Red Velvet Cupcakes
makes about 24
adapted from epicurious.com, who got it from More From Magnolia: Recipes From The World-Famous Bakery and Magnolia’s Home Kitchen

Cupcakes
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
6 tablespoons red food coloring (I used a teeny .3-oz bottle, maybe about 2 tablespoons, and it worked fine)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Frosting
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl on high speed until pale, creamy, and fluffy. 
3. Add eggs one at a time, and incorporate fully before adding the next. 
4. Add the food coloring. And the cocoa powder and the vanilla extract. 
5. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and salt.
6. ALTERNATE adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk into the red batter on SLOW speed. Do this in 3 additions, eyeballing the amounts. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just as long as it all ends up in the bowl. 
7. Take the vinegar and pour it into the baking soda. There will be lots of fizzing.
8. Quickly, pour it to your batter, and fold it in.
9. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. Fill them 2/3 of the way.  
10. Bake in your preheated 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. After 18 minutes I start poking them in the center with a toothpick. If there’s still wet batter clinging on, I keep baking in 3 minute intervals. As soon as the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cupcakes. Let cool completely.

For the frosting:
1. Whisk the milk into a saucepan and sprinkle in the flour. The flour will dissolve easily in cold milk.
2. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Keep cooking until thickened and bubbly and gurgley. It took me about 7 minutes. 
3. Scrape it into a dish for fast cooling. You want it come to room temperature. Put a piece of plastic wrap directly on its surface to prevent a skin from forming.
4. Meanwhile beat your butter in the bowl of an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy and creamy. 
5. Add the sugar and beat on high for a couple more minutes. It will be pale, light, creamy and airy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. 
6. Stir in vanilla extract.
7. Add the cooled flour/milk mixcture. You’ll notice it firmed up considerably up as it cooled. (If yours is watery, you didn’t cook it on the stove long enough. You can return it to the saucepan, and keep cooking it.)
8. Whip everything on high for 5 minutes. It will be snowy white, and almost like marshmallow fluff. Very pillowy. 
9. This needs to be refrigerated for about 15 minutes before using. You can simply leave it in the bowl you used for whipping, or scrape into storage containers.
10. Frost the cupcakes!