Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Nothing beats rich, moist red velvet cupcakes topped with luxurious cream cheese frosting that just melts in the mouth. This simple, easy and effortless recipe will have you make these cupcakes more often than you planned. Lightly flavored with cocoa powder these are frosted with my no-butter cream cheese frosting.

Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

History and Red Velvet

Did you know that the red velvet cake was first made during world war II? I believe when food was rationed the bakers had to use boiled beet juice to enhance the color of their baked goods. There are still some traditional red velvet cakes that use beets in the recipe to keep them moist. Now we just call them chocolate beet cake or something similar not necessarily red velvet cupcakes.

Another interesting find for me was that though the red velvet original recipe is known to be American? It was actually not frosted with Cream Cheese Frosting but with a French butter icing called roux icing which is very time-consuming to make but really light and fluffy too! The modern cream cheese frosting is just a modern variation that has over the year become the most popularly associated with moist red velvet cupcakes or cakes. I often use Swiss Meringue Buttercream for my Custom decorated red velvet cakes and cupcakes as a non-dairy alternative so it gives me more decorating time.

Though the name is red velvet the color is not actually supposed to be red but more mahogany which you usually get when you mix red and brown together that is why we have cocoa powder in a red velvet. The purpose of the cocoa powder is to deepen the red.
In my red velvet cakes, I use oil, vinegar, buttermilk to create an alkaline reaction which in turn gives a very light and fluffy texture for the cupcakes.

Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe  – Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting Save/Pin

Tools

• Mixing Bowlor Stand Mixer such as K-Mix or Kitchen Aid
• Whisk
• Spatula
• Baking Sheet
• Muffin Tin

Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

• All Purpose Flour  – 150 grams (1 1/4cup)
• Cocoa Powder – 1 1/2 tbsp
• Canola oil – 150 ml  – ( 2/3 cup)
• Sugar -150 grams (3/4 cup)
• Eggs – 2 large
• Buttermilk – 1/2 cup
• Baking Powder – 1 Tsp
• Baking Soda – 1/2 tsp
• Vinegar – 1/2 Tsp
• Salt – 1/2 Tsp
• Vanilla – 2 Tsp
• Red food Color – 2 tbsp liquid or 1/2 tsp gel

Frostings

• No-butter cream cheese frosting – recipe here or
• Classic Cream Cheese Frosting – recipe here  or
• Velvet Meringue Buttercream – half this recipe or
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream – half this recipe or

Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160 C / 320 F.
• Line your muffin pan with cupcake wrappers
• Swift together – flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
• Combine the red food color and vinegar with the buttermilk and stir well.
• Whisk together oil and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time.
• Followed by the buttermilk mix.
• Lastly, add in flour mix
• Once all the ingredients are in. Scrape the sides of the bowl and stir again making sure you have a deep red colored batter.
• Divide batter into the cupcake wrappers about 3/4 full.
• Bake in a preheated oven for about 18 to 20 mins.
• Cool completely before you decorate

Frost the cupcakes

• Prepare your frosting of choice from the recipes above.
• Prepare a piping bag with a large round tip ( I used no 12)
• Add any gel food color if you want to your frosting.
• Then add frosting into a piping bag with a spatula.
• Close the bag and pipe frosting.
• The design I have is just a simple squeeze until the blob reaches the edges of the cupcake.
• Then squeeze again to make a couple of such blobs each time picking the bag slightly higher until you reach a tip.

Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

What is the secret to getting a deep rich red color in red velvet cupcakes that also taste good? Learn to make these light and fluffy red velvet cupcakes that just melt in the mouth, topped with my delicious no-butter cream cheese frosting.  A simple, easy and effortless recipe you will make over and over again.  

Print

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Red Velvet Cupcakes

Prep Time 7 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 27 minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Calories 181 kcal

Author Veena Azmanov

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

• 150 grams All Purpose Flour  (1 1/4 cup)
• 1 1/2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 150 ml Canola oil
• 150 grams Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 120 ml Buttermilk
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 tsp Red gel food color

Metric - US customary

Instructions

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 C / 320 F.
2. Line your muffin pan with cupcake wrappers
3. Swift together - flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
4. Combine the red food color and vinegar with the buttermilk and stir well.
5. Whisk together oil and sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Add eggs one at a time.
7. Followed by the buttermilk mix.
8. Lastly, add in flour mix
9. Once all the ingredients are in. Scrape the sides of the bowl and stir again making sure you have a deep red colored batter.
10. Divide batter into the cupcake wrappers about 3/4 full.
11. Bake in a preheated oven for about 18 to 20 mins.
12. Cool completely before you decorate

Frost the cupcakes

1. Prepare your frosting of choice from the recipes above.
2. Prepare a piping bag with a large round tip ( I used no 12) 
3. Add any gel food color if you want to your frosting.
4. Then add frosting into a piping bag with a spatula. 
5. Close the bag and pipe frosting.
6. The design I have is just a simple squeeze until the blob reaches the edges of the cupcake. 
7. Then squeeze again to make a couple of such blobs each time picking the bag slightly higher until you reach a tip.

Nutrition Facts

Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Amount Per Serving (53 grams each cupcake)

Calories 181 Calories from Fat 136

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 15.11g 23%

Saturated Fat 2.77g 14%

Trans Fat 0.049g

Polyunsaturated Fat 8.46g

Monounsaturated Fat 0g

Cholesterol 24mg 8%

Sodium 954mg 40%

Potassium 0mg 0%

Total Carbohydrates 9.9g 3%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 0.82g

Protein 2.1g 4%

Vitamin A 0%

Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 0%

Iron 0%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

You can find more Cupcake Recipes here or you can see my Recipe Index or Cake Tutorial Index for a whole list of recipes and tutorials.