These moist and tender red velvet cupcakes have been a staple in my recipe box for more than a decade. With cocoa, buttermilk, and a secret touch of boiling water, they have a rich and tangy flavor that goes perfectly with cream cheese frosting.
Why You’ll Love These Red Velvet Cupcakes
- These red velvet cupcakes are made with cake flour, which makes them extra tender and soft.
- There is more cocoa in this recipe than the standard red velvet cake, which gives them both a deeper flavor and rich red color when combined with food coloring. Still not a chocolate cake, but much richer than typical red velvet!
- Adding boiling water to the batter at the end brings out the cocoa flavors and keeps the red velvet cake super moist.
- Frost with luscious homemade cream cheese frosting, or keep it simple and use store bought frosting.
What is Red Velvet Cake?
I often see red velvet cake described as a red cake with a hint of cocoa powder, but as a history lover lets dive into the past to understand this better. Back in the Victorian era, cakes were more like a tough bread. Nothing like the soft, fluffy cakes that we see today. To make the texture less abrasive, bakers began adding a bit of cocoa powder to break down the flour and make the dessert more appealing. Cocoa is naturally acidic, which breaks down the glutens in flour to make it softer.
Therefore, over time people began adding more and more cocoa to cakes to help break down the flour. Natural cocoa is also slightly red in color, which comes out more when it reacts with an acid such as buttermilk or vinegar. Being attracted to pretty things, people started adding food coloring to the cake to make it even more red. You don’t actually need the food coloring to achieve the iconic red velvet flavor, as cocoa powder plus acid can do that for you!
I personally have a bit of fear where I see neon red cakes though, so my version of red velvet cupcakes relies more on cocoa powder and has a deeper color. To enhance the red, I add a couple of drops of red gel food coloring. Overall these cupcakes are have a rich color and perfectly balanced sweet and tangy flavor!
Ingredients for Red Velvet Cupcakes
Below are a few of the key ingredients that you will need for making these red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. See the recipe card at the end for a full list.
- Cake Flour: Cake flour, which has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour, makes these cupcakes tender. If you can find cake flour I highly recommend using it is possible. However, in a pinch you can create a substitute by using all-purpose flour and replacing 2 tbsp of flour with cornstarch.
- Unsweetened (Natural) Cocoa Powder: Look for unsweetened natural cocoa. Natural cocoa has a reddish hue and is acidic, which is essential to red velvet cake. Do not use dutch processed cocoa, which has been alkalized.
- Egg, at room temperature: Soak the egg in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes before baking to bring it to room temperature.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is what gives red velvet cake its tangy flavor and also helps break down the gluten in flour to keep it soft and tender. I don’t think there’s a really great substitute for it. If you must, the closest thing is Kefir. Please don’t do the milk + vinegar/lemon juice trick.
- Boiling Water: The secret ingredient! Boiling water brings out the flavor in the cupcakes by ‘blooming’ the cocoa powder. You’ll end up this deep flavor that feels rich and dare I say….velvety?
- Cream Cheese Frosting: I have a soft spot for store-bought cream cheese frosting, so it’s actually my frosting of choice here lol. But I’ve also included a recipe for homemade cream cheese frosting in the recipe card!
In terms of equipment, I used a 12-cup muffin tin. This one from Williams Sonoma or this one by USA pan are my go-tos!
Tips for Success
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure that the egg and buttermilk are warmed as close to room temperature as possible before baking. Since cold ingredients do not mix together as well, using room temperature ingredients results in a more even batter.
- Measure Flour Correctly: Measure flour with a digital food scale for the most accuracy. Flour is notoriously easy to over or under measure since you can fluff or pack it.
- Don’t Over Mix the Batter: Red velvet cake originated because people wanted a softer cake lol, so keep your cake soft by gently folding in the flour. While cake flour is more forgiving than all-purpose flour, over mixing will result in tough, gummy cupcakes.
FAQs
Can I Freeze Cupcakes?
You can freeze unfrosted red velvet cupcakes. Wrap each individual cupcake tightly with plastic wrap before placing them in a freezer bag. They will be good for 30 days.
How Should I Store Leftover Red Velvet Cupcakes?
Store unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 2 days and unused cream cheese frosting in the fridge for up to 5 days. This also means that if you are trying to store already frosted cupcakes, keep them in the fridge due to the cream cheese content.
What are Other Frosting Options?
While cream cheese frosting is the typical frosting served with red velvet, I don’t think we need to limit ourselves to that! A few other frostings that could be good are marshmallow frosting, white chocolate frosting, or just a classic vanilla buttercream. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could also try an Oreo buttercream.
For other recipes that go great with cream cheese frosting, check out this moist zucchini cake, hummingbird cake, or even chocolate cream cheese frosting.
Pin & Save for Later
ot ready to bake yet but want to come back to this recipe? No problem! Simply hover over any image in this post (or tap on mobile) to save this recipe to your favorite baking Pinterest board.
Happy baking and hope you love your red velvet cupcakes! <3
The Best Red Velvet Cupcakes
These deeply rich and moist red velvet cupcakes have been a staple for me for over a decade! They're heavier on the cocoa than most red velvet cupcakes and get a treatment of boiling water before baking for a rich flavor and soft texture. Top with cream cheese frosting for a sweet and tangy treat!
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cupcakes
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 10 tbsp buttermilk, room temperature
- 8-9 drops gel food coloring (see notes)
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup cake flour
- ¼ cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup boiling water
- 1 tub store-bought cream cheese frosting, or use below recipe
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup (113g) butter, softened
- 8 oz plain cream cheese, softened
- 2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and fill 12 cupcake tins with cupcake liners.
- Prep buttermilk. In a medium liquid measuring cup, mix the buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla extract, and vinegar together until combined. If the buttermilk is cold, make sure to quickly microwave it to bring it to room temperature.
- Prep dry ingredients. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together into a medium bowl.
- Make cake batter. In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, beating until combined. Grab the prepped buttermilk and dry ingredients. Alternate adding ⅓ of the flour, half the buttermilk, another ⅓ of the flour, the remaining buttermilk, and the remaining flour. Mix on low speed to avoid over mixing and sending liquid flying everywhere. Once everything has been evenly combined, pour in the boiling water and mix it in until you have a smooth batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake tins, filling to around ¾ full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool down for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.
- Cream cheese frosting. If you are using cream cheese frosting from a tub, whip it with a hand or stand mixer first to make it light and airy. If you are making your own frosting, then keep hop to the next step.
- Beat the butter, cream cheese, and salt together for 2 minutes until light and combined. Add the powdered sugar, combining it first at low speed before increasing to high speed. This will prevent sugar from flying everywhere. You can also add the sugar in increments to further protect from this. Add the vanilla extract and continue beating for 2-3 minutes until you have a smooth and silky frosting.
- Frost the cupcakes with a knife or your favorite piping tip. Enjoy!
Notes
- Food Coloring: Gel food coloring will give you the most color with the least amount of coloring. Americolor Super Red food coloring is my go to -- one bottle lasts for a really long time and it provides incredibly rich coloring. If you only have liquid food coloring, note that you will need to use a lot more of it to achieve the same level of red (2-3 tsp). While many liquid food colors claim these days that they don't affect the flavor, I still don't fully trust this and try to stick to gel!
- Cocoa Powder: Natural (not dutched) cocoa powder will give you the best results for red velvet cupcakes because it is more acidic. This allows it to react with the buttermilk, baking soda, and vinegar to create the deep red color.
- Cream cheese: maker sure to use plain cream cheese from a block instead of a tub. Tubbed cream cheese has added ingredients such as water, which will lead to runny frosting.
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