Red Velevt Cupcakes

I have never been a fan of red velvet, in fact I have only tried it once not that long ago.(The cream cheese frosting has always kept me away.) I decided with Valentine's Day coming up, and my mild acceptance of a cream cheese frosting, it would be a good time try red velvet cupcakes. I was in for a surprise, as far as I knew the red in a red velvet came from the cocoa powder and vinegar and baking soda, apparently that is wrong. The first recipe I tried, Magnolia's Bakery Red Velvet,  shocked me when it called for 6 tablespoons of red food coloring. That couldn't be right, so I tried making the recipe with less. Well, I guess the recipe was right because using only a tablespoon made my red velvet cupcakes look sickly. Slightly brown, slightly pink.

This called for another attempt. This time I used Americas Test Kitchen Red Velvet recipe. I still didn't follow the directions completely, instead of using 4 tablespoons of red food coloring I used a tablespoons or so of red food gel.

They turned out beautiful, but I just don't get it. What is so special about red velvet cake? Why not just use your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe and add a little cocoa powder and red food gel to make it red? I won't be making Red Velvet Cupcakes anytime soon, but if you want the recipes I used here they are. Magnolia Red Velvet Cupcakes  or America's Test Kitchen Red Velvet Cupcakes, if I had to choose I would make the America's Test Kitchen recipe, it had a better texture and flavor.