The Red Velvet challenge

It was my friend's birthday (MAGGIE) and I decided to bake her cupcakes, even though we were going to a buffet restaurant with ample desserts. I started baking at 1pm and hoping that I would have time to hit the gym for an hour. This time I decided to bake the Martha Stewart red velvet recipe. I realized that right after I had popped the goodies in the oven, that I had made a tragic mistake. I used baking powder instead of baking soda! UGH! So of course I quickly start texting Fran asking for her expertise. Fran instead sends me her ultimate red velvet cupcake recipe.

In this picture I am showing Fran's red velvet on the left and Martha Stewart's red velvet (sans baking soda) on the right.

There's a big difference...the baking soda makes the cake rise higher. The left one looks a lot bigger than the right one.

So below is the final product of Fran's special red velvet cupcake. Unfortunately, the cake was too dry. I baked for 20 minutes and did the toothpick test and some cake particles came out (so not done). Popped it back in the oven for 2 more minutes. I'm really not sure if the 2 minutes made it too dry or possibly I need to change the recipe. Again, more baking practice needed.