colouring

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100 ml buttermilk

½ teaspoon white vinegar

 To decorate – 

300 g powdered sugar, sifted.

200 g cream cheese, at room temperature

100 g butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Heart shaped sprinkles or red sanding sugar

Method 

1 -

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

2 -

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside. 

3 -

In a separate bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, if using, add the butter and sugar and beat on a medium high speed until pale and fluffy. While this is mixing, combine your food colouring, vanilla, egg, vinegar and buttercream in a jug and stir together to dissolve the food colouring.

4 -

Gradually whisk your wet and dry ingredients into the butter mixture, alternating between the two until well combined. Do not overmix.

Divide the batter evenly into the prepared cupcake cases. They should be no more than two thirds full.

5 -

Bake the cupcakes in the middle of your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick, when inserted into the centre, comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to fully cool.

If not decorating and/or using straight away, you can store these cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting 

Before starting, ensure that your butter and cream cheese are at room temperature. The best way to know this for sure is to leave them out of the fridge overnight.

Add your softened butter and cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer. You can use a hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer. Mix the butter and cream cheese together at medium speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy and there are no lumps of unmixed butter. Once mixed together, add your vanilla extract and icing sugar and mix until fully combined and holds its shape. Be careful not to mix at high speed or for too long as this can make the cream cheese separate and the icing will not hold its shape. You can still use over whipped cream cheese frosting; it will just be very soft but will be just as delicious. 

Once all mixed, place in the fridge to firm up for at least 1 hour but preferably overnight before frosting your cupcakes. The frosting can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days. 

To decorate

Using an open star piping tip, pipe generous swirls of your cream cheese frosting on top of the fully cooled cupcakes and top with your sprinkles or sanding sugar. 

Optionally, you can sacrifice one of the cupcakes and grate it into fine crumbs and sprinkle those on top. This is the more traditional way to decorate red velvet cakes and is a good way to show off that brilliant colour (but you can stick with the sprinkles should you wish).  

These cakes, once iced, can be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days.