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Red Velvet Cupcakes

By Manali Singh

5 from 1 vote

Jan 28, 2015, Updated May 07, 2023

Classic soft, moist Red Velvet Cupcakes topped with creamy Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting!

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You knew this was coming, didn’t you? I mean how could I have a Valentine’s Day dessert series on my blog without Red Velvet Cupcakes! They are almost synonyms with 14th February and considering I didn’t have the recipe on my blog till now, this was inevitable. These are one of my favorite cupcakes and technically I should have shared this on my blog long back. In fact some time back, I did think of putting the recipe up but then I thought that it would be better if I share this closer to Valentine’s Day and so here it is!

Soft, moist and topped with that delicious vanilla cream cheese frosting, these red velvet cupcakes are Valentine’s Day dessert recipe # 2 on the blog!

I will tell you why I like red velvet cupcakes because they are chocolate flavored, because they are moist, soft and just amazing. But I also dislike them for one thing, the food color. I mean that’s a whole lot of food color that you have to put in to make it all red. I really don’t like that part, while I do like coloring my frosting for cakes/cupcakes, adding like a whole bottle of color in the batter is not something I am very comfortable with. But anyway I can always make an exception for red velvet cupcakes 😉

There are 3 ingredients in this recipe which make these cupcakes super soft and moist.

#1 Oil is traditionally used for making red velvet cupcakes and I highly recommend using it. If you want some butter flavor in your cupcakes, you can probably replace 1/4 of the oil with butter.

#2 Sour cream helps in keeping these cupcakes moist. If you do not have sour cream, you can use greek yogurt in place.

# Buttermilk has to be used in this recipe and there’s no substitution for it. If you don’t have buttermilk at home [which I never have!], add 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice in a 1/2 cup measuring cup and fill it with milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes and your buttermilk is ready to be used in the recipe.

There’s only one thing with which red velvet cupcakes can be topped with and yes that is vanilla cream cheese frosting. It’s like a match made in heaven and I like to keep it that way. Of course you can get adventurous and try whatever frosting you like but trust me you would not like to break this match!

Frost the cupcakes once they have completely cooled down. I decorated with some valentine’s day sprinkles and small buttercream roses. Please ignore my not so pretty roses, I am not an expert in making buttercream flowers but I had fun making these!

Method

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Line a 12 cup muffin tray with cupcake liners or spray with a nonstick spray. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

In a bowl whisk together all purpose flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In the steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using your hand mixer beat together oil and granulated sugar till smooth on medium speed.

Once smooth, add in the egg, vanilla extract and sour cream.

Mix till well combined and the batter is smooth.

Add in the white vinegar and food color. The amount of color you need to add depends on the brand of food color you are using, add till your batter turns nice red in color. I used around 1/2 tablespoon. Mix till combined.

Start adding the flour mix, alternating with buttermilk, starting and ending with flour.

Mix till flour and buttermilk are well combined and batter is smooth.

Fill the cupcake liners with the batter till 2/3 rd full.

Bake at 350 F degrees for 20-22 minutes. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

In the steel bowl of your stand mixer beat together softened cream cheese and room temperature unsalted butter.

Beat till cream cheese and butter mixture is smooth and fully. Now add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Mix at low speed first [so that you don’t get the sugar on your face!] and once sugar is incorporated beat at high speed for 30 seconds.

Add in the vanilla extract and mix till smooth and creamy.

Pipe the frosting on cooled cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles! I used Wilton tip #2D to make the swirls and made those little red roses with buttercream frosting.

* I kept my cupcakes little less sweet because the frosting is already quite sweet. If you want/like sweeter cupcakes, increase the quantity of sugar in the recipe to 3/4 cup.

* Do not overbake these cupcakes else they will dry out. I baked mine for 20 minutes, depending on your oven it might take somewhere between 20-22 minutes.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

5 from 1 vote

By Manali Singh

Servings: 12 cupcakes

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Classic soft, moist Red Velvet Cupcakes topped with creamy Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting!

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

Cupcakes

• ▢ 1.25 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2.5 teaspoon cocoa powder unsweetened
• ▢ ½ cup canola oil [or vegetable oil]
• ▢ ½ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup sour cream
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 egg at room temperature
• ▢ ½ cup buttermilk
• ▢ ½ teaspoon white vinegar
• ▢ ½ tablespoons red food color

Cream Cheese Frosting

• ▢ 6 tablespoons butter unsalted, at room temperature
• ▢ 8 oz cream cheese softened
• ▢ 3-3.5 cups powdered sugar sifted [adjust sweetness to taste]
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Instructions 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

• Line a 12 cup muffin tray with cupcake liners or spray with a nonstick spray. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
• In a bowl whisk together all purpose flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
• In the steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using your hand mixer beat together oil and granulated sugar till smooth on medium speed.
• Once smooth, add in the egg, vanilla extract and sour cream and mix till well combined.
• Add in the white vinegar and food color. The amount of color you need to add depends on the brand of food color you are using, add till your batter turns nice red in color. I used around 1/2 tablespoon. Mix till combined.
• Start adding the flour mix, alternating with buttermilk, starting and ending with flour.
• Mix till flour and buttermilk are well combined and batter is smooth.
• Fill the cupcake liners with the batter till 2/3 rd full.
• Bake at 350 F degrees for 20-22 minutes. Do not overbake.
• Take out of the oven and transfer the cupcakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• In the steel bowl of your stand mixer beat together softened cream cheese and room temperature unsalted butter.
• Beat till cream cheese and butter mixture is smooth and fully.
• Now add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Mix at low speed and once sugar is incorporated beat at high speed for 30 seconds.
• Add in the vanilla extract and mix till smooth and creamy.
• Pipe the frosting on cooled cupcakes.

Nutrition

Calories: 416kcal, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 53mg, Sodium: 225mg, Potassium: 68mg, Sugar: 39g, Vitamin A: 495IU, Calcium: 41mg, Iron: 0.8mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

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 Red Velvet Cupcakes