Happy 4th of July: Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy 4th everyone! Today I baked my (well they're Paula Deen's, click on the words to get recipe) red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. For an added all American touch I placed a blueberry on top--they're red, white, and blue! I have to admit they came out wonderfully! I've made them several times, so I've got it down by now. The cupcakes are a HIT! They're really easy to make, just a little time consuming since they don't come from a box.

Here are a few of my pointers in baking these cupcakes--because I am a novice baker, these tips are for starters like myself;

1. Don't pre-sift the flour. I did this the first time I made the cupcakes. Sift once.
2. Be sure to only fill the 2/3's of the way, otherwise you'll have muffin tops.
3. At the twenty minute mark in the oven, stick a toothpick in there, if it comes out clean, they're done. I take them out of the muffin pans so they don't bake anymore and place them on a wire rack.
4. Frost when they're cool! The cream cheese will melt otherwise.
5. Today I put the frosting in the fridge while they were cooling, and when the cupcakes were cool enough to frost I took the frosting out. The frosting gets really soft, and I think it's easiest to start cool, by the time  you've frosted 24 cupcakes it is softened up.  
6. The cupcake papers with the foil work best because there is a lot of oil in the batter, keeps hands cleaner in the end.   
7. Flat spatula that has an angle works best to frost the cupcakes, I found one at Walmart. If you don't have one the back of a spoon works well to--thanks to my friend Jennie I know this now. 
8. Don't be shy with the cream cheese frosting, I always have left over frosting. You maybe able to get away with making two batches of cupcakes to every batch of frosting OR you can cut the recipe in half. 
9. A smallish ice cream scooper works really well in getting the batter into the cupcake papers. 

Here's a video that I watched before I made them, DIFFERENT RECIPE, good tips though.

 The pics below are from a couple months ago--I don't have any pics of the blueberries on top--trust me it's super cute.