The Ultimate Cream Cheese Frosting

Today was my last day in the office. After months of careful consideration, I decided to hang up the career hat and put on the soccer mom hat. As a parting gift to my wonderful coworkers for the past five years, I spent last night baking up 30 Red Velvet cupcakes. 20 made it to the office. 

The Red Velvet cupcakes turned out super moist and delicious. I tweaked an old favorite recipe by replacing some of the butter with sour cream and vegetable oil (ptsh, here's a secret, sour cream and vegetable oil make a super moist cake).

For the cake recipe, click here. For the frosting, it was a traditional cream cheese frosting with a bit of fresh lemon juice. The lemon juice helps to cut through the sweetness and provides a subtle yet lovely fragrance. To get the frosting super light, you will need an electric mixer. The more you mix, the fluffier it gets. I left my stand mixer on medium speed while I prepped myself and the kids for bed. When I came down to the kitchen, about 15 minutes later, the frosting was perfectly fluffy and ready for pipping. I pipped with an extra large round tip and topped the frosting off with a tiny but beautiful fondant flower.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

The Ultimate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 4 oz (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature

• 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature

• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add everything together and mix on low until everything gets incorporated. Increase speed to medium and continue to beat until the frosting gets smooth and fluffy (at least 10 minutes). Frost cupcakes or cakes as desired.