Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
These are the absolute BEST red velvet cupcakes! A gorgeous red color, moist and fluffy, and topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting. The perfect Valentine’s treat!
Really, really good red velvet cupcakes can be totally elusive, right? Some are dry, some are TOO red. And what’s the story behind red velvet cake (and cupcakes) anyway?
After doing a little research, I found that while foods were rationed during war time, bakers used boiled beets to enhance the color of their cakes and to retain moisture. Red velvet cake was a signature dessert at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel during the 1920s, and was also well-known in the restaurants and bakeries of the Eaton’s department store chain in Canada during the 1940s and 1950s. Many attribute the cake’s recent popularity to the film Steel Magnolias, in which the groom’s cake was a red velvet cake in the shape of an armadillo.
I wasn’t always sold on red velvet, but I am now a full-fledged convert!
Testing Red Velvet Cupcakes
When I first tried a red velvet cupcake, to say that I was underwhelmed would be a gross understatement. After all of the buzz that red velvet had been receiving, I was expecting to be blown away.
What I ate was pretty dry and tasteless (although the cream cheese frosting was good!). I wasn’t impressed (obviously) and it was about six months before I would try one again.
During a little Georgetown cupcake tour while in DC for a weekend, I had a red velvet cupcake from Baked and Wired. It was seriously amazing. It changed my mind about red velvet – it was fluffy, moist, with a hint of chocolate, and was all kinds of delicious. I was an official convert.
The next step, of course, was to make a great one at home. I did some reading, I looked at a lot of recipes, and in the end I decided to try this one, which originated at the Hummingbird Bakery. And I’m so glad I did, because I don’t think a better one could exist.
If you are looking for a super moist red velvet cupcake recipe, this is IT! They are everything I was hoping for – moist, fluffy, a tiny bit chocolatey, and a perfect vehicle for a heaping pile of cream cheese frosting!
All red velvet cakes have specific ingredients in common: cocoa powder, white vinegar, buttermilk and baking soda; the reaction of the vinegar with the buttermilk helps to pull out the red color in the cocoa powder.
CAN YOU MAKE RED VELVET Cupcakes WITHOUT BUTTERMILK?
So, you want to make red velvet cupcakes, but you don’t have buttermilk. No problem – you can make your own!
Using soured milk is a key component to red velvet cake batter, as the acidic liquid is needed to combine with the baking soda and cocoa powder to get the rise and texture right, so if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, use the following substitution:
- Pour 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar to a measuring cup. Add enough milk (I recommend 2% or whole) to measure 1 cup total. Stir together and let sit for 5 minutes, then use as directed in the recipe below.
Red velvet cupcakes are amazing any time of year, but (obviously) especially around Valentine’s Day.
Dress them up with some pink and red sprinkles and share them with someone special!
Looking for More Red Velvet Inspiration? Try These Recipes!
- Red Velvet Cheesecake
- Red Velvet Poke Cake
- Red Velvet Roll Cake with White Chocolate-Cream Cheese Filling
- Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
- Red Velvet Ice Cream
One year ago: Ultimate Triple Chocolate Brownies
Two years ago: Red Velvet Roll Cake with White Chocolate-Cream Cheese Filling
Four years ago: How to Make Sushi at Home
Five years ago: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
Six years ago: Icebox Cake
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2½ tablespoons (2.5 tablespoons) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons red food coloring
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
- 1 cup (125 g) + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) distilled white vinegar
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) butter, at room temperature
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2½ cups (300 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Special Equipment:
- Standard 12-cup muffin pan
- Red food coloring
- Disposable decorating bags
- Attic #827 decorating tip
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard muffin/cupcake pan with liners.
- On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter and mix on medium speed until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.
- Again, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the salt, baking soda and vinegar. Turn to high and beat for another couple of minutes until completely combined and smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife or skewer inserted into the center of the largest cupcake comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes and then remove cupcakes from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting: Using the whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Increase the speed to medium high and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.
Notes
- This recipe can be doubled to make an 8 or 9-inch layer cake.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on November 8, 2010.
I made it for a girl I work with. It was her birthday and she loves red velvet. I had never made red velvet anything and I was so impressed by this recipe. Everyone LOVED it. I mean they raved about it for days. Total success. Thanks for a great recipe that I’ll continue to use.
BEB is my first stop when I’m searching for a recipe. She always seems to have what I need and the results is delicious. I made these cupcakes for my grandson’t birthday. They were perfect! So tender and moist. Will definitely make again. Thanks BEB for another fabulous recipe.
It’s is amazing The only Problem I have with this recipe is it never states when to get your flour ready I hope this won’t be a problem in the future other than that my Cupcakes came out amazing Thankyou!!!!
Exactly what red food coloring you used for this recipe?
Hi Michelle, I love your page so much. I have been making this recipe for a while now but I was wondering can you do half butter and oil or all oil instead of butter etc? Just wondering about substitutions that you might recommend? Thanks!!!!!
Hi Denise, I haven’t tested it, but you can definitely give it a try!
Can I use salted butter and omit the salt?……..emergency cake on hand and dont have unsalted butter please help
Yes, you can!
You switch from tablespoons or sticks to ounces of butter from the batter to the frosting.. I almost used 4 tablespoons of butter in the frosting until I started making it and realized that just seemed all wrong. I guess this is why cookbooks have editors.
Wat can I substitute with buttermilk?
Hi Tamisha, You can find substitute instructions for buttermilk here: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/common-baking-substitutions/
Cupcakes did not rise. I am a seasoned Baker, not sure what happened.
Made a carrot cake right after, no problems.
Yes we made it it was so delicious!!!!!
The red velvet cupcake recipe only made 8 small cupcakes. We made sure we put in all the right amounts of everything, but it still made less than what it said it would make.
This recipe is so good! I use 6 ounces cream cheese in the frosting though.
I just made these and I haven’t even tried them yet, but let me tell you, they look amazing! Just a tip to anyone who doesn’t have any regular food coloring like me: I used 1 tsp gel food coloring with about 3 tsp of water. Hope that helps!
Made them for the first time. I will post on Instagram. They turned out great but wow… Lots of work!
Hi there!! I might get this recipe today thinking that it was one that I had seen online many many years ago probably 10 years ago to be exact. And I could have sworn this was the place that I got the recipe from because I remember the name Brown eyed Baker. But I could have sworn the person that I got the recipe from had different pictures on the recipe post. Did you by any chance happen to change the pictures on this recipe? I remember the red wasn’t as vibrant it was a more of a burgundy the first time it was posted if this wasn’t factor recipe that I’m thinking about. And the frosting was more spread on there than it was piped. I made them today and they didn’t taste exactly the way that they used to when I used to make this recipe back in high school. they used to be more moist today’s cupcakes came out a little dry and they came out crunchy on the top and I made them exactly the same as in the video and directions home kind of wondering where it went wrong and if this was or was not the recipe that I was looking for. so I guess my question is did you change the pictures and was it a darker red when you originally posted this maybe 10 years ago?
I did take new photos but I did not change the recipe at all.
A great recipe
I read the reviews before I bake any recipe. I saw one saying this was dry. I tend to agree that these are quite dry, but I also know that you can increase the moisture by adding sour cream, more butter, apple sauce, oil, or even a little more buttermilk.
I intend on making the poke cake version this coming weekend. I do a test run several days before so I can play with the recipe, or make sure that it’s not a fail.
I think the poke version would stack well, with only 2 layers, and the dry crumb would do well with the sweetened condensed milk flowing through it.
Do you have any experience with stacking (making a layered cake) with the “poke” type?
Made this last night and my dad loved them! I doubled the batch and was able to make 27 cupcakes. Will definitely keep this recipe. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! I chose it from the Internet because you had obviously spent time thinking about and modifying the recipe and you knew what you were talking about. This recipe was ideal – my very fussy daughter loves them and I am so glad! They were easy to make and so silky to eat. I appreciated your explanations about the vinegar etc. too. I am going to bake some more tomorrow for the fabulous teachers at school! THANK YOU.
The duration on whipping the cream cheese frosting was too long. I had a runny frosting after whipping it for 5 minutes. Shuold’ve lessen the time on whipping and this recipe could’ve been perfect.
If your frosting is too thin/loose/runny add more powdered sugar or add cornstarch (if you prefer less sweet frosting). It also could be that your kitchen is too warm. Cream cheese frosting doesn’t like the heat. Try chilling it a for 30-45 mins and then spread the frosting.
This is the perfect red velvet recipe ever! Although I tweaked a little with the ingredient (substituted the butter with canola oil and lessened the red food coloring to 2tbsp) and they still came out perfectly. They did not sunk and were still fluffy eve after hours. Also, I just love the sweetness level, not bland and not too sweet. The redness of the muffins is also good, not too dark as the other reviews have said. Overall, this is just perfect!
Taste nice but did not go as red as the pictures at all. Very dark almost chocolate like. :-(
They also sunk too after removing from the oven
You didn’t bake them long enough or you over mixed after you added the vinegar and baking soda. You have to be ready to go once you mix the vinegar and baking soda. They cause the cake to rise, and if you over process at that point you kill the reaction.
Wow! I have tried several recipes and this was a winner! I especially love that it makes a dozen cupcakes only. The frosting was amazing as well. I just made it for Valentines Day 2019 and my 3 boys and hubby loved it. Thank you!!
Hi Michelle! Doubling this and converting to a cake for a friend’s birthday….I see you converted to a 9 inch cake…. did you just double the frosting as well? Thoughts on using the frosting from the hummingbird cake instead or have you ever done an almond cream cheese frosting [if so do you have a recipe]?
Also for cocoa thoughts on King Arthur burgundy instead of the pure unsweet?
Decorating ideas for a cake?
Thank you!
They went so well then went poof and sunk after i took them out of the oven.
GOOD. We is using this for our test
“3 tablespoons red food coloring” — is that a typo?
Hi Darren, Not a typo! You can use less if you prefer for a more muted red color.
I have tried so many recipes before, looking for the one I love, and now I have. I do want to ask that can I double the recipe if I want to make more cupcakes? It would bring out the same taste right?
I really love your recipe and I don’t want go look for any other and I don’t want it to go waste if I try doubling it myself.
Please do let me know. Thanks again
My daughter made this as a red velvet pie, it was the best we ever ate!
Did you use liquid or gel food coloring?
Very soft and moist delicious cake 😘😘
I think this is a great recipe, but my 1st batch I did to the letter & I just wasn’t totally content. The 2nd batch I pretty much did the same recipe but threw in a little lemon juice in batter then found that mixing the salt, b.soda, vinegar together before adding worked best for me. Also in 2nd batch mixed buttermilk w/cocoa, vanilla & color. It just made more sense for me. And I will agree w/some commenters that it is a lot of red but hey if u want a lovely red u gotta do what u gotta do. Plus, its not like we eat it everyday! Thanks Brown Eyed Baker! It was so much fun! & got to make frosting for 1st time in a stand mixer hehe
I made this recipe a few times, years ago (before this recipe was reposted). I just went to make it again but my butter and sugar didn’t cream! It just turned into a very gritty paste. Has the recipe changed or have I done something wrong??
Just made these and they came out perfect! A bit deeper red as opposed to bright like your pics, but still plenty recognizable as red velvet. I tripled the recipe and got 30 cupcakes, which was the perfect amount – 24 for a work party and an extra 6 to keep home for my family. I’m going to stuff them with white chocolate whipped cream and top them with marscapone-cream cheese frosting. I think they’ll be a hit!
I questioned the quantity of ingredients and surprised it called out 12 cupcakes. I doubled the recipe and only got 20 cupcakes out of it. They rose beautifully and smell amazing. The batter tased good but as the cupcakes are cooling now I have to wait to eat it. I did leave out the food color but I usually do that. I’m only annoyed about the quantity as I really needed 24 cupcakes. Now I need to make another batch.
Can this recipe be doubled?
What kind of food coloring do you use? i live in Germany and the quantities are really small so they turned out rather purple brownish. I haven’t tasted them yet but i love the bright red color in yours!
Hi Sarah, I use McCormick liquid red food coloring. I hope that helps!
So. I was having a school bake sale and one of the more popular ideas was to do a red velvet cupcacke. Me, being the person I am, chose the first one that popped up. BUT LET ME SAY. These cupcackes are the absolute best! Everything is perfect and they were a huge hit. (:
I just want to say I made these for a family/friend gathering yesterday and everyone loved them! This recipe is amazing and I’ll be using it from now on!
Just made this recipe and it came out perfect! First time also making cup cakes :)
This recipe is amazing! Thank you SO much for sharing this! I followed the cupcake instructions exactly as written, except added a little more colouring for personal preference. (I used both liquid and gel.) One other small tweak I made was to cream the butter on its own for a few minutes first, before adding in the cream cheese, and then popping the bowl in the fridge every couple of minutes to keep everything from getting too soft/warm. I think this helped to retain a firmer texture for piping. The recipe proportions were PERFECT. I made them into mini cupcakes (baked for about 12 mins, though started checking around 10) and they were all gone within about 5 minutes! Thank you for the perfect red velvet recipe!
Hi
I just tried making the red velvet cupcakes, is the cocoa definitely 2 1/2 tbsps? Can you give that in grams? It seemed too much? It didn’t make a smooth paste, was really dry and lumpy, I don’t know where I went wrong!
Thanks
Liz
Does that mean the amount of flour in *total* should be 145 grams? Because 1 cup with my measuring spoons says its equal to around 180 grams of flour, and more with the additional two tablespoons, which seems like a lot for these cupcakes.
Hi Jeanie, Yes that should be the total. That’s why I love weighing – it’s always consistent!
Love love love love this recipe! It only makes a dozen so it was a perfect treat for the kids. I recommend adding only 1/2 cup of sugar, as the full 3/4 cups is slightly too sweet for me. Also, the cream cheese buttercream is fantastic! It’s not overly sweet like a lot of other recipes for buttercream and it pairs very nicely with the cake. I will be making more of this soon!
Hi April, I’m so thrilled that you loved these cupcakes! Thank you so much for taking the time to stop back and share the review, it’s so appreciated!
First time making Red Velvet and these came out fantastic! Thank you so much for this recipe. I made my own buttermilk. (I always do, per your suggestion, I use your recipes quite often) I could not find enough liquid red food colouring. I ended up with 2 tbsp. So, I used 1 tsp Sugarflair Gel Paste Claret, enough tbsp of water to make the paste with the cocoa powder. (I think it was another 2-2.1-1/2 tbsp of water) I doubled the batch to make 24 cupcakes for Canada Day! My cupcakes aren’t the light red like yours, but they taste amazing. I also doubled the icing, but I don’t think I needed to do that. Here’s a link to my Instagram, I should have taken a single picture without a liner on it, so you could better see the actual cupcake. Thanks again, for all your wonderful recipes! :) These were a hit!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkppamOnBKUDj25Zqqrn-nsRNTm8xJvwnBUHX40/?taken-by=leonievanpuymbroeck
Thank you for sharing the photo – they are gorgeous! I love your piping!
Thanks!!
Hi Michelle,
Just wondering, If I wanted to make mini cupcakes, what would I change the baking time to? Thanks in advance.
Hi Michelle, I still don’t understand. So for making the buttermilk, do I have to add 1/2 tablespoon or 1/2 a tsp of vinegar to to 1/2 cup of regular 2% milk?? Please Help!
You need to put 1 tablespoon of vinegar into a measuring cup, add enough milk to equal 1 cup and stir. Then use 1/2 cup of that mixture.
HI,
Can I use the recipe for 6″×3inches high? If so what will be the baking temperature and time.?
Hi Ann, I think that would work, probably at 325 or 350, time you will just have to use trial and error, I’m not sure.
