1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your cupcake pan with liners and set aside. Mix the butter and sugar together for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa and the red food coloring. It takes a bit for it to mix all together, but it gets there I swear. Add the cocoa mixture to the butter/sugar then mix.

3. In another separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Tip: If you don’t have a sifter, use a whisk and stir through the flour mix thoroughly. Sifter is better, but a whisk will work in a pinch.

4. Add the flour mix to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Add the vanilla and mix all together.

5. In a separate small bowl (I know, I know, another separate bowl. I never promised this would be clean and easy) stir the baking soda and the vinegar together and add to the batter. Mix all together until just combined.

6. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then move to a cooling rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Mix cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy.

2. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. (Mix the powdered sugar on low otherwise you will be wearing it. I may know this from experience, just sayin)

3. Add the vanilla and salt to the frosting and mix on medium to high until creamy. Taste it to see if it needs more powdered sugar for sweetness/thickness. Taste again. Better taste again. Taste one more time just to be sure. Sorry, cream cheese frosting is my weakness.