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Red Velvet Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

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These red velvet cupcakes with whipped cream cheese frosting are moist, fluffy, and easy to make! My #1 tip is to use powdered food coloring.

Ingredients

Scale

For the Red Velvet Cupcakes:

  • 200 g granulated sugar
  • 150 g all-purpose flour
  • 10 g natural or dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 180 g buttermilk, at room temperature
  • Red food coloring, preferably powdered food coloring
  • 60 g vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp white distilled or apple cider vinegar
  • 60 g coffee, hot

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, straight from the fridge
  • 75 g powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 250 g heavy whipping cream, straight from the fridge

Instructions

Make the Cupcakes:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until combined. Set aside.
  3. Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl. Add food coloring and whisk until you achieve your desired intensity and shade of red. The amount you add will depend on which type you use and how red you want your cupcakes to be. Start with a small amount and add more as needed. For gel food coloring, start with a small dollop. For liquid food coloring, start with 1-2 teaspoons. For powdered food coloring, start with 1/4-1/2 teaspoon.
  4. To the buttermilk and food coloring mixture, add the oil, egg, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar. Whisk until combined.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and pour in the hot coffee. Whisk until a thin, smooth batter forms.
  6. Divide the batter between the 12 liners, filling 2/3-3/4 of the way to the top. A large cookie scoop makes this easy.
  7. Bake for 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist (but not wet) crumbs. Set the pan over a wire rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan and allow them to cool completely to room temperature.

Make the Frosting & Decorate:

  1. Add the cream cheese and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whip on high speed for 3-5 minutes or until the mixture is smooth. Add the lemon juice and vanilla and whip for 1 more minute.
  2. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low. Slowly pour in the heavy cream to the cream cheese mixture as it whips. Once most of the cream has been incorporated, increase the speed to high and whip until the mixture is stiff. Don't over whip or it will curdle. Make sure to scrape down the bottom of the bowl as needed to fully incorporate the cream cheese mixture with the heavy cream.
  3. Decorate the cupcakes with frosting as desired. I piped tall swirls on the pictured cupcakes using 18-inch disposable piping bags and a Wilton 1M tip. You can also simply swirl the frosting on with a knife.
  4. Top the cupcakes with sprinkles or red velvet cake crumbs as desired to decorate.

Notes

  • Quickly bring ingredients to room temp: Microwave buttermilk in 5-10 second increments. Place egg in a bowl with warm water for 10 minutes.
  • In a pinch, you can substitute the buttermilk with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, but I highly recommend using buttermilk for the ideal "red velvet" flavor.
  • I recommend using powdered food coloring over gel or liquid. More info about that in the blog post above.

Nutrition

Keywords: red velvet cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, whipped cream cheese frosting, moist red velvet cupcakes, easy

Find it online: https://treatsbytalija.com/red-velvet-cupcakes/