I’m using red food colour in gel form…. So what will be the measurements? Can you please give me the eggless recipe?
Hi Arpita, I don’t have measurements for gel color, you’ll just need to gauge by eye and use as much as you need to achieve the desired color.
So for 1/2 cup of buttermilk you have to add 1/2 tsp of vinegar?? Please help!!
Hi Meena, You should make the 1 cup, measure, then discard what you don’t need.
Hi, so do you have to use 1 cup of buttermilk or 1/3 cup of buttermilk?
You use 1/2 cup (as stated in the recipe above).
How much vinegar do you have to add to the 1/2 cup of milk? Please help!
Hi Meena, You should make the 1 cup, measure, then discard what you don’t need.
I followed the recipe to the letter but the cakes did not rise and were quite dense so not sure what went wrong. I make a lot of cupcakes which rise beautifully very disappointing.
This are amazing!!!!!
Thank you for the recipe.
Hi! I have been making this cupcake recipe for years because it’s the bomb. But I have 9 inch tins instead of 8 inch. Would this be alright or would you recommend adjusting the recipe further? Thank you!
Ignore me! I read the recipe again properly :/
I doubled the recipe for 24 cupcakes, and they turned out with a bitter aftertaste. :( I used less than a tablespoon of liquid food coloring, and used water to make it to 3 tablespoons. Besides that, I used all of the given measurements. What went wrong?
Hi Holly, I’m so sorry to hear that! I’ve never had an issue scaling this up, but sometimes recipes can get wonky when you do so. Was your baking soda fresh? That’s the only other thing I can think of that would have caused a bitter aftertaste!
Hi, can you please explain “1 cup + 2 (145 grams) tablespoons all-purpose flour”. Is it just 1 cup and another 2 tablespoons of flou? Thanks
Yes, it is 1 cup and another 2 tablespoons of flour (or 145 grams).
I’ve made a lot of red velvet cake recipes in the past but friends & family told me these cupcakes are the best. Made as you instructed. Thanks so much!
can I make this into a sheet cake? I know the baking time will be different, no problem there, I just wanted to know if I can turn batter into sheet cake? I need to make this real soon. Thank you
Hi Bonnie, Yes! I’ve converted this into a 9×13 as well as a 9-inch double layer cake, so I think it should be fine! If you’re making a full sheet cake, you’ll need to increase the batter, though.
Oh my goodness Brown Eye. This recipe was so much fun. And the flavor! Loved it! I had one small hiccup problem, but, I figured it out. I only had the pastel jell Food coloring. It’s so thick! I couldn’t get the full 3T food coloring out. So I used 1/2 T (give or take). It was so thick, I couldn’t get that smooth paste with the cocoa and vanilla. What a mess I had. But, I used hot water to thin it up. I don’t remember how much I added, but Thanks to your video, I figured it out. Wow! My red color looked just like yours. After baking and cooling, I put the frosting on with pretty sprinkles. Turned out so good. Almost gone and I forgot to take a picture! Dang, next time I promise to take a photo. Ps. I love your coconut cupcakes also. Made those many, many times. Peace to you!
I’m not sure if I have 3 T of liquid food coloring. I know that I can use gel food coloring and that I’d have to use less. But how do I know if I’ve used enough? Can I just gage it by the color of the batter?
Hi Delia, Yes, if you use gel food color, just go by the color of the batter. Enjoy! :)
Made these yesterday and it’s no surprise they’re fabulous. Once again, thanks for sharing.
I forgot to mention, I used Lorann’s Red Velvet Emulsion. Lorann Oils has several great tasting oils and extracts. I find the Red Velvet emulsion doesn’t make the cake batter taste as bitter as using red food coloring only. For each 8 or 9-inch cake or 12 cupcakes, mix 1 tablespoon LorAnn Red Velvet. It’s great.
I made these yesterday, and they are perfect. I saw some of the comments about using gel food coloring not turning great, but mine did turn perfect red. I used about 1/2 tsp (did not measure) of the gel color and diluted it with 3tbs of water, so it matches the amount of the recipe.
I make my cream cheese frosting exactly as you have listed but its always so soft, even tried cutting back on the vanilla or any liquid but still too soft. Any suggestions?
Hi Annie, You could try using cold cream cheese instead of room temperature, I know some people find that helpful.
Hi what size cupcake liner and scoop did you use?
Hi Kathy, I use standard size cupcake liners and the scoop is a large cookie scoop.
Made these yesterday for an early Valentine’s dinner. They are delicious. Fortunately, I wear gloves when I make anything red velvet, otherwise I have red everywhere. Because I use the gel food coloring, I only added one (1) tablespoon of coloring. Wondering if the 3 tablespoon(s) ingredient is recommended, given most people only have liquid food coloring. These cupcakes were a huge hit and they are perfect for that amazing red velvet taste. On the cream cheese frosting recipe, I only added 1 tsp vanilla extract. Given the texture of the frosting, a tablespoon would have made the frosting too thin for me. I did use a decorating bag and tip to frost cupcakes and sprinkled them with a dusting of pink sugar. Twelve cupcakes were perfect. These pretty and delicious mini-cakes will be tempting me all day. Love Browneyed Baker. Thanks for all the delicious recipes.
Can I substitute corn starch for the cocoa powder? I want to turn these into pink velvet and I wouldn’t be able to do that if they have a chocolate color. (I’ve made this recipe before and it was delicious)
Hi Denae, I’m not sure that would work; you really need the unsweetened cocoa powder to interact with the buttermilk, baking soda and vinegar for the rise and flavor. It’s such a very subtle chocolate flavor; if you just want pink cupcakes, I would recommend adding a little bit of red food coloring to vanilla cupcakes instead.
I made these today and I must say they’re absolutely perfect 👌🏽. I will not try another red velvet recipe after this ! Thank you
This red velvet cupcake was utterly delicious. The perfect amount of chocolate with a hint of tang from the buttermilk. I definitely plan on making this again!
Hi everyone,
I love red velvet cupcakes.. it’s my favorite one..
Have been searching for the recpie online.. just seen this page.. can anyone help me in providing a video for making this red velvet cupcake, which would be much helpful for me..
Awaiting anyone’s reply…
Thanks much in Advance..🙂🙂
Hi Alan, There is a video included in the post above!
Hello Michelle :)
Thank you for this deish ultra lovely recipe.
I did bake a Red Velvet Cake many times with another recipe and came through yours so tried it out with the best results!
They are really so smooth and so soft yet firm to handle and so very moist to gobble up all immediately :)
Being a Blogger myself i know what a great effort it is so bake and cook and share all.
A very well deserved credit coming your way :)
Keep up the good job!
AMAZING! They turned out perfect even when I followed the recipe improperly. I didn’t have any buttermilk so I made my own by adding a half-cup of lemon juice to the half cup of milk. I forgot to add the egg at the right time and I ran out of red food dye. To top it all off I was too lazy to follow the cream cheese recipe so I simply threw half a block of cream cheese with some milk, granulated sugar and vanilla into the bowl. Even with all these mishaps the cupcakes were so so so good! I plan on making these again next week. :)
Made this tonight, great texture and turned out fairly good, however I like my cake sweeter, next time I will use more sugar. Great starting recipe !
Can you please tell me if the buttermilk used is sweet ? Is there any other option to buttermilk ? Also if I can’t get buttermilk , can I make it from curd ?
Hi Anita, No buttermilk is not sweet, it has a tang to it. You can make your own buttermilk with regular milk and vinegar or lemon juice (https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/). If you can’t get buttermilk, I would recommend using plain yogurt.
I’ve never been a fan of Red Velvet, but this recipe rocks. What made me chose it from the plethora of others out there was the mixing the cocoa with the vanilla and food coloring before adding to batter. I’d just read an article about this very thing. In the olden days they called it a pudding. Mixing the cocoa with liquid in this way releases and strengthens the chocolate flavor.. I can’t speak to the icing as I used my own. Not so much a recipe as the left-over almond buttercream that I threw a block of cream cheese into. It was late. I was tired. But the cake is fabulous. Moist and with the perfect amount of chocolate flavor. Hubs flipped. Nephew raved. My mom praised them to the sky. Yeah, she did.
Hey! Love your recipes. For this one, can you use gel food coloring instead of liquid?
Hi Katie, You can, but you will likely need less of it, as it’s more concentrated.
Hi, can I use apple cider vinegar instead of distilled white vinegar? Will the taste be significantly different or will it change the texture of the cupcake? Thanks!
Hi Clare, That will work just fine and should not alter the taste or texture of the cupcakes.
I first made these for my wife, my mother and my wife’s mother for Valentine’s Day several years ago. Now, I make them for her birthday (October 24th) and she’s let it be known that I cannot EVER make them for anyone else other than her nor can I make them for any other occasion other than her birthday (or whenever she demands them. We were in Chicago for her birthday this year and away from the oven…guess what I’ll be making this weekend?) Though my wife is lactose intolerant, she gladly suffers through the bloating and abdominal discomfort!
What will be the temperature in centigrade for an 8” layer cake?
Urgent reply needed please
350 degrees F is equivalent to 177 degrees C. The bake time will need to be increased for a cake vs the cupcakes.
180C the temperature and time 30-40 mins will be okay?
You’ll need to do trial and error for the time. I would start checking around 25 minutes and go from there.
What type of food coloring are you using? Liquid or gel icing color?
Hi Lauryn, Liquid.
If I double this and make it as a cake, do I cook it in a cake tin or split it in two sponge tins?
Thx!
Hi Elizabeth, If you double it, you can cook it in a 9×13-inch pan or two 8-inch or 9-inch round pans.
This is Hummingbird Bakery’s recipe, almost word to word…
Yes, I cite that this is from their cookbook.
Can i bakd the cake batter separately. Means 1 is in the oven. The other 1 is on table top waiting . Coz im making it into 2 layer 8 ” pan.
And the temperature and timing is what for each layer to bake in the oven.
Hi Stella, You can do that, but know that the second layer may not rise as much as the first. As soon as the batter is mixed together the leavening agents begin to activate; as it sits without being exposed to heat, the leavening loses its punch.
Excellent recipe! I’m a total novice baker and this recipe was easy to make. The cake was very moist and the frosting was a perfect. The cupcakes were a big hit at the party and I would definitely make these again. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed them, Scott! Thanks so much for the review!
I was searching for how to make red velvet cupcakes and yours caught my attention because of how gorgeous your cupcakes were and I also found your recipe and method was the easiest to follow. Therefore I decided to give it go. I baked my red velvet cupcakes using your ingredients and method but unfortunately it turned out dark brown just like how a chocolate cake batter would and it was runny as well. Can you please tell me how it could have happened as I thought I did everything right and I followed step by step guide on how to make your red velvet cupcakes. One more thing, I love baking cakes and they always turn out great but not this one. Thanks
I’m so sorry to hear that your cupcakes didn’t turn out as you had hoped! The difference in the color could definitely just be the brand of food coloring – some are more saturated than others. As far as being runny, were they not completely baked?
I can’t find distilled white vinegar in Germany. Is there’s any substitution?
Hi Ann, Any neutral-flavored vinegar would work, something like apple cider vinegar perhaps?
I would like to bake this cake for my son coming birthday. I will double up this recipe and will be using 8″ pan. I wolud like to know what us the thickness of the cake will be.
Hi Stella, If you double the recipe, you’ll need to use two 8-inch round pans. The layers will be about 2 inches high each.
I have an oven that only have tempearature, section heat and timer function. Im not sure is this called conventional or convection oven.
Hi Stella, I’m not sure, based on that description. I would consult the owner’s manual.
These cupcakes are the best red velvet ever! I get so many request to make this recipe. :)
Thank you for posting!
You’re welcome, Laura! Thanks so much for leaving a review!
Just made these, it always was a dream to make red velvet cupcakes myself. These are really the best I’ve ever tasted! I have made several pies/cakes from your site and they always succeed and taste great.! Greetings from Utrecht. the Netherlands.
Hi Elise, I’m so happy you enjoyed these cupcakes! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop back and leave a review!
I have made this red velvet recipe several times, the first time I made it for a church cake auction it sold for $400 and there was a battle for this cake. The person who purchased the cake said it was they best red velvet cake he had ever eaten. I have made it many times since then, including cupcakes. I agree the frosting could use a bit more cream cheese, other than I would give his cake 5*****. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Oh my gosh, that’s amazing!! I’m so thrilled to hear you’ve enjoyed this recipe so much!
Hmm not sure with the taste but bit disappointed with the color.. its black dark red :'(
Hi,
Is it possible not to add red colouring? I dun think it would make any difference on taste but does it? I love red velvet cake with cream cheese but it is almost impossible to find colouring here in Germany.
Thank you!
Ann
Hi Ann, You can leave it out, they just obviously won’t be red. Some people have used beet juice; I’ve never done it but if you Google it you may be able to find some ideas on how much to use!
We made this for a work event, where four people asked where the recipe came from! We followed the recipe exactly, except for three tablespoons of food coloring, where we used one tablespoon of food coloring and two tablespoons of water for an equivalent volume. The cupcakes baked up perfectly. We found the frosting a little light on cream cheese flavor, and next time will probably change the cream cheese/butter ratio to get a more cream cheese forward flavor. We will definitely make this recipe again!
Hi,
This looks a fantastic recipe! I have a quick question…….I am not keen to use the red food coloring and have read that I can use beet juice as a substitute. How much of the beet juice should I use?
Hi Sofia, I have heard of using beet juice as well, I would start with the same amount of food coloring and go from there. If you use too much juice, it will affect the texture of the batter, so I wouldn’t use too much more without having to alter the rest of the recipe.
Hi Michelle,
I have to make 80 cupcakes, can I just keep doubling the recipe to make enough batter?
Hi Fiona, Yes, that will work just fine!
I would love to try these, but is there a substitute for the buttermilk? Also, how should I adjust the timing and temp if I want to make the mini cupcakes instead of the standard size ones?
Hi Mo, You can use the buttermilk substitute on this page (although I always recommend using the real thing if you can!): https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/
As for mini cupcakes, use the same temperature, and start checking for doneness at 8 minutes. Enjoy! :)
Can I use this recipe for a cake instead of cupcakes?, I’ve tried many recipes but they always come out either dry or like regular chocolate cakes (which I’m not a fan of), I bought a box of betty crocker’s red velvet cake and modified the box recipe a little and it was better but still not convinced :(
Hi Cynthia, Yes! I’ve doubled it and made a 9×13 or an 8/9″ layer cake.
Can I double the recipe to make 24 cupcakes?
Hi Eleni, Yes, definitely!
Hello Michelle! I have to say that these red velvet cupcakes are THE BEST red velvet cupcakes. They are usually my go to! I have a question – how far in advance can these be made and frosted (and still be good)? If that makes any sense. I am making these Wednesday evening and will be keeping them in the fridge (covered) until Saturday morning. Will the cupcakes still be good by then? I don’t want them to dry out! Thanks in advance!
Hi Christina, As long as they’re in an airtight container they should be fine. So glad you love them!
Nice cake with beautiful color.
Pretthi
http://cakeplusgift.com/
This was the best red velvet cupcake recipe! Thank you !
If you leave the cocoa and the red food coloring do you think it would make a good vanilla cupcake recipe? I’m always finding that the red velvet cupcakes are so moist. So I started wondering and found that “The Pioneer Woman” did just that with her Vanilla Cupcake Recipe. She said she just left the coloring and the cocoa out. And I use cake flour as well.
