Alice Hu’s Red Queen’s Revenge Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 2½ cups flour
• 1½ cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1⅓ cups vegetable oil
• ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
• ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
• Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
• A small palmful of pink peppercorns, roughly chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line mini cupcake or muffin pans with 48 mini cupcake liners, or line regular-size cupcake or muffin pans with 24 regular cupcake liners.

In mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. In another mixing bowl, stir together the eggs and oil. In a mixing cup, mix together the buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla extract and lightly whisk. Gradually add the dry ingredients and buttermilk mixture to the egg mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. We are trying to achieve a dark brownish-red cupcake color, so add more cocoa powder if the red is not deep enough. Then add the batter to the mini cupcake liners until they are ¾ full and bake for 13 to 14 minutes, or until done. Alternately, fill the regular-size cupcake liners and bake 22 minutes, or until done. Let the cupcakes cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Combine the sugar, cream cheese, butter, salt, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl and blend for 2 minutes.

And finally, the Queen’s Revenge—take a small dusting of pink peppercorn and carefully sprinkle the tops of each cupcake. Both sweet and spicy!