1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I like to do a little more cocoa and a little less flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bottle or tube of hot pink Food Color (i use pink instead of red, I think it gives a nice color, but if you only have red go for it)
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting: (Don’t you dare buy the frosting!)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
1 (16 ounce) box confectioners’ sugar
Some of those really pretty sparkly crystals or pearls for decoration. Also red frosting!
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
3. The recipe calls for 20-25 minutes, but this is entirely too long. Cook regular sized cupcakes for 16 minutes, take them out and leavem them in the pan for 15 minutes. This will help cook the outside of the cupcake still while leaving the middle moist and goey. For the mini cupcakes 10 minutes was perfect.