I made this red velvet cupcake for our Valentines Day treat and it was just delicious! This was my first time making and eating a red velvet cake. Not only was it delicious but it was so beautiful! I also loved the fact that it made only 12 cupcakes instead of the usual 24. It was just enough to share and still indulge in one to many extra cupcakes still. lol Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Sincerely,
Melissa
Made these for Valentine’s Day to give as gifts to colleagues. My RV came out darker red compared to yours but I love love love the deep red. The cupcakes were very moist so the cupcake recipe is a keeper. The icing not so. Sorry! The vanilla taste overwhelmed the cream cheese taste. Next time I will reduce the amount of powdered sugar and vanilla and increase the amount of cream cheese.
I didn’t realize all red velvet cakes have cocoa in them. A very interesting read! These cupcakes are such a gorgeous color. Since you’ve said they’re nice and moist, I’m definitely going to try your recipe.
Hi,
These cupcakes look divine so I had to try these for myself. And they turned out fabulous, extremely moist and a beautiful earthy color. But unfortunately my icing didn’t turn out perfect. I forgot to sift my icing sugar so it was a lil grainy and also it was a lil too sweet for my pallete.
I’ll take care of these two things next time and definitely try them again as they are delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Excellent Recipe.
CROSS FINGERS…Will try today for Valentine.
Thanks for sharing.
Did you by chance mean 2 teaspoons vanilla instead of tablespoons? My frosting turned out terrible and I’m trying to figure out why! ?
Hi Jennifer, I did mean tablespoons, but if you prefer a more subtle vanilla flavor then you could knock it back.
Good morning,
I tried to make these last night but they have turned into a chocolate brown colour instead of red? Why is that? I mixed the red food colouring with the cocoa but it looked very dark ?
Hi Stefanie, It could have to do with the shades of your cocoa powder and red food coloring, but there should be at least a hint of red!
This is my go to red velvet cake or cupcake recipe. Fluffy ,moist and Delicious …..it never fails!!!
Amazing! Everything came out perfectly, and they rose really nicely. The color is wonderful as well; very delicious! :)
I love red velvet cupcakes so much I just want to buy 100,000,000 cupcakes and eat them all GO RED VELVET CUPCAKES!!!!!!
What should be the temperature for baking the cupcakes?
Hi Mini, See step #1 above – 350 degrees F.
What cream cheese do you think will be the best. (Brand)
Hi Joana, Philadelphia, always.
I have never made red velvet cupcakes before and searched Pinterest for a recipe for ages. I found yours and tried it and the result was amazing! As a Brit I wasn’t used to cup measurements and it almost put me off but I’m so glad it didn’t! My colleagues and housemates all agreed they were delicious! Thank you!
where do you purchase your muffin pans? I love how straight the sides of your cupcakes are, but no amount of shopping around have resulted in finding muffin pans that are straight and not with slanted cups. would really appreciate the help!
Hi Michelle, I have this Wilton cupcake pan: http://amzn.to/2j6J25o
Such an awesome recipe! The red in the cupcakes is beautiful! So keen to check out some more of your recipes!
what if i dont have buttermilk, can i whole milk for the substitute?
Hi Garcia, No, you need the acid from the buttermilk, so I would recommend using the milk/vinegar or milk/lemon juice substitute listed on this page: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/
I made this recipie and the cupcakes did not come out as red as your pictured cupcake above…came out very brown like chocolate cupcakes
I’m sorry if this was already asked in the comments, but there were just too many to scroll through! My friend has requested these for his birthday with chocolate chips in them (as a local bakery makes them). Do you have a suggestion as to how much I should add, and would I need to toss them in flour first (or do anything else) before adding? Thanks.
Hi Marika, Sounds delicious! I would do 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips and I would toss them with 1 teaspoon flour before stirring them in at the end. Enjoy!
Thanks for this recipe Michelle! This has been my go to recipe for as long as I can remember! I’ve used it to make mini cupcakes, regular cupcakes, cake pops in my babycakes cake pop machine, cake pops that you mix with frosting, layer cakes and even used it to make a copycat Cheesecake Factory red velvet cheesecake cake! Best recipe ever-cake and frosting!!!
I made these yesterday and they are fabulous! Exactly what I was looking for in a red velvet cupcake! I will make these again and double the recipe! I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out wonderful! Thank you for such a great cupcake!
Hi! Sorry if this is a repeat question: what are the modifications for high altitude? (Above 8,000 ft.)? Thanks!
I don’t bake at high altitude, so I’ve never made this using such adjustments, but here is a resource page I put together for high altitude baking – hopefully one or a combination of tips helps!
https://www.browneyedbaker.com/high-altitude-baking/
Hi Michelle! I love your recipes and love the taste of these cupcakes! One question…I just made these and my cupcakes are not nearly as red as yours. It’s possible I didn’t get as much food coloring in, but I’m wondering if cutting back the cocoa powder would help them become a little brighter. Compared to a few other recipes I’ve used, the cocoa in this recipe is doubled. Would cutting back effect the texture of the cake? I’m making these again tomorrow for a graduation party and if I can tweak it for that bright red, Id love it even more! Thanks!
Hi Aubrey, The brand of food coloring could definitely have something to do with it. Reducing the cocoa powder SHOULD be okay, just know that it, along with the buttermilk and vinegar, reacts with the baking soda to give the cupcakes a good rise. If you reduce the cocoa powder it’s possible your cupcakes could turn out a little bit flatter.
I made these for my 26 year old son who LOVES red velvet. This was my first attempt at making them. They were delicious.my husband loved them too. Definitely a recipe I will make again. ♥️
Omg I tried these and they were so good. I even featured them in my blog (I hope you don’t mind) they are delicious. The cream cheese frosting was the perfect topping.
Can I make this recipe a day before an event without it drying? Thanks!
Hi Sally, Yes, definitely!
These came out so perfect. Moist, not too sweet, cake to balance a generous amount of frosting. I made them for a baby shower, along with you lemon-limoncello cupcakes, and people assumed I had bought them!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made these yesterday and I love them. Sorry to say that this is my first time baking from scratch and this recipe was so easy. I have always been a little intimidated when it comes to baking. I am so glad that I tried these. They were moist and just plain delicious. Thanks, again!
Do you have the 8 yields for red velvet cupcake? Can I ask, please? ASAP. thank you :)
I saw this recipe and was quite hopeful: I’d tried red velvet once and while the frosting had been too sweet, the cupcake itself was simply delicious. However, I was sorely disappointed with this recipe. 1 egg and a half-cup of buttermilk for this amount of dry ingredients is nearly not enough, the cupcakes themselves are too dry and fall apart at the slightest pressure. The frosting was disgustingly, unbearably sweet, and I didn’t even add all of the sugar I was supposed to.
Maybe there was some mistake in the ingredients listing?
I didn’t see anyone commenting on this, but if it has been covered, feel free to delete.
Our son is allergic to food coloring so I made this with beet juice from a can of sliced beets. It is not quite as bright red as this, but still red. The taste is perfectly fine–not a trace of beet!!
So, if you hesitate using that much food coloring, there is an alternative!!
Karen
Hi Karen, Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Hi Michelle, can I use alkalized chocolate powder on this cake? Thanks.
Hi Ela, For this I do recommend regular unsweetened cocoa powder, not Dutch (aka alkalized).
Hi,
I tired the recipe today.I noticed the batter was so heavy but I still baked my cupcakes , they didn’t rise and their taste wasn’t that nice. Can you tell me what could have went wrong?
I’m not sure, mine rise really beautifully! Did you make any changes at all to the ingredients?
Just made these – they look great. So relieved because they’re for a Valentine’s party tomorrow. A few comments: used gel colour and added water to get the paste consistency; used lemon juice in regular milk instead of buttermilk; mistakenly added the eggs to the sugar and butter right away… Seems like a pretty resilient recipe ? Agree that the batter is a little too much for 12 but really that is a very small problem!
These are so beautiful and festive!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
Is this the same recipe as the one on 11.8.10? The coloring looks different. If not, where may I find the recipe from 2010??
It is the exact same recipe! New photographs, better lighting :)
Have you ever attempted red velvet with beets? I have been making red velvet for years and now it seems there are a lot of people trying to eliminate food coloring from their diets. Just wondering if you came across any methods during your research.
Hi Meghan, I have not, but I’d like to give it a try sometime!
I JUST posted about beets below!!!! They work fine, not quite as red, but red enough!
Karen
I’ve made these in the past and they were truly amazing – thank you!!!
today my little girl Lou Lou, who’s ten and very excited, is about to make these and I just realized I don’t have any buttermilk. is it okay to substitute milk? please say yes…
warm greetings from rainy LA!
Hi Natalia, I’m sorry I didn’t get to this in time, but regular milk will not work – the buttermilk interacts with the cocoa powder and baking soda in this particular recipe.
Love the red velvet cupcakes. I made mine with a fluffy soft buttercream frosting. Yum
hi micheele i just made the cupcakes and frosted them, may i know how long it can be kept and should i refrigerate them or is leaving it in room temperature okay? thanks so much, hope to hear from you soon!
Hi Malia, They should keep for about 3 days and you can keep them at room temperature. Enjoy!
Hi these cupcakes were a hit! Will this recipe yield 24 mini cupcakes?
Yes, you’ll get 24 mini cupcakes out of this recipe.
Absolutely loved it.
I 30 of them and it was gone by a minute. Every body was complementing it specially the frosting
it was my first experience with this site recipes . Gonna try others too
Hi. I made these cupcakes couple days ago. They domed nicely,however when I removed them from the oven they flatten as they cool. What could be the reason? Thanks. I will like to try them again. They tasted very well.
Hi Carol, Most cakes do tend to flatten a little as they cool. To be sure that they don’t fall too much, make sure that the cupcakes are cooked the whole way through; if the center is undercooked at all, it will cause the center of a cupcake (or cake) to fall as it cools. Also be sure that you aren’t using any substitutions for the baking soda, vinegar, buttermilk or cocoa powder – they all play an important part of rising.
these are my go to red-velvet cupcakes and everyone loves them!
I’d like to try making the cake with this recipe. is cooking time still 20mins in the 8-9in round pan?
Also, by doubling the receipe will that give me two round pans?
Thanks!
Hi Diana, The baking time will probably be slightly longer and yes, doubling the recipe will give you two round pans.
How do you convert this recipe from 12 yields to two yields? What are the things to reduce on and how much? Great help for anyone who can help. Thanks!
-Raquelle
Hi Raquelle, If you really only want two cupcakes, you’ll need to divide everything by six, and I would recommend weighing everything for accuracy. OR, you could just make the whole recipe (or half) and freeze what you don’t need for another time.
Hi Michelle,
Will the recipe be sufficient to make a regular 8-inch round cake?
Hi Charlotte, The recipe as written will make a single-layer 8″ cake. If you’d like a double layer cake, you will need to double the recipe.
hey michelle, hope u reply to my comment i just wanted to ask if could use a buttermilk substitute as i cant easily get buttermilk here in my town so the substitute is just 1/2 cup milk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar. As they say that it works just as good i just wanted your approval as this is your recipe. So shall i use the substitute or shall just try and get buttermilk??? Thanks. Would love if u replied
I would get buttermilk if you can, but if it’s impossible, then yes, the lemon juice/vinegar with regular milk will work.
Hi Michelle, thanks for the feedback. Really appreciate it and i will be sure to comment again next week or maybe even sooner on how my cupcakes have turned out. With the substitute. Thanks XOXO
:)
Hi! Thank-you so much I have been trying to find the perfect red velvet and this is it! I made a batch last night to be topped with Swiss meringue butter cream but that didn’t work so stuck with plain old butter cream as I had no cream cheese am not a huge fan of it anyway! AMAZING!!!!! I also didn’t do the baking soda or vinegar in it and used Self raising flour. I think that’s an Aussie thing lol and they came out like a mud cake texture beautiful!!
Hello. Can this red velvet cupcake recipe be doubled to make 24 cupcakes? Thanks much!
Hi Jacky, Yes you can. Enjoy!
My one problem with red velvet cake is the color, which gives the cake a nasty dye taste to me. So unnatural looking too.
Read an amazing NY times article a while back about how the cake is becoming a gimmick.
Maybe I will give it a try without the dye.
Hi! Should I mix the salt, vinegar and baking soda before adding it to the batter?
Nope, that is not necessary. Enjoy!
Just made this for a small gathering and they turned out very delicious, moist & tender. Thank you for such a great recipe
May i use apple cider vinegar instead of distilled white vinegar?
This is my third time (in a day) making these cupcakes. I followed the recipe exactly like you said, did everything exactly the same, but my cupcakes kept overflowing, i know you’re supposed to fill the cupcake liner 2/3 or 3/4, in my first attempt i filled it 3/4 knowing it was too much, and the batter overflowed, still the cupcakes had amazing amazing flavor. Second batch, a filled the cups 2/3 maybe a little less, and still, my cupcakes overflowed and seem super flat.
My third time is baking right know, I filled the cups 1/2, and for what i can see the cupcakes overflow a little but no so much like the 2 first attempts, still, they seem kind of flat, i replace the 1 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar for 1/2 teaspoon in this new batch, hoping it would help with the rising. (i just checked the oven and they’re ready, but they turned out really flat and a little sunk in the middle, didn’t overflowed much this time)
I don’t know what I did wrong honestly, I’ve been making cupcakes for a while now and usually don’t have a problem with any of them. I also been following you for a while and a tried a few times your “snickers cake” and the “peanut butter overload” i think thats the name? and they’d turned out AMAZIIIING every time, it never fails. So im really frustrated with this recipe :( even more for the fact that the flavor in these are incredible delicious but they don’t look like they’re supposed to :(
Hi Michelle – I love trying recipes from your recipe index and they always turn out awesome. Tried the red velvet cupcakes tonight and they came out fantastic. Thanks for the recipe. This is a keeper.
I am looking to make a couple dozen. Would I simply double the recipe? Thanks!
Hi Kelley, Yep!
Just made these this morning and they came out dense? What did I miss or do wrong? I made these before but the last time they were fluffy…
Hi Jo, If they turned out fine for you previously, I’m guessing there may have been something slightly different in your technique, oven temperature, etc. I really couldn’t say for sure.
Okay now that I think about it… What if I didn’t have enough food coloring? I didn’t actually and it didn’t click to use water in place of that. Would that have anything to do with the density? Thanks for your reply!
Hi Jo, That certainly could have been the culprit.
Wow! That’s crazy how something so small can make or break a recipe! LoL. Well thank you for your reply and help!!! :)
waaaaaay too much batter for 12 cupcakes. decided to trust the recipe and filled 12 cups – spilled over by a half inch all around and looked terrible. flavor was fine though.
I was super excited to try this recipe and I used it to make red velvet cupcakes for my sister’s birthday…..I am bummed but they came out “ok”. They don’t taste bad but they are super dense. I followed the recipe to the T so I’m not sure what went wrong. :/
Hi there!! :) Do your cake/cupcake recipes work in high altitude? I’m in Colorado at 5280 feet, thank you!!
Hi Michelle, I don’t bake at high altitude, so if you typically need to adjust recipes, I would make the same adjustments here.
May I know if there’s a substitute for buttermilk? Or is there any way to make a homemade buttermilk? And does distilled white vinegar differ from distilled cane vinegar? Thanks :)
Hi Janine, You can make a homemade buttermilk with lemon juice; instructions are on this page: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/. I have never heard of distilled cane vinegar, so I couldn’t say whether or not they are the same or different.
The food coloring you used– is it gel, liquid, or powder?
I used liquid food coloring.
Just made these. Damn, they are AMAZING! My mom is not a cupcake person *gasp* and she ate TWO :D I’ve tried so many red velvet recipes, this is by far the best. I had a question about the icing: how did you get yours to hold up well? Like mine was very liquid-y. I made sure to cool the cupcakes first but the icing still fell apart :( Tasted amazing though!
