Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red velvet cupcakes are special. These confections are more than a regular cupcake that’s been dyed red. They are light, fluffy, and moist, and no one will be able to resist the swirls of luscious cream cheese frosting on top—we won’t blame you if you’re tempted to lick the spatula when you frost them. Not only are they delicious, they’re also easy to make. So grab your trusty stand mixer and whip up a batch for your next potluck, picnic, or any other get-together.

What Are Red Velvet Cupcakes?

Red velvet cupcakes are a spinoff of the cake of the same name. It has deep Southern roots; most experts pinpointing 1911 as its first iteration. Rufus Estes, a formerly enslaved chef and author from Tennessee published a recipe for Sweet Velvet Cake in his cookbook. Red velvet cake has evolved a lot since then, from the type of frosting used to the color itself. 

In the early days, red velvet cake had a subtle color red, a result of the chemical reaction between the vinegar and cocoa powder in the batter. During the Great Depression, cooks used beet juice as a natural way to give the cake an even more vibrant hue. Now, red food dye is the norm in most recipes, including this one. You can’t taste it, but it helps these cupcakes maintain that bright red color even after they are baked. 

The icing used to frost the cake has changed too. Cream cheese frosting is the most popular option today, but originally, red velvet cake was frosted with a cooked milk frosting. This is made by cooking flour and milk until it thickens to a pudding-like consistency, cooling it, and then whipping it into a mixture of creamed butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. It’s a delicious frosting, but it's definitely more work than cream cheese frosting.

Key Ingredients for Red Velvet Cupcakes

There are a few non-negotiable ingredients that make a red velvet cupcake different from other cupcakes.

• Cake flour: A very fine, low-protein flour, that's cake flour. Compared to cakes made with all-purpose flour, ones made with cake flour have a softer texture and a more even crumb. 
• Cocoa powder: At first glance, red velvet cupcakes might seem like vanilla cupcakes that have been dyed red. Actually these cupcakes have a rich, deep chocolatey flavor, thanks to the addition of unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder. 
• Baking soda/vinegar mixture: This combination is the last thing to be added to the cupcake batter. When baking soda is dissolved into vinegar, it creates carbon dioxide, which acts as a natural leavening agent, much more powerful than baking soda on its own. 
• Buttermilk: Buttermilk is the MVP of this recipe. The acid in it contributes to the reaction between the baking soda and vinegar. Plus, it adds a slight tanginess to the cupcakes that contrasts so well with the sweet frosting. 

Tips for Scooping and Frosting the Cupcakes

Our red velvet cupcakes have a pretty loose cupcake batter, so while we’d normally recommend using an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin tins evenly, it doesn’t work as well for this recipe. Instead, we prefer to pour the batter into a large glass measuring cup, or a similar vessel with a pourable spout. You’ll still have control over how much batter you’re adding to each muffin cup, so you can keep things even. This way, there won’t be any over or under-baked cupcakes in the batch. 

Frosting the Cupcakes

When it comes to frosting, you can be as casual or intricate as you like. Everyone will be too busy enjoying the luscious cream cheese frosting to notice. To keep it simple, use a small offset spatula to spread a generous amount of frosting on each cupcake. End it with a swoop or swirl if you like. If you prefer to pipe, keep in mind that cream cheese frosting isn’t as stiff as buttercream and follow these two tips:

1. Simple piping tips are best: Opt for something like a classic round or star tip for cream cheese frosting. If you use anything else, the frosting might not hold its shape. 
2. Don’t pipe too high: You don't want to overpower the cake with frosting, but since cream cheese frosting is inherently more fragile than some other frostings, you also don’t want to lose the details of your piping by piling it on too high and having it collapse.