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Red Velvet Cupcakes
The Best Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting. All of the tips and tricks for making perfect red velvet cupcakes every single time!
It’s Christmas Eve and I am trying to sneak in one last post on Modern Honey and it has to be perfect red velvet cupcakes. This is such a classic Southern recipe that is crazy popular!
I have shared my Red Velvet Cake Recipe and it has actually climbed to be one of the most popular recipes on Modern Honey. I tested and re-tested so many red velvet cake recipes to ultimately create this recipe! I went up a pants size just for you! So much cake! But it was well worth it because now we have a killer red velvet cupcake recipe that everyone will love!
The key with red velvet cupcakes is to have a touch of chocolate flavor. It needs to be enough to notice it but not enough to make it taste like a full-blown chocolate cake. I found the sweet spot by using 3 Tablespoons of cocoa powder.
I also found that a combination of butter and oil makes the moistest, most tender, and flavorful cake. Butter adds the flavor and the oil makes it extra moist.
Buttermilk is such a game changer in baked goods! I love to have it in my arsenal (aka my refrigerator) at all times. The beauty of it is that it is low in fat but does similar things in baking as heavy cream. It is one of my favorite ingredients to use in my cakes.
How to make the Best Red Velvet Cupcakes:
- Start by mixing the dry ingredients together. This is an important step to make sure to get all of the clumps out so give it a good stir.
- In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, and red food coloring.
- Beat the butter and sugar together for 4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the oil and cream for 2 more minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat for 2 minutes longer.
- Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture, mixing after each addition until it is all added.
- Drop the batter into cupcake liners and bake until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean. Don’t OVERBAKE. No dry cupcakes here!
- Make a cream cheese frosting by whipping together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Make sure the cream cheese is softened so it easily combines.
Here are my favorite cupcake baking tools — 12-cup cupcake pan, rainbow cupcake liners, and a stainless steel cake tester.
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Red Velvet Cupcakes
Equipment
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cupcakes:
- 1 1/2 cups Flour (may use all-purpose or cake flour)
- 3 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2/3 cup Buttermilk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons White Vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 1 teaspoon Red Gel Food Coloring (if using liquid red food coloring, you may want to add more)
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 1/4 cup Oil
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1/2 cup Butter (softened)
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese (softened)
- 3 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together.
- In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, and red food coloring.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together for 4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the oil and cream for 2 more minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat for 2 minutes longer. Add vanilla.
- Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture, mixing after each addition until it is all added.
- Drop the batter into cupcake liners and bake until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean, about 16-19 minutes. Don't OVERBAKE. Let cool.
- In a bowl, whip together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Spread all over the cooled cupcakes.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you love these homemade red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! Happy Baking, my friends!
These are so yummy!
Add a 1/2 of a cup of sour cream, you won’t believe how moist it will make your cupcakes.
My family gave this recipe a five star, although I was a bit nervous about the mild bitter flavor. Thankfully the cream cheese frosting was the balance!! This will make 24 cupcakes. My question is why my batter was thick like my banana muffin recipe. Could in have added a bit more buttermilk to thin it slightly? Overall it turned out just fine but I’ve never seen a cake batter so thick.