Hi Maleeha! I didn’t like the frosting as well. Mine flopped! lol. But, I read from previous posts Michelle recommended using the full fat cream cheese instead of the low fat. Low fat has too much water in it. I will give the frosting another try. :)
I tried your recipe yesterday and I must say I was surprised by its outcome. The cupcakes turned out well; beautiful colour, super moist, and delicious! I’m baking them again soon for my daughter’s birthday. :)
Hey there! I can’t use Vanilla Extract in this recipe due to its alcohol content (I’m baking for my multi-religious friends and some of them can’t eat if there’s alcohol in their food) so if I were to use Vanilla Essence, how much would be a good substitute? I’ve read in some forums that call for doubling the amount (or 1 1/2 times the amount) of vanilla essence if replacing vanilla extract because of its lower flavour concentration. Please help me out, thanks so much!
Hi Nadia, If it’s just imitation vanilla, then use the same amount. However, if it’s a concentrated oil-type essence, then just a drop or two.
I tried these yesterday and everyone loved it! :D thanks michelle!
I hope you upload a nice mint cupcake recipe ! xx
I’ve had one piece of red velvet cake in my 23 years, and it immediately turned me off of the flavor for a good 10 years. Today, however, I had a hankering for a good red velvet cupcake and simultaneously needed a blood-colored sweet for my friend’s impromptu Dexter themed birthday.
A quick Google search for “good red velvet cupcake recipe” brought me here… and I’m sure glad it did! These turned out absolutely excellent!! Moist, chocolatey with a beautiful, rich color.
I substituted 1/2 tsp of the cocoa powder for chocolate chili blend I had on hand. I also ended up mixing in some blue food coloring as I ran out of red…and when you live 45 mi from the nearest grocery store..you work with what you’ve got!
Thanks for the great post!!
I made these last night for my birthday. I brought them to my job and have been receiving nothing but compliments. Thank you!!
Hi Michelle
Made your red velvets earlier this week. Made 100 cupcakes for a baby-shower and they came out brilliant! This recipe is definitely replacing my old default(nigella) red velvet recipe (first time someone beat a nigella recipe for me, you should be proud). Perfect colour(yes, that’s how we spell it here), moist and good flavor. Red velvets round here tend to too bright and flavorless. What I did defferent though is I poked a hole in each with the back of a wooden spoon – like in you red velvet poke cake recipe – and drizzled some condensed milk in there before frosting. . Awesome!
My attempt has been a big fat fail! For some reason my cupcakes taste extremely salty ):
Was your butter salted? That’s a common mistake people make because the butter NEEDS to be unsalted, otherwise it’s not going to taste the same.
These Red Velvet Cupcakes are perfect! I’ve made 3 batches and every time they have been a hit! I add a little slurp of buttermilk to the red food dye and cocoa to make a bit more of a paste. Love them!
Michelle thank you for the recipe, loved it!!!
Will this frosting work good under fondant???
Hi Andrea, So glad you enjoyed it! I think this would work just fine underneath fondant.
I made these for my boyfriend and he LOVED them. I’ve tried MANY red velvet cupcakes but none came even close to your recipe. These cupcakes are PHENOMENAL. I can’t wait to make them again!
I tried the frosting and it didn’t come out fluffy at all :/
I’m not a huge fan of red velvet, but since they were for someone else I made these. I omitted the red food coloring and subbed that with water. Other than that followed the recipe to a T. The cake (for red velvet) was fine – light and not too sweet, but I wasn’t a fan of the frosting, and really, I didn’t find the cupcake flavorful enough to merit eating. I tried one cupcake and tried to like it, bc it wasn’t bad, but in the end I didn’t finish it. This is rare for me, to say the least :) I’m guessing if the frosting had some more cream cheese, it would have helped make the flavors a bit more interesting. The texture of the cake and frosting were both nice, but for me the flavor just wasn’t there. No offense to MIchelle, I just thought it might be nice for those deciding to try out the recipe to see more diversity of opinion.
I have to made 100 Red Velvet cupcakes on Sunday and I have 5 recipes that I am taste testing….I made the first one last night and they were really, really good and I was going to stop there, but the recipe called for oil and I really wanted to try a recipe that called for butter, so yours was next in line…
Well, I made them and I am thrilled to say, that I found the best Red Velvet cupcake recipe EVER!!!!!! Soooooo good and so easy!!!!!
Thanks for posting this…
Ve…
Ok. So I tried this recipe about a week ago, not sure how they would turn out…..but they were AMAZING, it was my very first time baking any ‘red velvet recipe’ and I would have to say.. but this recipe beats all the others I looked for online… I gave them to friends and baked them for a party it was a huge success, everyone loved them. Thank you soo very much for the recipe.
This was my second time with red velvet cupcakes, I was so scared as the first time was a total disaster. But yayyyy this time it was a big hit, everyone liked it and they were in 2 hours. Thanks for this great recipe.
Hi! I made these and while they tasted fine, the cupcakes didn’t rise very much and they were more thick than they were fluffy. I realised afterwards I used baking powder instead of baking soda, would that have caused the difference? They turned out lovely all the same but hopefully I can improve the next batch just a bit :) Thanks!
Hi Maddie, Yes, that absolutely could have been the reason.
Does Apple cider vinegar work?? Or does it have to be white vinegar
Hi Madie, I haven’t used apple cider, but other readers have mentioned that they’ve used it and have had good results. Enjoy!
made these over the weekend but i cut the recipe in half and still use 1 small egg and it turned out perfect. want to make the full recipe this weekend but i’m afraid if i use 1 egg it won’t be as moist. is it okay to use 2 eggs?
Hi Samantha, I don’t recommend it. You might end up with cakier, drier cupcakes.
YUM! I’ll be making these this week.. :)
I was wondering about using red velvet bakery emulsion instead of the food coloring. Any idea how that would turn out?
Hi Alicia, I am not sure, I have never used it.
Hi Michele,
I’m planning to make this to a layer cake, are there any changes in the ingredients and the cooking time? I love your cupcake recipes and has always been my go to recipe if I have to make one.
Thanks.
Hi Joy, No changes to the ingredients, but the baking time will increase just a little bit. Start checking early so you don’t over-bake!
Your recipe is perfect in every way. Perfectly domed cupcakes in exactly 20 minutes. The yield was a perfect 24 and the flavor is fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing. This recipe saved my life yesterday. I had to make 4 dozen cupcakes. I followed a different recipe and all of them imploded when I took them out of the oven. This recipe saved me from having a nervous breakdown!
if i want to add alcohol to this is it okay to cut the buttermilk in half and do 1/4 cup buttermilk and 1/4 cup alcohol of my choice?
and is it okay to use a buttermilk substitute?
Hi Jessica, I would not cut the buttermilk, as the alcohol won’t add the same amount of moisture and fat that the buttermilk will. I’m not sure what you mean by buttermilk substitute?
if i want to make 6 cupcakes do i still use 1 egg?
No, you should crack an egg, lightly beat it, then weigh it, and use half.
Hey… does your recipe really don’t have baking powder included? Thanks!
Correct, no baking powder, just baking soda.
I was wondering if you are unable to get buttermilk ( I live in Mexico ) and it is very haed to find here. Can you make a sour milk by adding lime juice to milk and will it still have the same effect as buttermilk?
Hi Jason, Yes, you can make your own, I’ve only ever done it using lemon juice, but I think lime juice should work. Here is my method: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/
Are you sure you meant 3 tbsp of red food coloring? Isn’t it too much ? And also I noticed your recipe is different than joy the baker
Hi Destiny, Yes, 3 tablespoons of red food coloring to get the color you see in the photos. You can use less if you prefer a less deep red color. My footnote states that the recipe was adapted from Joy the Baker, so it may differ slightly.
Hey I was wondering what cupcake pan you use and what cupcake liners? My cupcakes always come out looking short in height and wide in diameter. Thanks
Hi Angela, I use this Wilton cupcake pan, and I use white paper liners from the grocery store: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F5K3J8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000F5K3J8&linkCode=as2&tag=broeyebak-20
You have got to tell me what food coloring you used! Please! The color is plain gorgeous!
Hi Angela, I just used McCormick red food coloring from the grocery store.
I have tried this recipe twice and both times it was perfect! These are very moist and delicious. Now this is my go-to recipe. Thanks!
Which cream cheese do you use?
Hi Fatima, I use Philadelphia cream cheese.
Hi! Tried doubling the recipe like stated for a 9″ round cake pan and it overflowed everywhere! Maybe a 9×13 would be better? The taste was still amazing though, once I got the mess cleaned up! :)
Hi Carrie, Did you use just one 9″ pan? That would be the problem. It makes a 9″ layer cake, which means two layers. You would have needed to divide the batter between two pans. It would definitely be too much for just one pan.
I made these for my sister’s baby shower & everyone loved them. I only had a tablespoon and a half (if that) of liquid food color but they came out very well and looked great. They were moist and the top did not cave in. Thank you so much!
Can I substitur cake flour for even more tenderness ?
Hi Nikki, I do not recommend substituting another flour.
Oh my!!!! I just made these today and they are awesome!!!!
Thank you for the recipe :)
Personally I’ve never liked red velvet. The smell of grocery store RV cake is icky. But I made your RV cupcakes for my husbands birthday because they are his favorite. WOW! They were fantastic!!!! You are extremely talented. Now please post a recipe for a coconut cupcake. Again, not my personal favorite but it’s my dad’s. Would love to make them for his birthday.
Hi Michelle…..I just made your Irish Car Bomb cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting from the cake recipe. I am comparing the cream cheese frosting with your Red Velvet cupcakes and am very confused. Why does cream cheese frosting to pipe have different quantities in the ingredients? This one is 4 oz butter and cream cheese with 2 1/2 c powder sugar —- the car bomb is 16 oz cream cheese to only 1 stick of butter (4oz) to 6 cups of powdered sugar. I would like a good piping consistency. I always trust your recipes and am hoping to find a reliable, consistent basic cream cheese icing to pipe and wanted to see your thoughts as to the difference in proportions. thanks
Hi Sue, The icing from the cake is much softer than this one. I would definitely recommend going with this one for piping purposes; it is nice and stiff. Just be sure to use full-fat cream cheese; the low-fat varieties have a higher water content, which can cause watery or too-soft frostings.
And also if not would be hassle to you can u give me
A measurement of this for 6? Actualy all ur cupcake
I love them so much.. But sometimes i want to bake
Just 6 pcs of this and that.. Diff flavor .. Pls plsss thank
You sooo much :))))))
Hi Mitch, You would need to cut the recipe in half to make 6 cupcakes. To deal with the egg, you should crack it, lightly beat it, then weight it, and only use half.
Hi ms michelle just want to ask.. I want to bake this redvelvet again
But dont have anymore stock of my white vinegar.. Just
Have my apple cider vinegar.. Is that okay
If i replace it? Plss reply thank u :)))
Hi Mitch, Using apple cider vinegar should be okay.
Hi,
I wanted to make mini cupcakes instead of reg sized cupcakes would you be able to tell me if I need to change anything. It would be a great help.
Thank you!
Hi Anaher, Just reduce the baking time, I would start checking around 8 minutes to make sure they don’t over bake. Enjoy!
Just made these – they are great! Good consistency (not oily like many other red velvet recipes), and they rose nicely! The frosting was a bit too sugary for my taste, though.
hi.. can i use a microwave oven to bake this cupcakes? is the timing same ? cos i onli had a microwave oven n it stated there a cake icon too.. but not sure about the timing
Hi Angie, Unfortunately, you can use a microwave to bake these cupcakes. I’m sorry!
Hi! Just want to ask, any substitute to buttermilk?
Can be a fresh milk? Plss reply me thank you :))$
Hi Mitch, Buttermilk is important because of the interaction with the baking soda and vinegar. To substitute, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a measuring cup, then add enough regular milk to make 1 cup. Let stand for 5 minutes, then use as needed.
Hi michelle thank you so much :))) il try this later.. Thank you :)))
sorry 1 cup = to how many ml?
Hi Angie, You can only use this for liquid conversions (solid ingredients have different volumes, so 1 cup of one things may not weigh the same amount as 1 cup of something else)… 1 cup of liquid (water, milk, etc.) = 237 ml.
Very good I will send my eldest son to inspect
hi i was wondering what brand of cocoa powder you use and what brand of baking soda you used for this recipe. super excited to try red velvet homemade!!
Hi Marisol, I used Hershey’s natural unsweetened cocoa powder and Arm & Hammer baking soda. Enjoy! :)
Hi,
I followed this recipe to the t twice and the cupcakes still didn’t taste right. There was something missing and they weren’t fluffy or had cake texture. I see that there isn’t vegetable oil in the list of ingredient,. Could that be the reason why? Please advise.
Thanks.
I’ve never had an issue with these cupcakes, they do turn out fluffy for me. I don’t believe that vegetable oil is necessary.
These cupcakes were amazing! The texture was perfection – soft and light – and the subtle chocolate flavour was delicious. I frosted mine with cooked vanilla frosting because I don’t care for cream cheese and the combination was fabulous!
BEST RECIPE EVER. I’ve tried many red velvet recipes but nothing comes close to this. The cupcakes were absolutely light and so delish! My family loved them so much, I had to make another batch. Thanks a ton for sharing this!
Can you make this recipe as a mini cupcake? If so, how long would you suggest baking them?
Hi Kim, Yes, definitely! I would start checking them around 8 minutes, just to make sure they don’t get over done.
I just made them and they are perfect. I only used 1 tablespoon of red coloring though and they are plenty red. Are you sure you meant 3 Tbsp?
I couldn’t stop eating these cupcakes!!! Perfect for a valentines day surprise! The colour was perfectly deep and rich. I should have baked them a minute less than I did to be perfect. (18 mins) but that wasn’t anything cream cheese icing couldn’t fix :) will definitely make again!! Thank you :)
Just made these cupcakes.
I did not have enough red food coloring so I used a bottle of pink neon liquid food dye from McCormick with some boiling water and the color turned out fantastic!
The cupcakes to me were overwhelmed by the delicious cream cheese frosting. I couldn’t really taste the cupcake at all. The cake did have a very nice crumb and was moist. Also, even with 2.5 cups of flour my frosting was almost runny. It was definitley not firm enough to pipe!
Will try these again, maybe with some cinnamon or more cocoa. The frosting is fantastic as is and may become my new go-to cream cheese frosting.
i like the recipe but i think less cocoa powder should e used as the mixture turned brown, and i had to add a lot of red food colouring just to get a small amount of pink colour to the mixture.
I tried this recipe over the weekend and they looked amazing the best red velvet colour yet – but there seemed to be a slightly odd, maybe even bitter after taste and I can’t figure out where I went wrong – any ideas?
Baking powder is not mentioned in the ingredients. Isn’t this required?
No, baking powder is not required in this recipe; baking soda is used as the leavening agent, which works in conjunction with the cocoa powder and vinegar.
Do you use full fat buttermilk in this cupcake recipe?
Hi Sarah, I believe the buttermilk at my grocery store is low-fat.
Hi! Thanks for sharing your recipe. I’m planning on making them soon so I just went to get all the ingredients. I am not very familiar with all the different kinds of vinegar and the only white distilled vinegar I could find is malt vinegar. Is that what you used? If not, you think it would work in the same way? Thanks
Hi Ruth, Unfortunately, malt vinegar is definitely not the same thing as white vinegar. If you use it, you might have some undesired flavor that comes through into the cupcakes. This is the white vinegar I buy at the grocery store: http://www.heinzvinegar.com/products-distilled-white-vinegar.aspx
this looks delicious and I am tempted to try one.
I don’t have distilled/white vinegar on hand but I have the usual coconut vinegar and I think it might be too strong. So, can I substitute the vinegar with lemon?
