Red Velvet Cupcakes

Soft, moist and tender Red Velvet Cupcakes with a subtle chocolate flavor. You will love their tender crumb with this tangy and sweet cream cheese frosting on top!

You need to try these Soft Cherry Cookies. You will love my Valentines Day Chocolate Cookies too!! Find all Amazing Cookie Recipes at one place. 

Okay, so what are red velvet cupcakes you'd ask! This question also puzzled me quite a lot. Puzzled me to the extent that I never made an attempt to test them ever before.

Things changed for me when my husband got me these for my Birthday from a nearby bakery. Oh those moist, buttery cupcakes with a slight hint of chocolate, that tender crumb with slight tang coming from the frosting...I was sold in the first bite.

That is when I planned to recreate cupcakes exactly like those. And guess what! We have a winner.

Ingredients needed: 

Buttermilk: That tang from buttermilk reacts with leaveners to produce the softest and the most tender cupcakes you know. I suggest using the actual thing here and not a DIY. Worry not your cupcakes will not taste tangy.

Vinegar: White vinegar works best. But if you do not have that on hand you can use apple cider vinegar as well. No sweat!

Cocoa Powder: We don't want the chocolate flavor to dominate here. So just a hint of cocoa does its magic here.

Butter and Oil: Oil gives moistness to the cupcakes while butter provides so much flavor. Do not reduce the amount of fat in the batter for that tender yet fluffy crumb.

Hot Coffee/Water: You can easily replace coffee with hot water if you don't want to add coffee to your cupcakes for some reason. Hot liquid helps making cupcakes super moist and it also helps blooming the cocoa.

How the recipe comes together:

The batter comes together pretty easily. You mix all the wet ingredients together first. Then slowly incorporate all the dry ingredients like flour, leaveners salt and cocoa.

You can also bloom cocoa powder in brewed coffee first if you like. If you aren't using coffee, cocoa powder can be bloomed in hot water as well. But this step is completely to make this batter.

When we mix hot coffee in the batter, cocoa still gets bloomed. For the food coloring you can even use liquid food coloring, if you don't have gel food color. But you will end up using it a little more than the gel one.

Then buttermilk is the ingredient that makes cupcakes super moist, velvety and soft. Buttermilk also makes cupcakes slightly tangy, but in a good way.

You need that slightest tang from buttermilk which makes red velvet desserts, red velvet!

Other than buttermilk, just a little bit of vinegar reacts with baking soda and creates super soft and fluffy cupcakes. So don't skip that either. One last thing, use quality liners so that your cupcakes don't stick to liners.

Which Cocoa to use?

I like to use unsweetened and natural cocoa powder in this batter. This natural cocoa is acidic in nature. And this acidity reacts with baking soda to produce well-risen cupcakes.

You can also use dutch processed coca here. But as this kind of cocoa is alkalized, your cupcakes won't turn out as light red as the ones you see here.

Tips for making Perfect Cupcakes:

Room Temperature Ingredients: I know you will find this repetitive, but believe me this is one very crucial step in baking. You've won half baking battle if your ingredients are at room temperature. Ingredients at room temp. mix easily and a uniform batter is formed. And, uniform batter = flawless bakes! 

Reach for Buttermilk and not its substitutes: Use the real deal here for best cupcakes. DIY could work and still produce a nice texture. But for that signature taste, I highly recommend buying some buttermilk when you plan to bake these cupcakes.

Do not reduce the amount of sugar in the batter: You know amount matters the most when it comes to baking. We need a cup of sugar here for those tender cupcakes. Don't try to healthify this dessert, just run ½ an hour on treadmill after. 😉

Do not open oven door frequently: Opening oven door during the first 15 minutes of baking will surely produce sunken cupcakes. As opening door will reduce oven temperature. Even after 15 minutes have passed, I suggest don't be tempted to open the door frequently unless you are reaching near baking time!

Make frosting sturdier for best piping: Do not reduce the amount of sugar in cream cheese frosting recipe either if you want a sturdy and a pipeable frosting. Thin frosting can melt away as soon as you apply it on cupcakes.

