Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes
Nothing beats rich, moist, light, and airy red velvet cupcakes topped with luxurious, no-butter cream cheese frosting. This simple and easy recipe will have you making these cupcakes more often than you planned.
Did you know that red velvet cake was first made during World War II? I believe that when food was rationed, 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, although the original red velvet recipe is known to be American, it was not actually frosted with cream cheese frosting. Rather, it was made with a French butter icing called roux icing, which is very time-consuming to make but really light and fluffy. The cream cheese frosting is just a modern variation that, over the years, has become the most associated with moist red velvet cupcakes or cakes.
Why make these cupcakes
- Bright, red, rich, moist, light, and fluffy with a hint of cocoa, these cupcakes have a soft crumb and work great with many different frostings.
- The recipe is simple and easy. I use oil, vinegar, and buttermilk to create an alkaline reaction, which gives the cupcakes a very light and airy texture.
- Today, I have used the classic cream cheese frosting, but I often frost them with my no-butter cream cheese frosting. If you love rich cream cheese frosting, I highly recommend you try it.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Cocoa powder—This is not a chocolate cupcake. The cocoa enhances the red color, making it deeper, richer, and more dramatic. If you don’t want to add cocoa powder, just add two drops of a brown color instead.
- Canola oil—Any flavorless cooking oil will work great. Olive oil, for example, has a strong flavor and smell, which we definitely don’t want.
- Buttermilk – You can make homemade buttermilk in 5 mins, so don’t look for substitutes.
- Sugar—I prefer to use white sugar so it won’t alter the color of my cupcakes. However, feel free to use the same amount of light brown sugar. I would not recommend dark brown sugar.
- Red food color—You can use beetroot color as a natural substitute. However, you would need more than 2 tbsp for the whole batter. I recommend adding 1/4 cup of beetroot juice that has been condensed by boiling for 15 to 20 minutes. Simultaneously, reduce the buttermilk to 1/4 cup as well. I use regular color gels for my cakes since they are more concentrated.
Step-by-step: Red velvet cupcakes
Cupcakes
- Prep – Preheat the oven to 325°F / 165°C/ Gas mark 3. Line your muffin pan with cupcake liners
- Red color – Combine the red food color and vinegar with the buttermilk and stir well. Set aside
- Dry ingredients – In a small bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, & salt. Set aside
- Whip – In a bowl of a stand mixer, whip the whole egg for a minute. Then, gradually add the sugar and vanilla extract. Continue to whip until light and fluffy.
- Wet ingredients – Next, gradually add the oil, followed by the buttermilk mixture.
- Combine – Add the flour mixture and combine well, but do not overmix.
- Liners – Divide the batter equally between the cupcake liners.
- Bake—Transfer to the oven and bake for about 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then entirely on a cooling rack.
Pro tip – The cupcakes must be cold before frosting. Otherwise, the frosting will melt.
Frosting
- Cream – In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese, salt, and whipping cream until smooth.
- Sugar – Add powdered sugar and whip until smooth. Continue to whip for a minute or two more until light and fluffy.
Pro tip – Cream cheese can curdle when overwhipped for a minute or two, which is all you need.
Assemble
- Place frosting into a piping bag with a round piping tip.
- Pipe – Pipe the frosting on each cupcake.
Pro tip – Give it one big squeeze until it reaches the edges of the cupcake. Continue making sure to end tall with a point. - Enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
Bake them until just done – over-baking can dry them out.
Use ingredients like sour cream, buttermilk, yogurt, and apple sauce to help keep the cupcakes moist. If you don’t serve them on the day, add a few teaspoons of simple syrup before frosting.
This will make a small 6-inch cake. If you want to make a red velvet cake, I highly recommend using my tried-and-tested recipes.
Best Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – Oil-based Cake
Moist Red Velvet Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream – Butter-based Cake, Strawberry Red Velvet Cake with strawberry filling
Oh, these cupcakes are delicious with just about any frosting. I have shared with you more than 30 different buttercream flavors here on the blog, but these are just a few suggestions.
Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Nothing beats rich, moist, light, and airy red velvet cupcakes topped with luxurious no-butter cream cheese frosting. This simple and easy recipe will have you making these cupcakes more often than you planned.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) Buttermilk
- 2 tbsp Red food color or 1/2 tsp food gel color
- ½ tsp Vinegar
- 1 ¼ cup (155 g) All-purpose flour
- 1½ tbsp Cocoa powder
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 large Egg
- ¾ cup (150 g) Sugar
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) Canola oil
- 2 tbsp Vanilla extract
- 8 oz (226 g) Cream cheese
- 8 oz (226 g) Powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp Whipping cream
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Lemon juice
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Method
- Prep – Preheat the oven to 325°F / 165°C/ Gas mark 3. Line your muffin pan with cupcake liners
- Red color – Combine the red food color and vinegar with the buttermilk and stir well. Set aside1/2 tsp Vinegar, 2 tbsp Red food color, ⅓ cup Buttermilk
- Dry ingredients – In a small bowl sift together, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, & salt. Set aside1 ¼ cup All-purpose flour, 1½ tbsp Cocoa powder, 1 tsp Baking powder, ½ tsp Baking soda, ¼ tsp Salt
- Whip – In a bowl of a stand mixer, whip the whole egg for a minute then gradually add the sugar and vanilla extract. Continue to whip until light and fluffy.¾ cup Sugar, 1 large Egg, 2 tbsp Vanilla extract
- Wet ingredients – Next, gradually add the oil followed by the buttermilk mixture1/3 cup Canola oil
- Combine – Add the flour mixture and combine well but do not overmix.
- Liners – Divide batter equally between the cupcake liners
- Bake – Transfer to the oven and bake for about 18 to 20 mins. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then on a cooling rack completely. Pro tip – the cupcakes must be cold before frosting. Otherwise, the frosting will melt.
- Cream – In a mixer bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese, salt, and whipping cream until smooth.8 oz Cream cheese, 1 tbsp Whipping cream, 1 tsp Salt
- Sugar – Add powdered sugar and whip until smooth. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract. Continue to whip for a minute or two more until light and fluffy. Pro tip – Cream cheese can curdle when over whipped a minute or two is all you need.8 oz Powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp Lemon juice, 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- Place frosting into a piping bag with a round piping tip
- Pipe – Pipe the frosting on each cupcake. Pro tip – Give it one big squeeze until it reaches the edges of the cupcake. Continue making sure to end tall with a point.
- Enjoy
These are delicious! The vanilla extract is missing from the steps.
Veena, can i make these into blue velvet cupcakes. If yes, is it that I just use blue food colouring instead of red. Also, which food colouring do you use, out here I have the Wilton brand food colour gel
Marion, don’t use this for blue velvet, because the cocoa powder is also there. Instead, use my vanilla cupcakes and add blue color.
Veena, then would this be more like a vanilla cake which has been coloured blue, do let me know.
Well, you can use the red velvet – replace the cocoa powder with flour and use blue color
okay will try this out – thanks Veena.
How many medium cupcakes can be formed using this recipe.
I want to bake 24. What will b the recipe for that. Please share
Neel the recipe card says 12 cupcakes, just change that number to 24 cupcakes and it will automatically calculate the recipe for 24 cupcakes
Simply delicious – red velvet is my weakness, and this recipe does not disappoint! The cupcake is light and fluffy. Everyone loved it. The cream cheese frosting is the perfect addition, I could eat it on its own.
Thank you, Alexandra. So happy you enjoyed it so much. Yes, the cream cheese frosting is a treat. Thanks for coming back to write this feedback.
What a great recipe, super simple and really tasty, everyone loved them, thank you 🙂
Thank you so much, Brian. So happy you enjoyed this recipe so much. Thanks for coming back to write this feedback
I can never pass a red velvet cupcake recipe! Delicious and so satisfying! Thanks for sharing, Veena!
Me too. Love red velvet cake.