These red velvet cupcakes are moist, soft and beautifully red. Frosted with sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting. No one will be able to resists this delicious treat!
Lets talk about these red velvet cupcakes. They are moist, soft, and a tiny bit chocolaty. The cream cheese frosting is sweet and slightly tangy. They are perfect for any occasion and can brighten up any dessert table. Just look at that gorgeous red color! It’s one irresistible treat!
Ingredients needed to make red velvet cupcakes
- Flour: Provides structure.
- Sugar: For sweetness and keeps the cupcakes soft and moist.
- Cocoa powder: For a slight chocolate flavor.
- Vegetable oil: For a moist and tender cupcake.
- Eggs: To give the cupcake structure and stability.
- Buttermilk: To give the cupcake its soft texture.
- Vinegar: Interacts with baking soda to leaven the cupcake. It also interacts with the cocoa and buttermilk to give the cupcake a slight red color.
- Baking soda and baking powder: Ensures that the cupcakes rise.
- Red food coloring: To make the cupcakes pop!
- Cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar: For the fluffy, sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting.
Making the red velvet cupcakes
- Preheat oven and line cupcake pan.
- Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Set aside.
- Beat sugar, eggs and oil. You will beat these until the ingredients are combined.
- Add the red food coloring. Add the full amount. You want the red to pop!
- Add flour and buttermilk, alternating between the two. After each addition beat until almost combined. Do not overmix! You will start and end with adding the flour. Start by adding one third of the flour first. Then add half of the buttermilk. Add another one third of flour. Then the rest of buttermilk. Finish with the last third of flour. Finish mixing until the flour is incorporated.
- Stir baking soda and vinegar. You’ll combine the two in a small bowl. (it will start to fizz when you start adding the vinegar!)Then add it to the cupcake batter and mix until combined.
- Divide between cupcake tins and bake!
- Make the frosting- beat cream cheese and butter, then add powdered sugar and beat until combined.
- Frost the cupcakes.
A note on the cream cheese frosting. I prefer my cream cheese frosting to have a higher cream cheese ratio then butter and to be slightly tangy and sweet. If you prefer sweeter cream cheese frosting you can add more powdered sugar. If you prefer more butter, feel free to add more butter to the cream cheese.
Science behind red velvet cake
All red velvet cakes have a few ingredients in common – cocoa, buttermilk, vinegar and baking soda. The buttermilk and vinegar helps activate the baking soda to ensure that the cake is light and rises properly. It also interacts with the cocoa giving the cake its dark red/brownish color. Adding the red food coloring is what makes the cake pop. I would not recommend substituting any of these ingredients because they are all important to getting the perfect red velvet cupcake.
Other recipes you may like:
If you made this recipe I would love to hear from you! Your comments and rating will help other readers as well. I would also love to see your creation! Share your photo by tagging tasty_treat_pantry on Instagram.
PrintRecipe
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
These red velvet cupcakes are moist, soft and beautifully red. Frosted with sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting. No one will be able to resists this delicious treat!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 16 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
Red velvet cupcakes
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- Red food coloring *
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp distilled white vinegar
Cream cheese frosting
- 12 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup – 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 350 F. Line 16 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Set aside.
- Beat sugar, eggs and oil until well combined. Add the red food coloring.
- Add flour and buttermilk, alternating between the two. After each addition beat until almost combined. Do not overmix! Add one third of the flour first, mix until just combined. Add half of the buttermilk, beat. Add another one third of flour, beat. Add the rest of buttermilk, beat. Then add the last third of flour and beat until incorporated.
- In a separate small bowl, stir baking soda and vinegar. (it will start to fizz when you start adding the vinegar!) Add the mixture to the cupcake batter and mix until combined.
- Pour batter into cupcake liners filling them ½ – ⅔ of the way full. Bake 20-23 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in cupcake pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the frosting: beat cream cheese, unsalted butter and vanilla extract until smooth and combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat until well combined and smooth.
- Frost the cupcakes once they are cooled.
Notes
* how much red food coloring you would like to use is up to you. For the cupcakes above I used 2 teaspoon of food coloring.
Keywords: red velvet, red velvet cupcakes, cream cheese frosting
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