Sharing is Caring

So "stay in bed Sunday" may not have been the best idea. Remember how I mentioned Thatboy wasn't feeling so hot? Well he went to see the doctor on Monday, and on the way I sent him a little love message:

TG: So, I'm thinking you may have been right about this being a virus. And I'm thinking you may have passed it along.

About an hour later, I got a reply.

TB: The doctor thinks its bacterial. He gave me an antibiotic and told me I'm contagious, so to be sure to wash my hands.
TG: Hey contagious - did you tell him you've already passed it along to your wife?
TB: Sorry, didn't get your text in time.

On the plus side, he did bring me home flowers......

So now we're both fighting some intestinal distress. My doc wasn't as quick to throw antibiotics at me, so after some testing, we should have a pretty good idea of what ails us. Until then we have a very exciting meal plan made of bananas for breakfast, rice and applesauce for lunch, and eggs and toast for dinner. Not terribly blogworthy. And our non-eating activities aren't exceptionally blogworthy either, so I'll head back to the archives for a treat, just in time for Valentine's Day.

I'm a huge fan of red velvet cupcakes year round, but they're especially fantastic for Valentine's Day, because they're...well, red! Thatboy shares my love, so you'll have noticed in any cupcake post, you'll usually spot a red velvet as one of our selections. We know where all the best are in San Diego, although we don't agree on a favorite. I prefer the oversized, perfectly coiffed cupcakes from Daily Scoop. Thatboy likes the super sweet minis from Elizabethan Desserts.

Because we love red velvet cupcakes so much, I thought it would be an important recipe to have in my arsenal. I mean, I've done the Sprinkles mix route, but I'm one of those snobs who thinks everything is better when it's not from a box. Or a tube. Bridget has done a fantastic job of comparing several red velvet cupcake recipes, this uses some of her notes on the different recipes to create what should be the world's best red velvet cupcake. Well, it may not be the best, but in my humble opinion it's pretty damn good. So share it with someone you love.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

2.5 sticks butter, softened

1 cup + 2 Tbsp sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 bottle red food coloring

4 tsps vanilla

8 oz cream cheese

16 oz confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat 2 sticks of butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

2. In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Add eggs to butter/sugar mixture, one at a time, beating well between additions.

4. Mix in 1 cup sour cream, milk, food coloring and 2 tsps vanilla.

5. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into cupcan pan, filling each cup 2/3 full - I use my 1/4 cup measuring cup for this.

6. Bake 20 minutes or until done. Cool completely before frosting.

7. While cupcakes are cooling, beat cream cheese, remaining butter, sour cream and vanilla until light and fluffy. Slowly add in confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth. When cupcakes are cool frost!