Hi Luanne, While I have not tried that, it may work. Unfortunately, since I haven’t tested it, I can’t say for sure.
I just made this earlier and substituted vinegar with lemon and used cake flour. yummmy! so soft and moist. Thank you for this recipe!
Hi michelle!
thanks for sharing your recipe, can’t wait to try it. Question (maybe a dumb question..), if I fan bake would it be a few C degrees below or is this temp already for fanbake? :)
please and thank you in advance for your reply
Hi Belle, I assume by fan you mean convection? These cupcakes are made using a conventional oven. If you want to use convection, you will need to modify the time and temperature. Usually you’ll want to drop the temperature a bit and bake for a shorter amount of time. Having not made these cupcakes with a convection oven, I don’t have any specific temperature or time recommendations.
Hey Michelle!! my birthday is coming up and instead of buying a cake i thought of making your peanut butter torte and also these gorgeous red velvet cakes :)
just one question,can i use just normal white vinegar instead of the distilled kind?
Hi Vidhi, Happy early birthday! I’m not sure if you’re referring to white wine vinegar? I’m only aware of those two types – white distilled vinegar, and white wine. If you don’t have access to white distilled vinegar, I would recommend substituting cider vinegar.
I tried this recipe yesterday & though the taste was great, the texture was quite dense. Also the icing did NOT look as thick as yours, I had to double the cream chz to 8ozs & its not pretty like yours haha.
I followed the instructions above so I’m not sure where I went wrong. I even took 1 for my mom to try & she agreed they weren’t fluffy. I’m not sure if using cultured buttermilk was a problem….or toll house cocoa powder? Trying to find a fabulous recipe for my best friends birthday. Hopefully I can get 1 right ;)
Hi ! Just wanna say THANK YOU for posting this recipe up! Made this cupcake this afternoon and everyone was praising the result! It was yummy and moist! But mine kinda taste a lil’ bit too salty, i think i mixed up my tsp and tbsp measurement spoon.. LOL! But it still taste so great i think i’m gonna bake it again tomorrow!! xx, Angel.
I have red velvet bakery emulsion from Wilton. Can i use this instead of red food coloring, or will that affect the recipe?
Hi Margaret, I am not familiar with that product; unfortunately, I’m not sure how it might affect the recipe (if at all).
Thanks for your input Michelle. I’m just going to use the food coloring until I know were I can use it.
I have the same the thing as you and it will work. On the back it should say “red velvet coloring”.
I just finished making these cupcakes and I am EXTREMELY disappointed. This was my first attempt at baking red velvet cupcakes from scratch, and expected an extremely delicious desert – instead I was left with very high blood pressure and runny icing as the cake itself had way too much salt. I feel I have wasted time, energy, money, ingredients and cup cake cases!!
Hi! Can i know what piping tip are you using to pipe the cream cheese frosting in this recipe?
I used a Wilton 1M decorating tip.
This is absolutely delicious! I’ve tried it, and my family and friends LOVED it. Some even said this is the best cupcake they’ve ever tasted. Really good for a beginner like me to try and make it. Quite easy though ;)
Please can u interpret the measurement in gramms for me cos the cupcakes really looks nice and would love to give it a try. Thanks.
Hi Syphy, This is a great starting point for conversions – it will enable you to convert the ingredient volumes into ounces, and then you can use a conversion calculator to easily go from ounces to grams: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/master-weight-chart.html
Just made my first batch, and they turn out fabulous!! and SO good! I followed the exact recipe, except I used Club House food coloring. I’ll be making more! :)
Hi, I’m going to try this recipe soon, but i can’t find McCormick food coloring near me. Can I substitute it with Club House red food coloring, and should I use the same amount? Thanks! :)
Hi Novita, I think that would work just fine. Use the same amount. Enjoy!
Thank you for replying! I will make them tomorrow, and will let you know how it goes! Have you tried freezing the cupcakes? I’m thinking of making them early and frost them the night before. I need these for Thursday.
Hi Novita, I have frozen them occasionally, but if you only need them for Thursday, you can bake them tomorrow and just keep them in an airtight container at room temperature, then frost the night before. No need to freeze for only a couple of days.
I did not like this recipe at all. I made these for my sister as a gift. I completely regret it. Terrible.
Hi,
This recipe looks fabulous, I want to try it this week. Please could you give me gram or ounce measurements for the butter?
Cheers.
hey your cupcakes are amazing and I’m making them for a project but I was wondering how many cupcakes can these ingredients make? I haven’t made them yet but looking forward to it
Hi Niki, This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. For future reference, you can find the number of servings for any recipe at the top of the recipe box, below the title, where it says “yield”. Enjoy the cupcakes!
Hi
I am completely in love with your recipe. I have tried various red velvet cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting and none reached my expectation. I confess I am a perfectionist. My hunt for the best red velvet stops here. The cupcake turned out perfectly moist and oh so flavourful. The cream cheese frosting is to die for. This is the first time I have tried your recipe and now I am hooked. I am surely going to try other recipes (already bookmarked some ;) .. Thank you for such a delightful recipe!
Hey, very nice recipe , I adjusted mine and made it similar to yours ..turned out amazing, yummy, moisty and velvety …. :) just what the name promises
Thanks a lot :)
Made these cupcakes for a co worker, per her request after I lost a bet on a college football game. Red Velvet is her favorite and she loved the cupcakes! First time making Red Velvet cakes and I only had about 1Tbs of red food coloring but the color was a beautiful red and the feedback I got was that they were “the bomb.” I am making them again for my store for Christmas…and Valentine’s Day…& 4th of July…
I made the cupcakes today but the food coloring made my cupcakes taste like food coloring is anybody else having that issue
I’ve tried many many recipes for red velvet cake. YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY PERFECTED THESE! Thank you for making me look good.. Lol, red velvet is my hubby’s favorite!
And do I need to add oil when mixing up all ingredients?
No, there is no oil in the recipe.
Hi Michelle! May I ask how big is the cup you used to measuring sugar, buttermilk, flour and all sort of ingredients? Thanks very much! :)
Hi Leanne, Buttermilk is measured in a liquid measuring cup, everything else in standard dry volume measuring cups. If you need to convert to weight, you could use this chart to start your calculations: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/master-weight-chart.html
How would you suggest spreading the icing?
Hi Sarah, I use a decorating bag with a tip to pipe the icing; if you don’t want to do that, you could just use an offset spatula to spread it on top of each cupcake.
Hi,
I tried this recipe. It was quite disappointing because the cupcakes turned out to be salty instead of sweet. I think you should increase the sugar content in the cupcakes. That’s just an advice. I’d really like to get your reply on this as to what made them go sour and salty.
thank you.
The first time I made these they had a nice earthy red color and tasted great but were rather dry. I complained to a couple of my guy friends and in between mouthfuls one asked how I was measuring my flour. Turns out you should sift then measure *face palm*. Second go round and they came out like before except moist and light like you would expect from a cupcake! Yay me! (and browneyedbaker ;-))
I made these & they were not good. They were very dry & dint taste nearly as food as most red velvet recipes.
I love you and your recipes. I tried it at home for the first time, and people in here actually liked it. Though I have a bit problem where to find some ingredients esp. here in Philippines but all in all, it was really amazing. Thank you for sharing this. :D
Look fantastic. How do you get the cream cheese frosting to be stiff? All the cream cheese frosting i have made seem to less stiff and more runny. Suggestions?
Hi Andrew, I always use full-fat Philadelphia cream cheese. Low-fat cream cheese has a higher water content than full-fat and will result in thinner frosting. Also, I’ve read that generic and store brand cream cheese has a higher water content than Philadelphia, so I always use that brand. Hope that helps!
Our family has made red velvet cake for as long as I can remember. We use a flour recipe for the frosting.
I tried these cup cakes and they were amazing! Though I carefully followed the recipe, the cup cakes were (to put it gently) as flat as Kansas. I can say tha because I live in Nebraska, which is also as flat but more pleasant to look at!
Can I use refined brown sugar instead of granulated sugar? Thank you :)
Hi Jino, I would not recommend substituting brown sugar in place of granulated sugar; it will change the texture.
If we use brown sugar will it also change the color and the taste?
Will it also change the color and the taste?
It should not change the color, but it may change the taste.
I would really like to try this recipe, but I only have pure white vinegar, not distilled. Is this okay to use? If not, could I leave out the vinegar? Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Hi Phan, I think using your regular white vinegar should be okay.
Hi! I love your blog! Seriously you are amazing! I have a question for your cream cheese icing. Is it pipable? I am doing a rosette cake and would like to use this but am scared it will not hold!
Hi Michelle, Yes, it’s definitely pipeable, as you can see above, I pipe it into cupcakes.
And I used cake flour instead of all purpose flour (I forgot to buy all purpose flour) and it still works!
I just made these cupcakes! They taste sooooooo good! Thank you Michelle for such a wonderful recipe! :))
Hi Michelle! Can’t wait to try this recipe this weekend for my husband’s birthday! Just wondering if I can use homemade buttermilk for this (whole milk and lemon juice) or do I need the store-bought kind?
I’ve done it both ways and it seems to be fine either way.
Yay! Thanks so much, Anne! :)
Absolutely!
This recipe is amazing! I made these over a year ago and forgot where I saw this recipe and made a different red velvet cupcake recipe a few days ago. I ended up throwing them all in the trash, they were awful especially in comparison to this recipe. I don’t think I will ever use a different recipe again. These are perfect! However, I made the frosting exactly how it was written and it was runny. I even added another cup of powdered sugar and it still seemed too runny, didn’t look like your frosting here! Any idea why? I always seem to have a hard time with cream cheese frosting for some reason. Should the cream cheese be cold?
Hi Anna, No, the cream cheese does not need to be cold. However, be absolute certain that you are using regular, full-fat cream cheese. Reduced fat cream cheese has a higher water content, and therefore will result in runny frosting. I’ve also found that Philadelphia brand cream cheese seems to have a higher fat content than generic brands, so I would recommend that as well.
Holy crap these are fantastic! I just made these for like the 7th time in the last couple of months, this time at my BF’s request for his bday. Everyone loves these! If i knew they would be this awesome i would have made Red Velvet cupcakes years ago. And the cream cheese frosting is soooooo good *drool* … i have to say, i made a little mistake the first time and used the colour gel instead of liquid food colouring, and added some milk to make it more liquidy. Ended up with Orange Velvet Cupcakes instead! Still tasted great though, and after that i learned to always have the liquid food colouring stocked in my cupboards :)
I love red velvet and I’ve wanted to make it for so long but the idea of putting that much food colouring into something is a little off putting :/ Can you recommend any food colouring free red velvet recipes or do you have one yourself?
Hi Orla, There are some recipes that use beet juice to get the red coloring, you might try searching for one of those.
hi, after going through all the wonderful comments I’ve got really tempted to try this recipe but the only hiccup is the egg. we do not use eggs at all.
could please suggest an alternative /substitute for it. would be very grateful as my son’s 8th birthday’s on 4th oct, n i surely want to give this a try.hope u reply soon with the best possible substitute. no egg replacer powders pls as they would not be available where i live.
Thanks.
Hi Swati, Unfortunately, I do not know of any egg substitutes that would work here, especially if you cannot have egg replacements.
I made these today and they are AMAZING! The texture of the cake is great, not too red and very moist. The icing is my family’s favorite! Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
Hi, i am The Lead Cake designer at cake2you,we operate out of gurgaon, india,had made this recipe for one of our very loyal customer,it was his wife’s birthday and he needed something special so we made this red velvet cake for him in heart shape. those guys loved it. thank you for putting this online. thanks again.
I made 4 dozen cupcakes using this recipe last weekend and they were a big hit. (and I ate about a half dozen myself, so I know they were good.) I used a different frosting recipe and made much too much, so my solution? Bake more red velvet cupcakes this weekend! Great recipe, best one I’ve found so far (and I’ve tried quite a few). Thanks!
hey! this looks amazing. but as i m vegetarian i would like to know what could be substitutted in place of egg.
I will try this recipe today. What’s ounces – could the measure be more specific? in grams or kg? I checked on google they say there are two types of ounces uk and us? Thank you
Marilyn, I do not currently convert recipes to grams; if something is listed in ounces it is “U.S.”, although I’ve never heard that there are two types of ounces?!
I made a thorough check thanks google – so 4 oz = 113 grams. The cakes were perfect, it was my first time.
The only thing is the amount of frosting is way too much.
Thanks again for the recipe.
How Many CupcakeS Does This Recipe Make?
Hi Mary, This makes 12 cupcakes; you’ll be able to find how many servings any recipe yields if you look right underneath the recipe title, where it says “yield”.
no baking powder? and can i substitute cake flour with all purpose flour? if yes then what will be the measurements of that?
No, this recipe does not use baking powder, just baking soda. I would not recommend making a flour substitution, as it will affect the texture of the cupcakes.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made the cupcakes today and they came out perfect. My cream cheese frosting was a bit runny. I added some more sugar to stiffen it up. I am not yet an expertise with frosting but overall, it was a great experience.
Made these yesterday and I found some “problems” with my end product. My cupcake we a bit tough and chewy at the same time. And the frosting was abit runny and didnt came out like in picture. Please help me as I wish to improvise my baking.
Hi Anne,
In regards to the frosting if you use the whole cream cheese package, you will need to add more powdered sugar until it thickens up. This will help the frosting to become more stiff and to the consistency you need. I hope that helps.
Hi Anne, Please be sure to use full-fat cream cheese, not low-fat. I also recommend using Philadelphia brand, as it has a higher fat content that generic brands. If you don’t have enough fat, there will be too high of a water content, which can cause the frosting to be runny.
Wonderful very light and fluffy big success
May I use dutch-processed cocoa instead of the regular unsweetened one?
Hi Kate, I would not here, because of the way the cocoa interacts with the baking soda and vinegar.
I have to tell you first, this is my FIRST time ever writing a review for anything! Everything you said about red velvet is exactly how I felt!!!!! I tried it because of the “excitement” around it, and was totally convinced that people only liked the cream cheese frosting and didn’t know squat about good cake! I made a recipe ONCE over a year ago and it was as all others, bland and dry! Just yesterday, I had someone request red velvet cupcakes and I thought to myself, this will be another fail. I came across your blog here and I just thought, hey let me try this, she thinks like me! I just made it and I am converted as well!! Moist, delicious, just a hint of cocoa! Wow, I didn’t even need the frosting(of course I will put it on eventually). I just had to tell u that i am a red velvet believer, tho I’m still convinced most only love the frosting. Thank you sooooo much for this recipe!!!!!!!!!!
Hello there, can you please tell me how much is 1 cup? the exact measurement, sorry, I’m just a beginner..
Hi Tharu, It all depends on what you’re measuring. If you’re using a standard solid measuring cup, you would just fill it. If you’re weighing it, it all depends on the ingredient, since different foods have different volumes. If it’s liquid, 1 cup = 8 ounces.
i baked this using sour cream instead of buttermilk, it turned out excellent too. 2nd time using this recipe, 1st was using buttermilk. both turned out great. an easy peasy recipe for a delicious red velvet. a must try!
I have tried these 3 times now and am so frustrated! They’re just not rising! Well at about halfway I looked through the oven door (definitely did not open it) and they were risen into beautiful domes and looked perfect! Then…at 20 mins…flat :( I’m sure it’s not my oven as I baked a batch of plain choc and they rose beautifully. Any hints or tips on what I may be doing wrong??? Please help!
Hi Shari, I’m sorry that you’ve had some trouble with these cupcakes. While I don’t know exactly what the problem is, I would still recommend getting an oven thermometer, making sure your baking soda is fresh and ensuring that you’re using natural unsweetened cocoa powder, and not Dutch-process.
