... and try again.

Spent the past week rethinking my cupcake strategy and pinpointing where I went wrong with my previous red velvet attempt.

I tried the recipe again today. This time, I used food coloring paste instead of liquid food coloring. And instead of doubling the amount of cocoa like I did last time, I kept it at 1/4 cup. And I added vanilla bean to the cream cheese frosting, which gave it a more complex flavor and also resulted in prettier cupcakes. (In my previous attempt, I was so frustrated by the fact that my cupcakes weren't red that I forgot about the vanilla bean.) And I bought a real pastry bag and a large decorating tip.

The end result: Gorgeous, gorgeous cupcakes. And they taste good, too. Not too sweet, but not as spicy as last time, probably because I used less cocoa. And I love the addition of the vanilla bean.

I'm now planning to make a batch for Thanksgiving dessert.