Extremely easy to make, this red velvet cupcakes recipe with cream cheese frosting and melt-in-your-mouth texture is a delicious, portioned dessert you can make within one hour and decorate for any occasion.
Jump to:
Ingredients and substitutes
Flour - You can use all-purpose flour or cake flour if you want your cupcakes to be even more tender and soft.
Cocoa powder - Use unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-processed).
Baking powder and baking soda - We need both leveling agents because the kefir is very acidic. If we add only baking powder, it will burn down too soon and we might have a problem with our cupcakes rising in the oven.
Salt and vanilla extract - Vanilla is a part of the original recipe and I use it every time I make my Red velvet cake. Of course, I had to include it as well as salt in this red velvet cupcake recipe too. Additionally, I add some vanilla to my frosting.
Egg - You should always use eggs at room temperature. If you forgot to take it out of the fridge in advance, you can always place it in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes before using it.
Sugar - I use white granulated sugar for the cupcakes and powdered sugar for the frosting.
Red food coloring - You will need water-soluble coloring, whether it's liquid food coloring or in gel form.
Butter and oil - There are three different types of red velvet recipes - the ones that use only butter, the ones that use a mix of oils and butter, and the ones that use only oils. I find that unsalted butter is a crucial part of any red velvet recipe. The purpose is not only to soften the texture and make it moister but to bring a buttery flavor to it. I really want to keep my cupcakes soft even if they're stored in the fridge, which isn’t possible without adding some vegetable oil. I also use unsalted butter for the frosting (it should be at room temperature).
Kefir (fermented milk) - You can replace it with buttermilk or make your own buttermilk out of whole milk and lemon juice or white vinegar.
Cream cheese - I use Philadelphia original cream cheese at room temperature.
Cooking tips
Sift the dry ingredients. Cocoa powder is known to be lumpy and those lumps won't break easily once they are in the wet ingredients. Most likely, they will stay unbroken inside your cupcake batter. Don't be surprised if you take a bite of a cupcake a find a piece of dry, raw cocoa powder in it. To avoid this situation, you must sift your dry ingredients into the wet mixture instead of dumping everything in at once.
Fill the liners so they're only ⅔ full. Overfilling the liners will make the cupcake batter spill over the edges during baking, while the batter is still liquid. You'll end up with burned cupcake paddles on top of your muffin pan.
Don't open the oven too early. It takes at least 20 minutes for the cupcake structure to set. If you open the oven too early, the middle of your red velvet cupcakes may sink, so you’ll want to perform a toothpick test after the 20-minute mark.
Step by step directions
For the cupcakes
1. Preheat the oven to 160C (320F) and line the muffin pan with 9 cupcake liners.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, add the egg, sugar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring. Whisk well to a homogenous consistency.
4. Add the kefir, butter, and oil and whisk to combine.
5. Sift in the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula just until no dry ingredients are left.
6. Fill the paper liners ⅔ full and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake in the middle of the pan comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes rest for 5 minutes in the pan. Then, transfer onto a cooling rack to cool down to room temperature before decorating with the cream.
For the frosting
1. Place the butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip until fluffy and white. Then, add the cream cheese in several parts and whip on medium to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl and whip on medium until stable and fluffy.
2. Place the cream into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle of your choice and decorate completely cooled cupcakes.
Flavor and decoration variations
Berry filling - You can make my Raspberry coulis and fill the center of your cupcakes with it before decorating them with frosting.
Another type of cream cheese frosting - Replace the unsalted butter with heavy whipping cream and make lighter frosting, like in my Best vanilla cupcakes recipe. One thing you have to know about this frosting - it's not that stable, so you don't want to keep it at room temperature for more than 30-40 minutes.
Any other frosting - If you're not a big fan of cream cheese, any frosting that you like will work.
Add some color - You can color the cream you use to decorate your red velvet cupcakes and make your dessert fit the occasion.
Sprinkles - As you can see, I used heart-shaped sprinkles to decorate my cupcakes for Valentine's Day, but you can use whatever sprinkles are out there.
FAQ
Unfrosted, the cupcakes can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days. Frosted cupcakes should be stored covered in the fridge for 4 days.
Tightly wrap each unfrosted cupcake in plastic wrap and then a piece of foil. Freeze for up to one month.
The batter should be used right away and can't be stored in the fridge.
More related recipes
Recipe card
Red velvet cupcakes
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- Rubber spatula
- Muffin pan
- Muffin liners
- Stand mixer or hand mixer and a large mixing bowl
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 160 g all-purpose flour
- 10 g cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 160 g white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Red food coloring
- 150 ml kefir or buttermilk
- 25 ml vegetable oil such as canola oil
- 50 g butter melted
For the cream
- 200 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 70 g powdered sugar
- 400 g cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sprinkles for decoration optional
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 160C (320F) and line the muffin pan with 9 cupcake paper liners.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add the egg, sugar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring. Whisk well to a homogenous consistency.
- Add the kefir, butter, and oil and whisk to combine.
- Sift in the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula just until no dry ingredients are left.
- Fill the paper liners ⅔ full and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake in the middle of the pan comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes rest for 5 minutes in the pan. Then, transfer onto a cooling rack to cool down to room temperature before decorating with the cream.
For the cream
- Place the butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or you can use a hand mixer and a bowl) and whip until fluffy and white. Then, add the cream cheese in several parts and whip on medium to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl and whip on medium until stable and fluffy.
- Place the cream into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle of your choice and decorate completely cooled cupcakes.
Leave a comment