Red Velvet, White & Blue Cupcakes

A classic dessert with a touch of patriotic perfection.

What you'll need:

For the cupcakes:

• 1 white cake mix
• 3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• Red food dye
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

For the frosting:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• Red & blue food dye

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix cake mix and cocoa powder into a small bowl. Set aside. Combine eggs, oil, buttermilk, yogurt and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in cake mixture to liquid mixture. Add red food due to mixture until batter is desired red color. Mix in apple cider vinegar. Place cupcake liners  in pans. Fill liners with batter 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let completely cool and remove cupcakes from pan.

To make cream cheese frosting, beat softened cream cheese and butter on low for 2-3 minutes. Add in vanilla and slowly add in powdered sugar. If frosting is too thick add a little milk. If frosting is too thin add some more powdered sugar. Separate frosting into three bowls. One for red, white and blue. Use the red and blue food dyes to color the frosting to desired colors. Place each of the frosting colors into small piping bags. Cut off a tip about 1 inch up from point. Place a 1M piping tip or large circle tip into a large piping bag. Put the three small red, white and blue filled piping bags into the large piping bag. Make sure the small piping bag tips are at the same level in the large bag so when piped you get an equal amount of each color. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes in circular motion. Top with patriotic sprinkles. Enjoy!

Makes 24 cupcakes.