Hey, Michelle! Have you tried doubling this? I need to make 60 red velvets and LOVE this recipe, but I haven’t needed to increase the amount. Do you think it will double well? Or should I make the batter in batches? Thanks!
Crap…just saw that you can double to make a layer cake. How have I never noticed that note before!? Nevermind. :)
Hi, I tried this recipe today and while the taste is good, they turned out pretty dry. :( I have tested my oven so I would suggest checking them for done-ness after 12 minutes or so. Thanks for posting the recipe though!
Hi :)
Thanks for wonderful recipe. Have a question, is it right 3 “tablespoons” of red food coloring. It seems a lot… And I don’t have red coloring, but I have purple and pink… Do you have some advice that I can get red color from them? Thank you.
Oh, I checked what food coloring I have, and they are wilton’s Rose and Burgundy.. I have tried mixing both like… 0.4:0.6 for 1tsp… But it turned out really dark brownish red…
Hi Chloe, 3 tablespoons is correct. I’m not sure how mixing purple and pink will turn out; I’ve only ever used pure red.
My red velvet turned out terribly the batter was quite runny and bitter and when they were baked they tasted like chocolate cupcakes but had a bitter aftertaste. What did I do wrong?
For the frosting shud v use icing sugar
Hi Mariam, I am not familiar with icing sugar; whatever your equivalent is for powdered or confectioners sugar is what you need to use.
Thanks for the recipe! Was looking for a good red velvet to make for a fundraiser at work. These looks delicious, and the comments from people who made them make this too good to pass up!
I’ve personally never had red velvet cake before…can’t wait to try them!
Hi Michelle! I have two questions:
1. Is there a substitute for buttermilk?
2. For the butter used in making the frosting, is it salted or unsalted?
Thanks! ^_^
Hi Alice, You can make your own buttermilk; the substitution is listed on this page: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/. You can use salted butter. If you use unsalted, just add a pinch of table salt to the frosting.
Ive tried this recipe a couple of times and I’ve gotten nothing but compliments for them. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Hi! Could i use apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar? >< Thanks!
Hi Odelia, I have not tried this substitute, but I think it might work. Let me know how it turns out.
Hi,
can I use apple cider vinegar?thanks .
Hi Pri, I have not tried this substitute, but I think it might work. Let me know how it turns out.
These cupcakes are delicious. I have never liked red velvet cake before until I tried your recipe. This recipe is a keeper definately. Thank you for sharing.
Hi there…
I was amazed by these cupcake pictures and am tempted to make them for my girl’s birthday. I don’t have much experience with cupcakes and I plan do try the recipe in advanced but was wondering if I can freeze them? Have you tried it before??
Thanx
Hi Juliana, You could freeze the baked cupcakes (unfrosted). Thaw and then frost before serving.
The cupcakes themselves came out perfectly and were delicious!
I didn’t like the frosting at all. Way too much vanilla, which gave it a horrible metallic taste and definitely overwhelmed the cupcake flavor. It was also incredibly soft and runny, despite extra powdered sugar. I’ll keep using the cupcake recipe, but I’ll be using my standard frosting from here on out.
I made these the other day and they turned out pretty good. The only thing is my cupcakes were pretty red with the amount of food coloring your recipe called for. Yours don’t look that red. What brand of food coloring did you use?
Hi Claudia, I used McCormick red (liquid) food coloring. Hope that helps!
Thank you so very much!! I will try that. I actually just bought a bottle of it so… excuse me while I go get my cupcake on ;)
Just made these- they are fantastic! Thanks for the recipe x
Hi! I made these and had extra frosting. Is there any recipe that I can use this for? Im thinking of cheesecake. Will it work?
Hi Maria, There are a lot of recipes here on the site that use cream cheese frosting, so you could try any of those. I don’t think I would put cream cheese frosting on top of a cheesecake, though.
I just finished baking these today! Its amaaazing!! Its my first time trying this out and I got it in one try! Thank you so much for the recipe!!! But I had a few “problems”. The cupcake liners seperated from the cupcake after cooling. The recipe for cream cheese is abit too much since I have excess now. And lastly I could only make 9 cupcakes and im using normal sized cupcake liners! Besides these the cupcakes taste amazing!
Im baking these today and I have a few questions!! How much exactly is 4 tablespoons of butter? Is there anyway I cam get thag measurement in grams?? If I’ve baked these today and frosted it how do I keep it overnight? Do I put it in a container or can I just out it in the fridge? Thank u
Hi Inez, 4 tablespoons of butter is about 57 grams. You can keep them overnight in an airtight container at room temperature if it’s not extremely hot/humid in your house. If it is, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Thanks for your sharing! The recipe is just too good. I made it and everyone gave me a high compliment…:)
Btw, I cut half of the powdered sugar in the frosting..less sweet but taste is good still.
I tried these cupcakes today and they are amazing! Will definitely keep this recipe close by. These have recently become very popular in South Africa and I live in a small village far from town, so I made these without even eating one before and it was delicious! Thank you!
Made the red velvet cupcakes for my daughter’s 13th birthday (6/1/13) and they were a hit. All the girls were dying to try them so my beautiful display didn’t last long. Well worth it, not a crumb left.
Hi ! Im going to try out this recipe next week since there is so many good reviews about it. But i have a question to ask. How much does the cupcake rises or how much should i fill each cupcake up to?
I just divide the batter between all 12 cups. It comes about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up to the top.
I am so glad to see this recipe on BEB, tried the mocha cupcakes and they turned out to be great! Can’t wait to try this recipe now, I have only made red velvet once before and they were pretty tasty but not moist enough! Making these for a friend’s babyshower tomorrow!
Oh my gosh, thank you for this recipe!! It was easy to make and probably the best cupcake I have ever eaten! I made these as well as your dark chocolate with peanut butter cupcakes following the recipes exactly and both were phenomenal. Only change I made was adding “Lindt” Chocolate balls to the cupcakes for an extra special Father’s Day treat. White chocolate balls in the red velvet and milk chocolate balls in the chocolate cupcakes, mmmmmmm heavenly.
Beautiful recipe. just out of curiousity, can the vinegar be substituted for something else acidic, like soda water for example? I would like to make these now but I’m put of vinegar and as it happens , out of a way to travel to the grocery store.
Hi Mary, I have never made that substitution. You could definitely try it if you have no other options; let me know how it turns out!
hi! These cupcakes are amazzingggg! made them at a family get together a couple weeks ago everyone loved them! But i have another party coming up on sunday and i wanted to know how to convert this recipie to get 2 – 9 inch circle cakes. Thanksss!!!
Simply double the recipe and slightly increase the baking time, making sure that the cakes are cooked the entire way through.
WOW! It was my first time making red velvet cupcakes today, and the cake itself is so yummy, a little chocolaty and very light!!
Cream cheese is delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe with all of us! This won’t be the last time I’m making these delicious cupcakes.
I want to make cupcakes now for an anniversary party in June. Can I freeze the cupcakes and top with icing the day before the celebration? I will be sure the cupcakes are completely cooled before putting in the freezer.
Hi Loretta, Yes, you can do this, no problem.
I have a question.
I’ve followed the receipe to a T and my cupcakes are not turning out right, only if I add the vinegar. They swell up and then it’s like they kin of implode. When I go to remove them (I don’t check them until towards the end) the cup isn’t filled anymore and there’s batter all over the pan. I’ve lowered the heat, I’ve tried less vinegar and it all did the same. I got so frustrated I left the vinegar out after 5 full batches failing. The ones without vinegar didn’t implode but I know the vinegar is there for making them moist.
Oh and I also tried filling the cups up less and it still happened even when they were filled less than half way.
Sigh… I was so excited about making these for my Mother on Mother’s Day.. but mine ended up sinking… I don’t understand why. I’m just going to turn them into mini ones now though because the taste is great and I’d hate to just throw them away.
I’m going to cut the excess cupcake paper off and use what’s left and put the frosting on. Then use the other pieces to sprinkle on top of the frosting. :D Thanks for sharing though!
Hi Michelle, i Am baking this for the first time.
I want to maKe about 36 cupcakes, should I triple the recipe?
Or stick to the recipe and repeat it 3 different times?
Thank you!
Hi Kathryn, I’ve seen some feedback from folks who have doubled and tripled this recipe for success (although I have never tried it), so I think you’ll be okay!
And what do I need to do if I want to use beet instead of red food coloring?
I have never used beets for food coloring, so I’m not sure how the liquid could affect the texture of the cupcake, or how much you would need for the desired color.
Can I substitute white wine vinegar with rice vinegar?
Hi Gabriella, Actually you would want to use white distilled vinegar, not white wine. If you don’t have white distilled, I think using rice vinegar would be fine.
This is just a general cupcake question…..what is the easiest way to fill cupcake tins?
Hi Carrie, I use a cookie scoop to scoop up batter and drop it into the cupcake tin. Super easy and keeps mess to a minimum.
Thank-you for the recipe. I am going to be cooking up a meal for my mom and aunts this Mother’s Day and I think these would be the perfect dessert.
I made these cupcakes a few days ago for my daughter’s birthday. They turned out SO good. Thank you so much for allowing me to find this awesome recipe! I did however make a few minor modifications. I only had 2 tablespoons of the liquid red food coloring, so I added a few drop of red gel and a tablespoon of water. The color turned out just like the photos. Also, I had read in Cooks Illustrated that natural cocoa powder must be used for Red Velvet because Dutch-processed cocoa will not rise or yield the proper color. Hershey’s natural unsweetened cocoa powder is what I used. I didn’t have white vinegar so I used apple cider vinegar. Lastly, I used 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste instead of extract. I will definitely keep this recipe and am thinking of making a 2-layer cake. Do you think I should just double the recipe to fill each pan? Any ideas on how long that would bake for? I was thinking 25 minutes.
Hi Christina, Thank you for the wonderful feedback and sharing your modifications! You could double this recipe and make a two-layer 8″ or 9″ cake. It will take 25 to 30 minutes to bake.
Just made these cupcakes, I baked them for 18 minutes they came out SO fluffy and delicious and paired so well with the cream cheese icing. Delicious. :)
Made red velvet cupcakes for the first time ever, and they came out soooo good and moist :) I didn’t have buttermilk so used curds and whey instead ( yoghurt) and they still came out absolutely delicious. By the way, do u have any eggless cake or cupcake recipes! When I make for my daughters school, they specifically ask for eggless and wholewheat cup cakes. Not vegan though :)
I just love your blog and recipes :)
Hi Rashmi, I’m so happy you enjoyed the cupcakes! Unfortunately, I do not have any eggless recipes.
Total disaster, went so flat and I couldn’t get them out of the tin, six went into the bin in crumbs, the other six were flat and looked awful but the actual cake was delicious!
Hi michelle!!!! I have a few questions about this recipe. I’ve done it before and this are (by far) the best red velvet cupcakes i’ve ever had!! So right now i’m in Spain visiting my sister who just had a baby (yay!!) and i wanted to bake this amazing cupcakes for her, but what’s my surprise??? Here in Spain they don’t use white destiled vinegar, they don’t even know what that is! They have a lot of different kinds of vinegar, but white. So i contacted with a local baking supplies store and they told me they use grappe vinegar, white wine vinegar or apple vinegar (they believe that is “white vinegar”….) would it be ok if i use one of the above???. I also was told that maybe at a colombians local store i could find regular white vinegar, but not destiled. Will that work? I guess it could be better than grappe, white wine or Apple vinegar. What do you think?.
Also, in here they don’t use liquid food coloring, they only have gel. I was told that liquid food coloring could be found in the market but it wasn’t good because it doesn’t give the proper color. Would it be ok to use gel?
Thanks in advance!!!!! Love your blog and your recipes :) xoxo
Hi Anaisa, I am not familiar with grappe vinegar, but the plain white would probably work if you can get that; if not, use the apple vinegar. As for the food coloring, you can use gel; I find liquid to be easier to incorporate into the batter, but gel will work too. You may need to play around with the quantities of the gel, as you may not need as much.
Hi Michelle!
May I know if the amount of flour – 1 cup 2 tablespoons – is measured before or after sifting?
Thank you!
Hi Fy, I did not sift flour for this recipe, so no need to worry about that.
One more question, did you use a whisk or paddle attachment?
Thanks so much!
Paddle for the cake batter; whisk for the frosting.
Good morning! So happy I stumbled upon this on Pinterest. I have a wonderful recipe for cream cheese frosting — everyone is always looking for more once they are finished. It’s cream based, so it won’t make a nice shape as yours does. Does the butter in your frosting help with holding the frosting in place? Thank you for this post! I will definitely be trying this.
Hi Karah, Yes, between the butter and powdered sugar, it’s stabilized nicely.
Awesome! This is such a fantastic recipe, perfect coloring, texture and taste. Thanks you so much for sharing. I will be trying many more of your recipes now that you’ve made a believer out of me! Superb!
I mixed yogurt and milk to substitute for butter milk. I’ve added half of it and the rest is still in the bowl and I just read that there is no substitute! I’m screwed. :/ What do I do??? Add vinegar to that?
Since you already started, I would just proceed and see if they turn out. I wouldn’t add anything else. For future reference, you need to add lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk as a substitute for buttermilk. You can find the instructions here: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/
Thanks so much for this recipe. I needed a good one for a loved one’s birthday whose favorite cupcake is red velvet. I’d tried two other recipes which were — eh. Yours was absolutely wonderful! The only change I made to the cupcake recipe was to use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla. In my oven they were done at 18 minutes, and I baked them on the lower middle rack to avoid getting the tops too hard (I’ve found that makes a huge difference). I’m a vanilla buttercream girl, so I did that instead of cream cheese frosting. BTW, I’ve loved every recipe of yours I’ve tried — keep ’em coming, girl!
Quick add-on to my comment — I really think that this recipe turns out well when it’s followed exactly (exact for using vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla — my one change). I used McCormick’s red food coloring (not a cheaper version), didn’t use Dutch processed cocoa or red wine vinegar, didn’t use cake flour or self-rising flour, didn’t add baking powder, didn’t substitute in something for the buttermilk. :)
I want to make these cupcakes but I just wondered can
I use self-raising flour instead of all purpose?
Hi Laura, No, you can’t substitute self-raising flour for all-purpose.
Help Michelle!!!
This is my second time trying to make red velvet cupcakes and they keep over flowing then sinking….I just tried your recipe and same thing happened. What’s causing this? Thank you!
Hi Tiffani, If it’s happening to different recipes, you may be overfilling the cupcake tins and/or your oven temperature may be off. Be sure to use an oven thermometer.
I tried this recipe it tastes delicious ..but I’m still getting the muffin texture instead of the soft cupcakes texture . Any advice ?
I also used the mentioned amount of food coloring , but they turned out light pink .
Can you also please advise me regarding this matter ?
Thank you !
Happy baking :)
After reading many comments I decided to try this one. I am a beginer and this came out perfect I follow step by step had successful results.Will be using on my new adventure wedding cupcakes for my nices wedding. Thanks for sharing.
Just tried this recipe. I am an avid baker, and have made many red velvet cupcakes before. I usually go with the classic Sylvia’s recipe which NEVER fails me. I decided to try something new, and came across this recipe. I must declare that I am thoroughly disappointed with the turnout. The actual batter was unsettling and had a distinct bitter after taste. The color wasn’t even a subtle red, it was purple brown. The texture of the cupcakes was super wierd and indescribable. The taste wasn’t even red velvet like, it was not even cupcake like. I am once again extremely disappointed with this recipe.
Are you serious?!?!? First of all, it cant be purple brown. Those are 2 different colors! And “super weird”? Go back to the first grade and learn some new vocabulary. “Indescribable”? If you cant describe a cupcake, you shouldn’t even be cooking cupcakes. “Its not even cupcake like”? Learn how to cook and learn some new words.
