Red Velvet Cupcakes

The batter mixes together easily, and the smooth and tangy cream cheese frosting is the finishing touch for these absolutely perfect red velvet cupcakes! This recipe is simple enough to make as a sweet treat after work, yet is elegant enough to serve with Christmas dinner! For more cupcake recipes, try my vanilla cupcake recipe, easy chocolate cupcakes, or lemon cupcake recipe.

What You Need to Make This Recipe

All-Purpose Flour – weigh your flour using a food scale for the most accurate measurement. For the best fluffy and light cupcakes, don’t forget to sift all dry ingredients. Cocoa Powder – a high-quality cocoa powder offers the most flavor. Increase or decrease the amount of cocoa powder to personalize how chocolatey you want your cupcakes. Butter – allow the unsalted butter for both the cupcakes and the cream cheese frosting to come to room temperature before using. Room-temperature butter will blend smoothly and make for more fluffy cupcakes and frosting. Vanilla Extract – balances the chocolate flavor and adds to this recipe’s signature flavor. Substitute vanilla bean paste if you prefer. Buttermilk – buttermilk is a staple ingredient in red velvet cake and helps give the cupcakes their signature flavor and texture because the buttermilk reacts with both the baking soda and baking powder. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own sour milk with 1 cup whole milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar. Cream Cheese – full-fat cream cheese makes the richest cream cheese frosting. You can use reduced-fat cream cheese if you prefer, but be sure to use block-style cream cheese, not whipped or spreadable cream cheese.

How to Make Red Velvet Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place 16 cupcake liners in cupcake pans. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda together. Add the salt and give it a whisk to combine.
2. Cut the room-temperature butter into tablespoon-sized pieces, then add to the flour mixture. Using a paddle attachment, mix on low until a sandy mixture forms.
3. In another bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and food coloring. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons of liquid food coloring or 5 to 6 drops of gel food coloring.
4. Whisk the wet ingredients together until a consistent color is achieved.
5. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients while mixing on low speed. Mix until combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Distribute the batter evenly into cupcake papers. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until springy to the touch. Let cool for a few minutes in the pans then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
7. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the room-temperature cream cheese, vanilla, and salt to the creamed butter. Beat together on medium speed until well combined. Scrape down the bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the sifted confectioners’ sugar a cup at a time. Mix until combined. If you want a stiffer buttercream, keep adding more sifted confectioners’ sugar until it’s the desired texture, or chill the frosting for a few minutes before piping.
8. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe large dollops on top of each cooled cupcake.

Pro Tips For Making This Recipe

Weigh the ingredients using a kitchen scale. A kitchen scale provides the most accurate measurement, especially for flour. Place the bowl of your mixer on the scale and use the tare function to zero out the weight. Set or hold the sifter over the bowl to easily measure each dry ingredient and save time! Richer chocolate variation. If you prefer a stronger chocolate taste, you can add additional cocoa powder up to 2 tablespoons to the cupcake batter or you can substitute part of the cocoa powder with dark cocoa powder. Note that this will deepen the color and make the baked cupcakes appear less red. I recommended adding an addition tablespoon of milk if increasing the cocoa to 2 tablespoons. Personalize the color. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons of liquid food coloring or 5 to 6 drops of gel food coloring to achieve a vibrant red color, or add more coloring for a richer red. Avoid stains. Keep in mind that food coloring will stain hands, linens, and surfaces quickly, so replace the lid promptly and use a damp paper towel to wipe any drips or splatters. Make your own sour milk. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can still make this recipe! Use whole milk and add a little less than 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to the milk and allow it to sit for a few minutes and curdle before using. Add more confectioners’ sugar for stiffer frosting. If you like your cream cheese frosting to be stiffer, add additional confectioners’ sugar until the frosting is your ideal consistency. Decorate with cupcake crumbles. Crumble one cupcake and use it to decorate the frosting. If you prefer a brighter red crumble garnish, add additional red food coloring to one cupcake before baking and stir to combine using a toothpick.

If you’ve tried this red velvet cupcake recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!