Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

So, I thought I'd start out with something INCREDIBLY SIMPLE...  Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting! 

Red Velvet Cupcakes:

1 box red velvet cake mix (and all required ingredients, see back of package)

1.  Prepare cake according to box’s directions.

2.  Line cupcake tins with 23 paper cups.

3.  Divide cake batter into 22 cupcake cups.  It is my experience that cake batters make 22 perfectly-sized cupcakes, not 24.

IMPORTANT: Scrape all leftover cake batter into a 23^rd paper cup to form a wee cupcake, as it will be broken up into crumbs later for decoration.  

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Cream Cheese Frosting

 

To generously frost 22 cupcakes:

½ cup unsalted butter

8 oz. cream cheese (full fat)

2 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp milk

3 cups powdered sugar

1.  With an electric mixer, whip room temperature-butter with cream cheese.  Note: Cream cheese should be somewhere between fridge-cold and room temperature for desired consistency.

2.  Add clear vanilla extract and milk at the point of a butter/cream cheese paste. 

3.  Beat in  powdered sugar (or add to your desired sweetness/consistency).

4.  Break up the small cupcake into crumbs and sprinkle over cupcakes for decoration before frosting sets.  NOTE: If the top of the cupcake is burnt, be sure to cut that off before crumbling the cake.