Cupcakes:

1. Preheat your oven to 150C (140C when fan forced) and line your cupcake tin with cupcake cases
2. Whisk together your oil, sugar, buttermilk & vanilla until combined
3. Add your eggs one by one, this means that you add one egg, whisk until it's fully combined and only then add your second egg
4. Add your red food colouring and slowly mix until the whole mixture turns into the desired colour
5. Switch to a spatula and fold in your flour, cacao, salt, baking powder & soda until just combined
6. Fill your cupcake liners about halfway to 3/4th of the way. I would highly recommend using an ice cream scoop to fill your cupcake cases so you fill them all evenly
7. Scrunch up small balls of aluminium foil and place these behind your cupcake liners and the cupcake tin to create a heart shape.
8. Bake your cupcakes for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake your cupcakes as red velvet can dry out quickly! The tops of the cupcakes will look shiny and moist
9. Once baked, transfer them to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. At a high speed, beat your butter pale and fluffy for about 4 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl in between to ensure you've reached all of the butter
2. Add in your cream cheese and beat for another 2 minutes
3. Now you can add your icing sugar, make sure to start on the lowest speed to avoid an icing sugar bomb explosion in your kitchen
4. You want to do the last part by hand or leave your mixer on the slowest speed, so you can beat out some air bubbles which will give you an extra smooth frosting
5. Add your vanilla & red food colouring and fold that in your cream cheese frosting. Depending on the moisture level of your cream cheese, you might have to add a few tablespoons of milk to loosen the frosting, this is totally optional and depends on your liking
6. Once the cupcakes have cooled, you can decorate your cupcakes by piping a heart shape with a round piping tip and enjoy!

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