I made these for my coworkers for Valentines day and they were perfectly moist and the flavor was marvelous! Thanks for publishing this recipe, I think I’ll make green ones for St Patrick’s day!!
i made this recently for my boyfriends sisters birthday, everybody loved them, its a perfect recipe! amazing colour and flavours. definately one of my favourites now
just made these and honestly couldnt be more happy with the results. I did modify it a bit by cutting the amount of food-coloring in half,replacing the white vinegar with lemon, and I didnt have any buttermillk so I combined 1/2 cup milk with a 1/2 tablespoon lemon, and let it sit for 5 min. Worked perfectly. This is now my go-to recipe for red-velvet cupcakes!
I made red velvet cupcakes for my first time using your recipe. They were beautiful and tasted divine. However, I used dark dutched cocoa and I found that the color was more brown-red than a deep red like yours. Should I cut back on the cocoa or just plan on using regular cocoa next time? I also only had icing color “a glacage” but I think I substituted plenty of red coloring.
Hi Cindy, I wouldn’t cut back on the cocoa (that’s what gives red velvet its distinctive taste), but if you have regular unsweetened cocoa I would give that a try and see if the color doesn’t even out for you. It could have also been the type of food coloring you used. I’ve definitely found that liquid food coloring works much, much better than any other type (paste, gel) that I’ve tried.
Red Velvet is my favorite cake. I have tried so many recipes and they have all come out way to oily. The oil just seeps out from the liners. I just took yours out of the oven and I can say that I love them already. They look so moist and not oily at all. Thank you so much. I love all of your other cupcakes recipes as well.
After making my first red velvet batch from Paula deens recipe, they were a huge failure, they tasted like flour and were pink :(. This recipe is much more smooth and creamy and looks great so far…. They’re just going in the oven. Fingers crossed, this could be a keeper.
I’ve tried two recipes now and both have come out brown not red? This was the better out of the two regards to taste and texture but still brown, what am I doing wrong? :(
Hi Kirsty, If you’re using all of the red food coloring called for in the recipe, I’m not sure why your cake would be brown. Double-check to make sure your food coloring isn’t old.
These cupcakes are disgusting. I cant believe i just spent all that time making it.
These are hands-down the best cupcakes – not just red velvet – I have ever had.
I don’t know much about red velvet- just curious, what does the vinegar do?
Hi Rebecca, The combination of the vinegar with the baking soda creates a chemical reaction that makes the cakes light and fluffy.
YUM! I’m making these for my boyfriend for valentine’s day as i type this! Can’t wait to sample them! thanks for a great recipe
I just made these cupcakes for my boyfriend for valentines! They were amazing! Everything turned out perfect and the texture was so velvety! X
Hi Michelle!! I’m trying my first RV at home for Valentine’s day and your recipe is the one that seems better!!. I’m just scared about the frosting, i made it once and it wouldn’t stay as pretty as yours and didn’t get much shape, it was a lot more loose. Do u have any recommendations or tips to give it a better consistency? thanks!!!
Hi Anaisa, Be sure to use full-fat cream cheese, and not a low-fat alternative – there is too much water content in those. I’ve never had an issue with this frosting not setting appropriately, but if you find it’s still too soft, add a little more powdered sugar.
hi michelle,
just wondering the cream cheese frosting that i made had a tinge of vinegar and sourish aftertaste, i followed the recipe, but i cant seem to achieve it. The initial taste of the frosting was really good, however there always seems to be this sourish taste after a while. is there anything i can do to remove it?
THANKS :)
oh and also, how do we make the frosting stay on the cake and not melt? :) thank you so much and the cakes turned out really great!!!:)
The frosting definitely shouldn’t “melt”. If it’s soft, be sure to use full-fat cream cheese (do not substitute low fat versions – they have too much water content), and add more powdered sugar if necessary.
I am not sure where you would be getting a sour taste from. Cream cheese does have a little bit of tang to it, but shouldn’t taste sour.
Hi,
I’m planning on making this for valentines day. I haven’t tasted red velvet cake, (because I heard too much horrible experiences like yours). I want to try this out but I can only make them on Tuesday morning, and they’ll be eaten Thursday night (Valentines this year falls on a Thursday). I have a pretty jammed week, and I was wondering how well these will keep (btw, I’ll frost them Thursday evening too).
Store them in an airtight tupperware container and they’ll be just fine. They stay nice and moist for quite a few days.
can i just double the ammounts of all the ingredients if i want to make 24 cupcakes?
Yes!
Look NO FURTHER! This is THE red velvet recipe you’re searching for! I made these for a baby shower today and everyone devoured them (myself included!!!) Moist and super yummy. You got just right, Michelle! Thanks :)
I decided to give this recipe a try after browsing through numerous red velvet cupcake recipes online and this is AMAZING. So moist and fluffy and the frosting is so silky and smooth. Thanks so much for the recipe!
I’ve never seen a RV recipe without vegetable oil! how do you get the classic RV texture? Your pics look gorgeous and I’d love to try it, but the no oil is kind of freaking me out! Is it maybe a typo that it’s missing out of the ingredients?
Nope, the ingredients are not missing oil.
Has anyone tried this with non-fat milk?
Should I increase the butter if I use non-fat?
I do not recommend using non-fat milk in this recipe; the buttermilk is essential for the texture.
What if I only have powder food coloring on hand would that work?
Hi Nicolette, You can try it, but I’m not sure how it would work, or what the appropriate amount would be. As I’ve mentioned in some other comments, I have tried it with gel color and it didn’t turn out as well as the liquid. Let me know how it goes!
They were moist on the inside, crunchy on the outside! I reduced the sugar to 1 1/2 cups for the frosting and it was sweet enough! I also replaced the food coloring with water because I wanted my cupcakes to be all natural
Very tasty cupcakes! Just made a batch of these for a friends 40th she will not be disappointed :-)
I have to admit that this is the best recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes. I have tried alot, but this works for me. But however having said that, i get the colour doses wrong some times. Am not sure maybe its the quality of Red food colouring. Some use pastes, some use liquid. I currently use Dr Oetker Natural Red Food Coloring, which comes out really thick. Also I have an issue with buttermilk…. getting it in the stores can be a nightmare, is there a substitute for making this? Am really loving the vibrant pictures on your page…
I use liquid food coloring (McCormick brand) for my red velvet. I have tried the gel pastes in a pinch, but have not been happy with the color or consistency. As for the buttermilk, you can definitely make your own. I have the directions on my substitutions page: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/
this recipe is perfect, so moist & delicious with that hint of cocoa. thank you so much for sharing!
Is this recipe enough for a two layer 8 inch cake?
Hi Christiana, No, as stated in the note at the end of the recipe, you’ll need to double this for a two layer 8 inch cake.
Oh! Sorry I missed that…Thanks so much!
Hi Michelle! I’ve made these cupcakes a hundred times and they are the best!!! One question tho, can i use this recipe for making a red velvet brownie? I plan to swirl the cream cheese in, but I’m not sure if the texture would be brownie-like. Do i need to add/modify ingredient to make this into a brownie? :)
Hi Vans, Brownies are very, very different from cakes and cupcakes, so this would not make for a good brownie recipe (you’d just end up with cake bars). I don’t have a red velvet brownie recipe (although I do have a Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownie), so I would probably do some searching for an actual brownie recipe. I think you’ll be happier with the results.
I made these for a New Years party. The cupcakes were moist and the icing was delicious. I had to hide them from the kids, since they were planning the eat the whole tray.
Hi there! just wanted to say that after many attempts to get a good red velvet cake recipe for my wedding cake, I am so glad I came across yours! :) definitely the best i have tried! Many thanks all the way from New Zealand :)
Hi again. Sorry I meant 4 tablespoon of butter. not cups. what is the weight? of this. Thank You MGT
Hi Margaret, 4 tablespoons of butter is 2 ounces. For future reference, I provide some common conversions (including butter) and links to weight charts here: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/conversions/.
Looking @ your Red Velvet Cupcake recipe. Everything is explained in ounces/teaspoon etc. But you have put 4 cups of butter. What ounce/gram weight is this please. Thank You. MGT
These are the only red velvet cupcakes I will ever make! Your recipe is the best!
Hello michelle do i have to use the distilled vinegar for the recipe? and can i use normal milk instead of buttermilk?
Hi Angelica, Yes, distilled white vinegar is essential, as it reacts with the buttermilk in the recipe. To that end, you do need to use buttermilk vs. regular milk. If you don’t have access to buttermilk, you can always make your own – see my substitutions page for instructions: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/
I made these the other day and they were SO delicious!!! I made half of the batch with bourbon for a boozy cupcake and it was divine! This is probably the best recipe I’ve ever made myself and the best I’ve ever tasted, EVER!!! So glad I stumbled across your page!
Which bourbon did use use? and did you use it in the cupcake as well as the frosting?
nvm mind abotuw hat i said but my cream chees frosting is like water! too much yellow and its competly like water can u tell me why:?:( i did all half
U gonna kill me?:O 3 TABLESPOONS RED COLORING? :oooooI THINK ITS GOINGN TO BE all my red colors:D anyway it will kill and its danger i gess anyway also the coca color CANNOT-become red! in anyway (my foather got a color making company:D)
seems im only man here:D anyway im making it but for next time
On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
what u mean by crape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.?
Hi Michelle,
It is my first time baking cupcakes and I was wondering is your batter really thick or is it runny? Because my batter turn out thick without adding all the flour in, I’ve left out 1/4 of the flour. Also, the cup measurement you used for your buttermilk and flour, are they the same? I understand liquid has their own cup measurement but I’m just wondering if it affects the batter consistency. Hope you can reply.
Hi Cheryl, The batter is moderately thick. It shouldn’t be runny. I can usually scoop it easily with a cookie scoop. I always measure liquids with a liquid measuring cup, and solids either with a scale (my preferred method) or dry measuring cups. They are different, and it will make a difference.
Hi there, Love the red velvet…. Let me first say that I have never in my 34 years tried to bake anything…. yup, I said it.. never :) I am not a cook lol So I thought I would give these a whirl. I think the cupcakes came out great, but I think I went wrong with the frosting??? Mine is way more runny than the pictures show… and I have enough to do 3-4 more trays of the cupcakes lol Where did I go wrong? I followed the directions to a T. The only thing that I can think is that I had to use a regular measuring cup to get the 4oz butter and cream cheese… maybe I put in too much? Should I let it sit? It tastes great, but has more of a pudding texture. Thanks!
Hi Nicole, First of all, make sure that you used full-fat cream cheese and not a low-fat or non-fat version. That would make a big differently. Secondly, measuring the butter and cream cheese in a measuring cup could have definitely caused the measurements to be off.
hi hun .. i tried several rescipes and all were amazing .. but i have powder food coloring .. can i use it ?? and how many TBs ??
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience using powdered food coloring. I have only seen liquid and gel, and I don’t recommend using gel (I’ve done it and it doesn’t work as well as the liquid).
Made these cupcakes tonight (christmas eve!), they are BEYOND DELICIOUS! so moist, perfect flavor. thank you!!!!
What tip did you use to frost?
Hi Pearl, A Wilton 1M.
not sure what i have done wrong but i used liner cup cake size large from dollar store.
filled 1/2 on all 12 liners and didnt rise that much. looks dry and flat. please help
never bake before and would like to give this a shot. do i use unsalted butter for frosting as well?
Hi Cindy, You can use regular (salted) butter in the frosting, or use unsalted butter and add a pinch of salt.
i really like those red velvet cupcakes they are so amazing so fluffy choclatey and creamy too it was so amazing and i really love this website
with love, the lovely chocolate girl.
I made 200 of these and a nine inch topper cakefor my sister’s wedding and I got so many great comments and also an annoyed sister because a guest swiped 15 of them to take home lol. The only thing I changed is that I used red food colouring paste which I mixed with the buttermilk until it was a deep red colour (couldn’t say exactly but roughly a teaspoon). The only reason I used paste is because the only liquid food colouring I could find in the shops usually left a weird taste in the cake, paste works great too though. These changes meant I sifted the cocoa with the flour and the vanilla was added at the end of mixing butter/sugar/eggs. thanks for putting up a great red velvet recipe ; )
Hi Michelle – I made these a few weeks ago and they were absolutely delicious. I, like you, took some time to warm up to red velvet but these converted me 100%.
I’d like to do it as a cake next month for a party, but just want your advice on one thing that could have gone better when I made the cupcakes – the frosting was a little too runny. I stuck to the proportions exactly; do you think this might be because I overwhipped it?
Hi Nat, Make sure you use full-fat cream cheese, if you use a reduced fat version, the frosting will come out runny. If it’s still too soft, you could add more powdered sugar and/or pop it into the refrigerator to firm up a little bit before spreading.
Yep, it was full-fat, but I’ll definitely try refrigerating a little next time if I get the same result. Thanks!
Hi Michelle,
I am very excited to try this recipe but would love to know what brand of cream cheese you use for your frosting? Or if you feel it even matters to use a specific brand for better results?
Hi Sandra, I always use Philadelphia, but most importantly, make sure you use full-fat cream cheese, and not reduced fat. There isn’t enough fat in the low-fat versions (and too much water) to create a frosting that isn’t runny.
Hey thanks for the answer, just one more question in the cucpake recipe you specify unsalted butter but in the frosting recipe it just says butter, is unsalted butter fine for that too or should it be salted butter? Thanks again I can’t wait to try making these hopefully they’re a success like all the other recipes of yours I have tried.
Hi Sandra, You can use unsalted and then add a pinch of salt to the frosting, or you can use regular salted butter, whichever you have on hand.
How about using a red vinegar instead of white? Thanks!
Hi Cielo, Definitely don’t use red (wine) vinegar in these cupcakes. It will impart too much of a flavor, while the white vinegar is very neutral in flavor.
I made theses cupcakes last week and they came out great. Everyone liked them so now I’m making it again but as a cake this time for someones birthday. Thanks for the recipe!
I love Red Velvet Cupcakes! I’m planning on baking for my team but I wanted the cupcakes to be blue. What changes/additions should I make except for the food coloring?
Hi Katie, I have not done blue velvet, but I have seen it done on other sites. I don’t think you need to do anything different. Just a note, though, that because of the chocolate you’ll get a very dark blue hue to the cupcakes. If you’re after bright blue, you might try using food coloring in a vanilla cupcake.
Oh okay, thanks! Btw, does the recipe really calls for 3 tablespoons of food coloring or is it supposed to be 3 teaspoons?
You’re welcome! Yes, the recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of food coloring, not teaspoons.
Another question, I have a bag of powdered buttermilk here so how many cups of powdered buttermilk will I need to make 1/2 cup liquid buttermilk?
Hi Katie, I have not used powdered buttermilk, so I would just follow the directions on the bag for reconstituting it.
Do the cupcakes need to be refrigerated soon because of the cream cheese frosting? I want to make these cupcakes in a mason jar for my daughters teachers and want to be sure the frosting will not melt.
Hi Michelle, As long as your house isn’t too hot (not above 72 degrees) or humid, you can leave them at room temperature for a day or so. If it will be longer than that, or if your home is on the warm side, I would refrigerate them.
Hello from Thailand!
I made these today and it was amazing. It was a kind of texture that I had never encountered before, super moist yet light and fluffy.
The only problem I had was with the food color. I am guessing “3 tablespoons of red food coloring” doesn’t work with every brand because here, that is a whole bottle of coloring and I could taste the color and my tongue was stained red haha. I suggest you check your instructions and calculate how much to put accordingly. If anyone has figured out the ratio for Gel food coloring (like Wilton’s) please do share with us.
Thank you so much!
