I <3 Red Velvet

One of my absolute cupcake flavors is red velvet. Prior to last year, I had never even heard of this flavor, but when I was organizing a Valentine's Day dinner party last year, there were these adorable red velvet cupcakes on the cover of Better Homes & Gardens. After reading up on it, I found out that red velvet is a traditional Southern recipe (i.e. the red velvet armadillo groom's cake in Steel Magnolias) and is a hybrid between vanilla and chocolate cake with a lot of red dye. I don't know why red dye, I just know the end result paired with cream cheese frosting is fantastic.

Before adding the dry ingredients, the batter looks like abstract art

I have turned almost everyone I know into red velvet fanatics. It's gotten to the point where if I'm baking cupcakes, everyone is like "these are really good, but where's the red velvet??" I think someone may even currently be in rehab for their red velvet addiction. (Kidding, but Kim did have to flee the country to shake the addiction.)

Cooling cupcakes - Love my new cupcake trivet - Thanks Kathie!!

The worst part about making these is that after I get done mixing them, that area of the kitchen looks like a crime scene, with bright red batter splattered all over the place. I am not a tidy baker (although I'm working on it Mom!), and before these go in the oven, the kitchen is straight out of an episode of CSI.

Murder mystery scene