Storing and Freezing:

Always store unfrosted cupcakes covered tightly at room temperature for up to a day or two. I don't suggest refrigeration as keeping cakes or cupcakes in the refrigerator dries them out. 

To freeze unfrosted cupcakes, place them individually in plastic wrap. This will prevent freezer burn. Then keep them in an airtight containers. Or you can also use freezer friendly bags. Thaw cupcakes overnight in the fridge before frosting. 

You can easily make this frosting up to 2 days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator at all times. When ready to frost, bring it to room temperature and then quickly whip it up again using an electric mixer before piping. This step will make the frosting light, creamy and fluffy again.

More Valentines Treats for you:

Strawberry Sponge Cake Recipe

Swig Cookies

Giant Strawberry Cookie

If you liked these Cupcakes give it a star review. Do tell me in the comments below, how did this turn out for you!

And don’t forget to share your creations with me on Instagram at #greedyeatsblog Let's connect on Pinterest and Facebook too!

Recipe

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Soft, moist and tender Red Velvet Cookies with a subtle chocolate flavor. You will love their tender crumb with this tangy and sweet cream cheese frosting on top!

5 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, International

US Customary - Metric

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12 Cupcakes

1x2x3x

Calories: 120kcal

Author: Neha

Equipment

• 1 Hand/stand Mixer
• 1 Muffin Pan
• 12 Cupcake Liners

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 large Egg (at room temperature)
• ▢ ¼ Cup Vegetable Oil
• ▢ ½ stick Melted Butter
• ▢ 1 Cup Granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Red Gel Food Coloring
• ▢ ½ teaspoon White Vinegar
• ▢ ½ Cup Buttermilk (at room temperature)
• ▢ ¼ Cup Hot Brewed Coffee/Hot water
• ▢ 1 Cup and 2 Tablespoons All purpose flour
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Cocoa powder (natural, unsweetened)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon Salt
• ▢ 1 batch Cream Cheese Frosting (Click this link for frosting recipe)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, salt, cocoa powder baking powder and baking soda. Set it aside.
  1 Cup and 2 Tablespoons All purpose flour, 2 Tablespoons Cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon Baking Powder, ¼ teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment whisk oil, melted butter and sugar together on medium speed for a minute. Mix in the egg next till it gets combined. Also add and mix in vanilla, vinegar and food coloring.
  1 large Egg, ¼ Cup Vegetable Oil, ½ stick Melted Butter, 1 Cup Granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon Red Gel Food Coloring, ½ teaspoon White Vinegar
• Next add in buttermilk and flour mixture alternatively in two additions. Whisk on low speed just till combined and flour disappears into the batter. Lastly add ¼ cup of hot coffee or hot water (if you don't want to add coffee) and mix it in too.
  ½ Cup Buttermilk, ¼ Cup Hot Brewed Coffee/Hot water
• Allow the cupcakes to cool in the muffin pan for7-10 minutes and then transfer them on a wire rack to let cool completely.
• Make Cream Cheese Frosting and pipe on completely cooled cupcakes. I used Ateco 809 for this swirl.
• Divide the batter among 12 pre-lined liners and bake till a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcake comes out clean and their tops spring back when touched in the center. Baking time will be in between 18-20 minutes.

Notes

Make ahead and Freezing instructions:

You can make cupcakes 1 day in advance and stored them at room temperature, covered tightly.

Similarly, frosting can be made 2 days in advance. Store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container until ready to use . When ready to frost, bring it to room temperature and then quickly whip it up again using an electric mixer before piping. This step will make the frosting light, creamy and fluffy again.

Frosted cupcakes(leftovers) will keep well at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up tp 2 days. Unfrosted cupcakes can also be frozen up to 2 months. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or on counter top.

 

Buttermilk: Store bought buttermilk works best. But DIY buttermilk will work too. To make your own, add a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Fill the cup with whole milk till it reaches ½ cup mark. Allow to sit for 2 minutes and then use it in the batter.

Food Coloring: Both gel and liquid food coloring work for coloring the batter. I have used gel here. If you use liquid food coloring you might end up using a bit more. Start with- about a tablespoon and a half and then add more as you go if needed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Cupcake | Calories: 120kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Sodium: 141mg | Sugar: 17g

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