-Marisabel
Hi I found the same thing with flavour of the liquid food colouring. I used paste, but I guess it could work for gel, and mixed it with the buttermilk until it was very dark red (roughly 1tsp to 1.5tsp of red paste) I submitted a post too if you want to read
HOW did you get your frosting that way? i did everything exactly according to recipe and its more liquid than vanilla pudding. And everyone suggest something different: too much sugar, not enough sugar, beat more, beat less, take out the vanilla (bit late for that now, thanks). Help is much appreciated.
Charlotte, Are you using full-fat cream cheese? A mistake a lot of people make is using low-fat versions of cream cheese, which contain too much water and not enough fat to use for a frosting.
what can i substitute for buttermilk?
Aileen, You can get a couple of buttermilk substitutions on the Substitutions page: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/
Hi Michelle,
Just wanted to tell you that I made these cupcakes tonight and it was a big hit with my family!! I’m sooooo happy that it came out so moist n tasted perfect with the icing!!! I even got compliments to open up my own bakery. LOL! Thank you thank you thank you for sharing this recipe!!
Just a small feedback though, even though I followed the icing recipe to the note, I had ALOT of icing left (almost a 2 cups). Also I would consider a bit more cream cheese for a slightly more cheesy flavour.
Thanks again!
Hi Michelle, I am getting ready to bake these for thanksgiving. I wanted to add mini dark chocolate chips to the recipe. Is there anything I need to scale back on or add?
Since I don’t like using a lot of red food coloring, when I doubled the recipe to make 2 dozen cupcakes I only used 5 tablespoons; as a result, the paste was not as pasty but still turned the batter a lovely red. I would also recommend only 1/2 Tbs. of vanilla extract when doubling the recipe as well because otherwise the tang of the cream cheese is completely masked by the alcoholic taste of the extract (I use Mexican vanilla). But these cupcakes go by FAST!
I really love cupcakes and baking, in general but I am a Jain and I don’t eat eggs. Can you tell me what different substitutes I can use? And 1 egg= how much of that substitute. Will it make any difference in the taste?
You could try unsweetened applesauce (1/3 cup for 1 egg), although eggs do help to give baked goods some lift/leavening, so you will likely notice a difference in texture, and possibly taste as well.
I was wondering if I could use condensed milk? if that works, what would the measurement be for one egg?
I have not ever used condensed milk in place of eggs; if you try it, I would probably use a 1/4 of a can.
I just made these cupcakes last Saturday….they are so good and moist. I had a different recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes, but there is no comparison!. The cream cheese icing was absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing!!!!
OMG! Never made one…never tried one; nevertheless I volunteered to make these for a birthday.
Thought the recipe was too red. Thought there wasn’t enough batter. Double checked the ingredients few times; did I forget something? Dipped my finger to taste before they were baked. No big deal, I said. I hope they are good.
I THOUGHT WRONG!!! The recipe is perfect proportion, the perfect sweetness, the perfect taste. They are amazing! They were a huge hit and the birthday girl wouldn’t share the extras!!! :-) LOL
Thank you.
I want to make a cake with this recipe using a 9X13 pan what do you suggest?
Doubling the recipe?
Hi Valerie, Yes, for a 9×13-inch cake you’ll want to double the recipe.
Thank you! I am a big fan of this recipe and looking forward to try more of your recipes. I made cupcakes for a bridal shower and a cake for a 21st birthday! Both occasions, everyone loved it! Just thought you would like to know
I just made the icing and had to add more sugar. I wanted to swirl it with my Wilton tip. It drooped pretty quickly on the cupcakes and I also added some meringue powder. Any suggestions?
Hi Sue, I do not use meringue powder in any of my icings except for royal icing, however the recipe as written does make a cream cheese frosting stiff enough to be piped. Did you use reduced fat cream cheese? If so, that could be the problem. It does not have enough fat (and has too much water) for frostings, which is what can cause it to be so soft and droopy.
Could u please convert the measurements
into grams please
Hi Rebecca, Right now I do not have the ability to convert everything into grams, but if there is a particular ingredient you need converted, please see the Conversions page (https://www.browneyedbaker.com/conversions/) for measurement equivalents and a link to the KAF weight chart. You can use a combination of those to calculate grams, or type into Google for a conversion.
Hi Michelle, your cupcakes look really yummy and beautifull, so i’ve decided i would give it a try. Is it possible to change the white vinegar with a balsamic vinegar? Will it give the same results?
Hi Shiri, You definitely do not want to use balsamic vinegar in these. The white vinegar has a neutral flavor and is used to interact with the leaving agent and buttermilk. Balsamic has a very strong flavor that will come through.
This recipe was so easy and really delicious. My boyfriend doesn’t like cake but he tried this and loved them.
I tried your recipe i cant tell you how delicious is it .. It’s the best red velvet ever .. Congratulation you r the best cooker .. I want to tell you i ‘am from saudi arabia your recipe got there and my family like it and love it … Ohhhhhhhh i love you too for this recip iam so glad to find you and your recipe ..
i can’t wait to do this and let my kids eat it! it looks sooooo delicious and beautiful! thanks for sharing your recipes! :)
Hi Michelle, I’m currently in the process of making these wonderful cupcakes, I decided to make a double the batch to make 24 to fill my cupcake stand and cut down on half a cup of sugar since my family doesn’t like cakes which are too sweet (plus i plan to make the frosting as per recipe instead of cutting down on the sugar like I usually do). The first batch of 12 came out nicely, perfectly moist and not at all heavy – which made me extremely happy :)) the only problem I’m having with them is that they are not even when they are baking…they seems to all have risen wonky – more towards one side, and not at all on the opposite side. What could be the reason for this? I didnt use paper patty pans but silicon cupcake moulds instead, just scooped it right into the mould without any lining, could this have possibly contributed to crookedness? :/ Or the reduced sugar maybe…?
Anyhow, ill just hide it all behind a nice thick layer of frosting and everything’s all better :D
Hi Rachel, If you altered the quantity of any of the ingredients, that could definitely have played a role in how the cupcakes rose.
i am baking these cupcakes as we speak and damn they are marvelous. i have not yet made the frosting but the cupcakes are amazingly moist, flavourful and fluffy. I actually substituted the buttermilk for regular 2% milk and a tablespoon of regular white vinegar and made a mistake by doubling the milk to 1 cup rather than the called for 1/2 cup. surprisingly it still turned out tasty and not bland from the dilution of milk but i personally am not into a sugar packed mouthful explosion (tastes like an asian bakery cake). i was thinking of just doubling the recipe at the time but took the chance to see how it went and no regrets thankfully. anyways, just want to say koodoos to the creator of the recipe. awesome stuff. keep it up.
I am definitely going to be trying these for my best friend’s birthday! She loves red velvet, I hope they turn out ok. Do you suggest trying to make them prior to first time to make sure they come out ok? I’m not exactly a fan of red velvet – so I wouldn’t really know what to do with them all. I’d probably eat them all anyway.
Hi Emily, If you are nervous about the recipe and think you would have more peace of mind, you could make them ahead of time. That being said, these turned out perfectly for me from the very first batch.
Michelle, could you also respond to my question listed above Emily’s since 2nd December?
Hi Michelle
Any chance you can put the equivalent of the “cup” measurements in grams in the recipe (cake + icing)? And what does the 350 degrees F equate to in Celcius (C)? It would really be helpful, as like you I too have been converted and now want to make them at home! I have to!
Hi Stella, I don’t currently have the measurements in grams for this recipe (I am working to include these on all recipes, but this one doesn’t have it yet) so unfortunately you’ll just have to use the Google conversion calculator. For instance, if you type in “1 cup = ? grams” it should spit out the conversion. 350 degrees is about 177 degrees Celsius. Here is the conversion equation for Fahrenheit to Celsius: C = 5/9 (F-32)
I made these for a farewell potluck at work yesterday and they disappeared in minutes! As each one disappeared, I received a multitude of “OMG best RV cupcakes EVER!” Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
I have made these as well as the margarita cupcakes. Both recipes are awesome! They are a huge hit for any social gathering I attend where food is involved. Thanks for the great recipe! =)
Kristie,
I use this website:
http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml
It’s ‘Metric Kitchen’ and converts most of the recipes on here accurately. They always turn out gorgeous!
That’s a great website! Thank You!
Hi,I’m from Holland, the first time I had a red velvet cupcakes was in New York from Eleni’s! They were delicious:D. So my question is, how many grams or milimeter are your tablespoons and teaspoons. I so want to try these, but measurements can be off sometimes and I don’t want to screw them up;)
Hi Kristie, 1 teaspoon = 5ml, and 1 tablespoon = 15 ml (3 teaspoons in 1 tablespoon). I hope that helps, enjoy!
Thanks for the fast response;) that will help!
Hi,
In terms of scaling up and making this a celebration cake, how would you go about it? I’m no baking mathematician! Has anyone ever made this into a large cake?
Thanks!
You can double the recipe and make into an 8-inch or 9-inch layer cake. Enjoy!
I just made these and they turned out absolutely PERFECT. here’s a picture: http://instagr.am/p/T5Lig/
They look great! So glad you liked them!
I do a lot of baking, however, this is my first time making a cupcake from scratch. I had a couple of problems.
1. Cupcakes were dry and tops were slightly crunchy. I think the 20 mt bake time was too long. Probably should have starting checking around 14-15 mts.
2. Cupcakes were a little salty! I used unsalted butter and followed the ingredients and method exactly. I wonder if the buttermilk added to the saltiness? I used Borden buttermilk. Next time will have to cut down on salt.
Overall pretty good though! And the cream cheese frosting was YUMMY!
Thanks for inspiring me to be creative with my baking!
WoW!
Firstly, thanks for a fab website! Secondly, I have never eaten red velvet before so I made these tonight for Halloween tomorrow…. OMG, they are seriously amazing. I had to use weight conversions as I am in the UK, but they turned out perfectly. Instead of buttermilk, I added 2 tbsp of lemon juice to 110ml of semi-skimmed milk and that worked well. I used 70g plain flour and 70g self raising and 1/4 tsp pf baking powder. Other than that, I was true to the recipe.
Only one thing – my cakes sank away from the cases a little after – any ideas? Maybe my oven wasn’t hot enough?
Thanks again!
Moo
Hi Moo, I know some people have this separation problem frequently and I still haven’t been able to really figure out what causes it. Some people say there could be a greasy coating on the liner and might cause it in certain brands.
Thanks – it was really weird, it was as if my cakes ‘shrank’ in the cases. I will try the recipe again and use plain paper cases I think. I used slightly bigger muffin cases, as I think UK fairy cake cases give measly portions! Anyway, thanks again – I’m going to try your tiramisu recipe next … how did you get that gorgeous topping on?
Hi Michelle,
I’ve tried many of your recipes & apart from the guiness cupcakes, these are by far my fav.
Only had one problem though, the cream cheese frosting was extremely runny & I found this quite odd (I dont know if it’s got to do w the hot Singapore weathe)
I did again & used my own cream cheese frosting (the butter proportion was now half instead o 1:1). Thiis time it worked fine. Hope it was really just the weather !
Thanks :):):)
There is no hard and fast rule; it all depends on the specific recipe, what other ingredients are involved, etc. Both baking soda and baking powder create rise, but also interact with other ingredients. So basically yes, the cupcakes should rise more with more leavening, but sometimes it takes playing around with other ingredients to get it right.
Hi michelle, was wondering if the reaction of the baking soda and vinegar to making a fluffy cupcake works when with all chocolate cupcake recipe? as if im not wrong the it will only take effect with cocoa powder?
thanks!
Hi Nel, I’ve never tried it, but it seems like it should work!
another question, that is if the chocolate cupcake recipe I’m using calls for baking powder but it doesn’t rise much and it’s not fluffy, can I substitute baking powder with the baking soda+vinegar ? thanks!!
Hi Nel, That would be a good experiment, I’ve never done it so I couldn’t say for sure if that would solve the problem (independent of changing anything about the other ingredients), but if you give it a try I’d love to hear how it works!
Yeah sure! sorry for another question, if i want the cupcake to rise more do I add more powder soda/baking powder? or what should I do to make it rise more? (let’s say if the temperate of oven is correct)
thanks!
I tried this recipe today and am very happy with the results! Somehow I could only made 10 cupcakes, but it was not a big deal. A few changes I made were; I added a little bit of canola oil (1/8 cup or less) because this recipe called for the least amount of butter than any other recipes that I found online, and I had to skip the vinegar because I don’t keep white vinegar in my pantry and I didn’t wanna buy it… I’m not sure what vinegar does, but I am very happy with how my cupcakes tasted. They were moist, fluffy, slightly chocolaty, in a word, delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipes as well as the stunning pictures of your cupcakes! They are very inspiring!
So I tried this recipe…and I have to say that the cupcakes cam out perfect! They were extremely moist and had a nice cocoa flavor. I loved them!
Hi, I have seen various red velvet cupcake recipes and they all seem to have baking powder as one of the ingredients, which your recipe doesn’t have. Is baking powder not required for the cake to rise?
Hi Sawsan,
Baking powder is typically a mixture of baking soda (alkaline) and an acidifier (plus starch to buff up the volume). In this recipe, vinegar is used to help bring out the red colour in (non-Dutch processed) chocolate and also serves as the acidifier. As such, if you were to use baking powder instead of baking soda, the final mixture may be too acidic, which is why this recipe lists baking soda, not the powder. The baking soda and acid in the vinegar (and buttermilk) will react together to produce carbon dioxide, producing a leavening effect and neutralising eachother. I hope that answers your question. :]
Made this as my second attempt at baking cupcakes and I’ve got them cooling off now. Sadly, they don’t have that nice, deep red colour, I suppose using gel food colouring and Van Houten (i.e. Dutch Processed) cocoa is to blame. I was hesitant to use too much of the food colouring given how potent gel-based ones usually are, but I guess they’re better suited to icing and fondant than a large batch of brown cake batter. :]
Hi, I made these, followed the recipe to the tee and they came out a dark brown like chocolate cupcake mixture. So odd… the batter was a fairly vivd browny red before it went into the oven, and they’re not remotely burnt. I wonder what can have happened. They’re still delicious, but they ain’t red velvet!
Hi, I haven’t had any luck with cream cheese frosting. Every time I attempt, it ends up being a runny mess, not looking anything like yours and I follow the directions completely. What might be the problem? Thank you! I am loving the cupcake and all of your recipes. :)
OMG!!!! These were amazing! Great recipe! I will be making these again, and again!!
Turned out perfectly. Thanks!
Hi Michelle, may i know how did you bake your cupcakes to have such a smooth surface? my cupcakes always have very serious cracks and dome very high up ):
Cracks and a high dome might be due to the oven temperature not being quite right, or over-baking.
Thanks for your reply! you mentioned temperature not quite right, do you think the temperature is too high or too low resulting in that?
Thanks again!
Hi Nel, overbaking – when underbaked, cakes and muffins typically sink in the middle.
these look delicious! can i double this recipe to make 2 layers (2 9-inch cakes) in cake pans? i always used to use a recipe at pinchmysalt but i thought this one looked better, is the cream cheese frosting really sweet?
Yes, you can double and make a two layer cake. I find asking if frosting is really sweet or too sweet to be totally subjective, since one person may find it to be too sweet, and someone else may not. I think this frosting is the perfect balance of tang from the cream cheese and sweet from the sugar.
Genius!My favorite kind of icing and i’m making it soon!Thank you very much,your blog is amazing!:D
Hey Michelle! Just wondering if I can substitute white wine vinegar for the distilled white vinegar in this recipe? Do you think it would substantially alter the flavor?
Hi Rashmi, It would alter the flavor and how it reacts with the cocoa powder, so I would stick with the white vinegar.