Red Velvet Cupcakes with Lemon Mascarpone Cheese Frosting

These are the best cupcakes I have made in a long long time! So moist and delicious, and the frosting, which I had been wanting to try on a baked good for quite a while now, was the perfect compliment... I will definitely be making this recipe again...give it a try!

*makes 24 cupcakes

For the Red Velvet Cupcakes:
(adapted from several allrecipes.com recipes) 

1 box white or yellow cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup milk
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp red food colouring (add more for a deeper red colour if you wish)

-add all ingredients to a  large electric  mixer bowl and blend  for about 2 minutes on low
-fill muffin tin cups to about 2/3 full with batter
-bake as per cake box directions
-remove from oven, remove from tray and allow to cool on a wire rack
-once cool, make frosting, then frost each cupcake and enjoy

For the Mascarpone  Frosting:
(adapted from a Chuck Hughes recipe)

1 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
zest of 1/2 a lemon

-add all ingredients to a small electric mixer bowl and blend on medium speed until well blended and creamy
-transfer frosting to a piping bag and frost each cupcake as desired

*refrigerate leftover cupcakes to keep frosting fresh

*yes you can certainly make this as a cake too!