martha's red velvet cakes! not red enough

there's me, the world and red velvet cakes..
seriously.. the indonesian isnt familiar with red velvet cake, when i brought the cupcakes version of this red velvet cake to campus today, i had to explain what the hell is red velvet cake, over and over.. but they LOVED it!!

i feel so silly if i looked back to couple years ago when i started this baking craze and baked my first red velvet cupcakes without knowing how it tastes, yessss, i didnt know how it tastes until few months ago when i had my first red velvet cupcakes in london, they tasted BLEH fyi.. too sweet for my liking :( and at the almost same time, my good friend tasted the famous red velvet cupcake from the famous sprinkles in L.A, she couldnt like anything more :D

okay, imagine me, rookie baker even rookier than now, without any clue about what red velvet except that it looked red and so good.. total silly! the result was a wreck cake!
but after this martha stewart's recipe red velvet cake is an easy peasy, heehee..
the cake is so moist and... VELVET-y! i love martha!
the only problem was only the red color, it wasnt red enough. but still! me liiiike red velvet!

red velvet cupcakes (cake)
Makes 24

* 2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
* 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
* 2 large eggs, room temperature
* 1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
* Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.
3. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.
4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
5. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

frost them with your favorite frosting, i frosted the cake with my own cream cheese frosting creation and the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream (no pictures of the cupcakes)