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There is something about red velvet cake that intrigues me. I mean who would have ever thought adding red dye to a basic cake recipe would turn into something so incredibly iconic. I remember watching Steel Magnolias as a kid and being mildly repulsed by red velvet armadillo cake. In fact, I think it was that scene that turned me off to red velvet until adulthood. In my mind, eating red velvet cake was equivalent to eating an armadillo.
Fast forward twenty years and you’ll still find me repulsed by that atrocious armadillo creation, but not by red velvet cake, especially when it’s in the form of cupcakes that are slathered in decadent cream cheese frosting.
This recipe was introduced to me over two year ago by Em, of the blog, The Repressed Pastry Chef, and it has remained my go to red velvet recipe. Not only is this cake recipe delicious, it’s also perfect for Valentine’s Day. There is really nothing more lovely than that rich dark red color topped with bright white cream cheese frosting and flecked with adorable open heart sprinkles.
The other fab thing about this recipe is that it only makes 12 cupcakes, so if you’re indulging a small crew, you’re not required to do any measurement scaling. This is always a plus in my book. If you are looking for a delicious and adorable way to surprise your sweetie, you’ve definitely stumbled upon the right recipe!
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
1 cup cake flour 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 2/3 cup vegetable oil 3/4 granulated sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 tablespoons red food coloring 1/2 cup buttermilk 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon white vinegarFor the Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening 3 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature 1 pound confectioners’ sugar (about 3 ¾ cups), sifted 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract*Directions:
For the Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cupcake wells with paper liners or spray pan with spray with nonstick cooking spray. 2. Sift together cake flour, cocoa powder and salt. 3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine oil and sugar until well-blended. Add egg and mix until combined. 4. Turn your mixer down to the lowest speed add vanilla then slowly add in the food coloring. Note:If you are using liquid food coloring, it will take about 2 tablespoons of coloring to get a dark red shade. I used about 1 tablespoon of gel dye to achieve the shade in the photographs. Add the dye slowly and color according to your preference. 5. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches; scrape down the side of the bowl. Continue mixing until just combined, taking care not to over mix. 6. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for about 10 seconds. 7. Using a medium scoop (about 3 tablespoons), divide batter among between the 12 wells, filling each well about 2/3 full of batter. Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake.For the Cream Cheese Frosting
1. In a the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together, cream cheese, shortening, and butter until well combined. 2. With the mixer of low, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar until thoroughly incorporated and smooth. Add vanilla and mix to combine.Notes:
- This cupcake recipe has been scaled down from the original recipe by The New York Times. Follow the link provided to view the full recipe. - Clear vanilla extract was used in the cream cheese frosting recipe to maintain a bright white color. Feel free to substitute pure vanilla extract in its place. - Brown liners were purchased at Bake It Pretty. - I used the large round tip from Bake it Pretty to frost the cupcakes. You can view my piping video tutorial within this post. - The sprinkles are made by Wilton.Follow Jamie on Instagram. We love to see what you're baking from MBA! Be sure to tag @jamiemba and use the hashtag #mbarecipes!
hi jamie and everyone!
just want to say that this recipe is a total godsend for me! :) i chanced upon MBA when looking for a Guinness cupcake recipe to make for my husband early this year, and when one of my bestest girlfriends wanted to bake red velvet cupcakes as wedding favours for her wedding this Dec, MBA was the first place i turned to. She sent me a few others to test, but it is this recipe that produced the best results! they look great and taste great :) for simplicity and logistical reasons, we are going to do a simple dot of vanilla sugar frosting on the centre of each cake and stick a little sugar heart on as decor instead of doing the full works with the cream cheese. we also added some choc chips for extra chocolatey flavour, and while i was initially disappointed that the chips all sank to the bottom (since d cupcake batter is not quite dense enough to keep d chips suspended) but the effect turned out well – like a nice base of melted chocolate! :D works great with this fantastic recipe. that said, would definitely appreciate tips on how (if possible) to keep d choc chips distributed throughout the cake like a muffin :)
thanks for reading and have fun baking everyone!! thanks again Jamie, for being such a source of inspiration and reliable recipes :)
Hi all,
I made these cupcakes this weekend and they were a hit! They were so tasty. I didn’t use shortening in the icing but it was still perfect…
To be honest, the first time I tried it, I was dodging my 10 month old clinging baby in the kitchen, had had little sleep and had doubled the recipe …I ended up thinking it needed 3/4 CUPS of white vinegar instead of 3/4 teaspoon. It wasn’t until I started blending it that I was thinking…wait a second…something looks amiss here…lol!!!
So felt like crying but ended up laughing it off : )
The second batch which I scrutinized the ingredient list turned out fabulous. I was really happy with the result and so were my guests.
So happy I found this website, will try the lemon ones next.
Tried to make a red velvet cake for the first time last week. It was a lot more work than I expected! Came out pretty good but will have to try this recipe :)
Love this Recipe!!
I made it a few weeks back. Was the best red velvet I’ve made. I didn’t use the cream cheese frosting. I used Martha Stewarts instead. I wish I would have used yours. I didn’t really like the idea about the shorting in it but now I see why you added it in yours. My Martha frosting was melting everywhere.
Question! Do you come up with all your recipe?
Thanks :))
GREAT recipe!!!!
I tried it this week and it came out great! Super moist and great taste.
I also used the cream cheese frosting recipe and also a hit for my friends!!
Great recipe, will def use again in the near future!!
Hello! I am so excited about trying this recipe. I simply love this site. Quick question – does it have to be cake flour? Can I just use plain flour? :)
Jamie – have you ever doubled this recipe? I’m looking for a good one, and you’re one of my most trusted cupcakers. I just need two dozen!!
Jennifer–
You can definitely double it! Enjoy and thanks so much for stopping by!
-Jamie
Wow. I forgot to give you the link to the post. Here it is: http://taylorstastietreats.blogspot.com/2011/04/red-velvet-cupcakes.html
I loved this recipe and added a few of my own twists. It came out amazing. I panicked when I saw how wet the batter was and worried that I’d done something wrong, but they rose perfectly and this has become one of my favorite recipes. I posted my version of the recipe on my blog but I credited you (with a link) I couldn’t take the all the credit when it was based on your recipe. I hope you don’t mind. I love your site and I can’t wait to see what other recipes you share with us.