Red velvet cupcakes have a lightly flavored chocolate cake batter that’s both moist and beautiful and made with simple ingredients. Red velvet combines cocoa powder and buttermilk for a distinctive taste that balances sweetness with the tang of buttermilk and rich cream cheese frosting. Red food coloring gives these tiny cakes a festive and bright scarlet hue.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, and unused frosting in the fridge for up to 1 week. The plain cupcakes and frosting can be frozen separately in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until thawed through. For frosted cupcakes, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Serve these red velvet cupcakes for a party, a special occasion, or just because. Chocolate lovers will delight in the chocolatey notes of the cake, and all will marvel at the vibrant color. This recipe is perfect when you need a scarlet-colored dessert for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, 4th of July, or to match a party theme. To carry the red and white theme into all your dessert offerings, serve these alongside my jam-filled linzer cookies and cherry pie, or make it a full spread of red velvet recipes by serving them with my red velvet layer cake, easy red velvet cookies recipe, and glazed red velvet donuts.
Cocoa powder, buttermilk, baking soda, baking powder, and red food coloring are essential ingredients in red velvet and come together with all-purpose flour, classic white sugar, and creamy butter for a taste and texture that is undeniably memorable. These cupcakes are piped with a pillow of fluffy cream cheese frosting made with butter, cream cheese, and lots of powdered sugar for the perfect finish.
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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!
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Video
Equipment
- Muffin pans
- Paper cupcake liners
- Piping bag and tip
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour 200g
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature (170g)
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup buttermilk 180ml
- Red food coloring
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature (340g)
- 1½ pounds (6 cups) confectioners sugar sifted (720g)
- 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature (452g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place 16 cupcake papers 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 tgoether. Add the salt and give it a whisk to combine.
- Cut the room temperature butter into tablespoon-sized pieces then add to the dry ingredients. Using a paddle attachment, mix on low using until a sandy mixture forms.
- In another bowl, whisk together 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. More will give a richer red.)
- Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients while mixing on low. Mix until combined, scraping the bowl down as needed. 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.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 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’re wanting a stiffer buttercream, keep adding more sifted confectioners sugar until it’s the desired texture or chill the buttercream for a few minutes before piping.
- Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe large dollops on top of each cooled cupcake.
Notes
- 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.
