Red Velvet Cupcakes

Name: Red Velvet Cupcakes
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups/320 grams cake flour; 1 1/2 cups/300 grams granulated sugar; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon fine sea salt; 1 teaspoon cocoa powder; 1 1/2 cups/360 milliliters vegetable oil; 1 cup/240 milliliters buttermilk, at room temperature; 3 large eggs, at room temperature; 2 tablespoons red food coloring; 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 (8-ounce/225-gram) packages cream cheese, softened; 4 cups/410 grams sifted confectioners’ sugar; 1 cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

By Millie Peartree

Updated Feb. 11, 2021

Red Velvet Cupcakes — Julia Gartland for The New York Times (Photography and Styling)

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4(615)
Comments: Read comments

This bright and beautiful Southern staple has a hint of chocolate flavor that’s paired with a cream cheese frosting, keeping it from being too sweet. Part of red velvet cake’s allure is how moist it is, owing to the vegetable oil in the batter. (Oil-based cakes are often more tender than butter-based counterparts.) You can make these into even smaller cupcakes — this recipe yields twice as many mini cupcakes — just reduce the cooking time accordingly. And if you want your cake even lighter in texture, sift the flour before you mix it in.

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Ingredients

Yield:24 cupcakes

For the Cupcakes

2½cups/320 grams cake flour
1½cups/300 grams granulated sugar
1teaspoon baking soda
1teaspoon fine sea salt
1teaspoon cocoa powder
1½cups/360 milliliters vegetable oil
1cup/240 milliliters buttermilk, at room temperature
3large eggs, at room temperature
2tablespoons red food coloring
1teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

2(8-ounce/225-gram) packages cream cheese, softened
4cups/410 grams sifted confectioners’ sugar
1cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners.
Step 2
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. In another large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla.
Step 3
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined and a smooth batter is formed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Step 4
Scoop batter into muffin cups until they are about three-fourths of the way full, making sure not to overfill. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven. Let cool completely.
Step 5
As cupcakes cool, prepare the cream cheese frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a large bowl and a handheld electric mixer, mix the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through.
Step 6
Reduce mixer speed to low. Add the vanilla, increase the speed to high and mix briefly, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until fluffy.
Step 7
Once cupcakes are cool, frost, using a pastry bag with a large tip, or an offset spatula.

Ratings

4 out of 5

615 user ratings

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Comments

PJ4 years ago

Super good and fluffy cakes!! The frosting calls for 4 cups of confectionary sugar but we used 2 instead and it was the perfect amount of sweetness!

Anna3 years ago

I agree these could use a bit more cocoa powder (I put in just a teaspoon, as it says here), but otherwise, these were delicious! I will say there was WAY too much frosting, and my muffin tins are a bit small, so I ended up with nearly 2 dozen cupcakes but still tons of extra frosting. I only used half the powdered sugar in the frosting as well. Next time, I'll just make half the frosting and go from there.

Rebecca4 years ago

Half sugar in frosting

Molly1 week ago

The flavor of these were good. I could taste the cocoa powder but I agree it wasn't strong. The wrappers were excessively oily. The quantity of oil struck me as too much but I will have to test it again. I used Kefir instead of buttermilk which usually is a good substitute.

Jim1 month ago

I just made this recipe after a failed attempt with another author. This recipe works well as written. I did have to use a buttermilk substitute (whole milk + lemon juice). I also added an additional 1 Tbs of cocoa powder. The batter didn't have enough of a hint of chocolate with just 1 Tsp. When the cupcakes have cooled for about 5 minutes, the bottom of the cupcake feels soggy through the paper but this is normal. It will firm up when fully cooled and be moist throughout.

Csa2 months ago

This calls for way too much oil. I baked the first half of the batter and had to throw everything away because they tasted terrible.

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