So for Jonas’ birthday I wanted to make him some red velvet cupcakes, but it’s either me or the food colouring both in Lithuania and in the UK isn’t very good since I can never get the batter to be red- so I made him black velvet cupcakes! They’re exactly the same as red velvet but without the food dye. If you want them to be red- try and find a very strong red food colour, but I think they’re just as great without the red! Definitely a very sinful treat though! enjoy:)

Recipe: makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

1/2 cup unsalted butter;
1/2 cup white sugar;
1/2 cup brown sugar;
2 eggs;
3 tbsp cocoa powder;
2 tsp vanilla extract;
1/2 tsp salt;
1 tsp baking powder;
1 1/2 cup flour;
2/3 cup buttermilk.

For the cream-cheese frosting:

3/4 cup cream cheese;
2 tbsp cup unsalted butter;
1/4 tsp vanilla extract;
3 cups powdered sugar;
1-3 tbsp of milk;
decorations or sprinkles of choice (optional).

Procedures:

Mix together the butter and the sugars in a large bowl. Add the eggs and mix in completely.
To the mixture- add cocoa powder and the vanilla extract, salt, baking powder and buttermilk- mix until smooth.
Add flour 1 cup at a time and mix until lump free.
Line cupcake or muffin tray with cupcake liners and pour batter into each cupcake lines 3/4 of the way full.
Bake cupcakes at 180 degrees C for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.
Once the cupcakes are baked – take them out of the oven and let them cool completely.
Once the cupcakes are cool – in a large bowl cream together the softened butter and the softened cream cheese. Add the vanilla extract and add in powdered sugar little by little- making sure to mix slowly.
Add the remaining of the powdered sugar and add a tbsp or so of milk if you think the frosting is too thick to spread.
Once the cupcakes are completely cool and the frosting is prepared- either pipe some or use a spatula to spread some on each cupcake and add sprinkles if you wish.

Enjoy!