The PERFECT Red Velvet Cupcake recipe. This recipe has been carefully engineered for soft, moist, fluffy, yet sturdy cupcakes that won’t fall apart when you take them out of their liners. Buttery cupcakes with a subtle chocolate flavor! I’ve included plenty of tips and a how-to video!
As I promised when I shared my red velvet cake recipe earlier this week, I have a perfect red velvet cupcake recipe to share with you today.
While I know the temptation is real to just pour the cake batter from my first recipe into cupcake tins and bake away, unfortunately I found that work out quite as well as I’d hoped. Sure, the cupcakes my cake batter made were tasty, but they rose flat (great for cake, not for cupcakes) were a bit too delicate, a bit too moist for the paper liners, and they fell apart (not in a dry, crumbly way, but in a soft, velvety way) and needed to be eaten with a fork.
A fork kind of defeats the purpose of a cupcake, doesn’t it? With hopes of a perfectly domed, fluffy, and flavorful cupcake in mind, I went back to the drawing board and made a few tweaks to make the perfect red velvet cupcake. Similar to my cake recipe, but different, each is designed for a specific purpose (this is the same reason I have separate recipes for carrot cake and carrot cake cupcakes!).
The Difference in My Cake and Cupcake Recipe
My red velvet cupcake recipe uses more granulated sugar and less brown sugar and I’ve also eliminated the additional egg yolk that the cake used. These changes help keep the cupcakes from being quite so tender and rich and helps prevent them from clinging to their liners. It also doesn’t weigh the crumb down so much, which helps the tops to dome nicely.
I also used a touch more flour in this recipe, which contributes to the cupcakes’ sturdiness, and slightly more cocoa powder (you can decrease the amount to 1 1/2 Tablespoons if you want the exact same chocolate flavor). You might also notice that I wrote this recipe using whole milk and vinegar rather than buttermilk. By doing this I opt to essentially make my own buttermilk. All things considered, it’s a bit less vinegar than I use in my cake recipe, but I found it works best here and this version got the highest ratings from my taste testers.
This red velvet cupcake recipe also makes approximately half the batter that my cake does so you get an even dozen cupcakes. It may easily be doubled or even tripled.
What do Red Velvet Cupcakes Taste Like?
Just as with the cake version, red velvet cupcakes have a subtle chocolate flavor, slight buttery undertones, and a very faint acidic tang that lingers. The cupcakes have a plush texture, but the crumb itself isn’t significantly different from many other cupcakes you might have tried.
Icing Options
I paired my red velvet cupcakes with ermine frosting (a classic choice). If you’re using this frosting, keep in mind you need to make a roux (it’s easy and I walk you through the steps!) which will need to cool, so I recommend making this before beginning your cupcakes so it’s ready by the time they’ve cooled.
Here are a few other great options:
- Cream cheese frosting (👈🏻 another classic option, this is tied for first choice with the ermine!)
- Swiss meringue buttercream
- Buttercream frosting
- Cookie dough frosting (if you want to be a little different and extra decadent)
Storing Red Velvet Cupcakes
Store these cupcakes in an airtight container. They’ll keep at room temperature for up to two days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week (keep in mind the refrigerator has a tendency to dry out cupcakes!). You can also freeze for several months.
Tips for Perfect Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Do not overfill the cupcake liners! Don’t fill higher than 3/4 of the way full (this is important, I stress this same thing with my chocolate cupcakes!). If you have excess batter, discard it. If you overfill your liners the cupcakes tend to overflow and then actually cave in on themselves.
- I recommend gel food coloring, you don’t need much and it produces a vibrant color. Alternatively liquid food coloring will work, use 1 oz of red food coloring.
- You could leave out the food coloring, but I swear the cupcakes just don’t taste as good (coming from someone who does not love using food coloring!). They will be a light brown/slightly reddish color. You really need food coloring for true red velvet cupcakes.
- Make sure to measure your flour properly!
- While with many cake recipes you have to worry about over-mixing the batter, it’s actually easier to under-mix this one. While over-mixing is possible here, because we’re not exactly using the traditional creaming method that I often use, it’s much less likely to happen. Make sure you combine your ingredients very well and have a smooth batter before you divide it into your cupcake liners.
- This recipe may be doubled or tripled for more cupcakes.
More Recipes You Might Like:
- Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vanilla Cupcakes
- Black Bottom Cupcakes (another old-fashioned favorite!)
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Don’t forget to watch the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
Red Velvet Cupcakes (Soft, Sturdy, Domed Cupcakes!)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup whole milk 177ml
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 3/4 teaspoon red gel food coloring (I use Americolor "red red" or "super red"
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (155g) I don't recommend substituting cake flour or any other flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar 150g
- ¼ cup light brown sugar firmly packed (50g)
- 2 Tablespoons natural cocoa powder 12g
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup canola oil may substitute vegetable oil or another neutral oil (60ml)
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 batch Ermine frosting (click the link for the recipe, or scroll down to the notes section for some other frosting recommendations)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F (175C) and line a 12 count cupcake tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- Combine milk, vinegar, and food coloring in a large measuring cup, stir together and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until well-combined.
- Add melted butter and oil and stir well, until ingredients are well-combined (the mixture will be thick).
- Add egg and vanilla extract and stir until combined.
- Gradually add the milk mixture and stir until all ingredients are combined and batter is smooth.
- Fill each cupcake liner ⅔ of the way full with batter, (do not overfill or cupcakes will collapse, if you have leftover batter discard it or bake separately). Transfer to 350F (175C) preheated oven and bake for 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs (not wet batter). Allow to cool for 10 minutes in cupcake pan then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Notes
Other Frosting Recommendations:
Ermine frosting is the traditional, old-fashioned frosting used with red velvet cake/cupcakes, but here are a few other favorites:- Cream cheese frosting (this has recently become a popular choice to pair with red velvet cake)
- Chocolate cream cheese frosting
- Swiss meringue buttercream
- American buttercream
- See my full frosting library
Nutrition
Zoë says
Hi. Could I substitute the baking soda for baking powder and the butter for margarine. Thanks
Sam says
Hi Zoe! Baking soda will not work for baking powder. The margarine should work. 🙂
Liz says
Hi Sam,
For the vinegar, are we to use white distilled or white wine vinegar? Thanks in advance!
Sam says
Hi Liz! You should just use the distilled white vinegar. 🙂
Sanika says
Thank you so much for this recipe…I’ve tried baking cakes but not even one of them turned okay they all have some kind of problem but thanks to you My red velvet cupcakes turned out better than the cakes I bake
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Sanika! 🙂
Anna says
Hi! So my mom bought 6 inch pans, but they are litterally maybe a centimeter or two tall. I want to make a very small cake for my little sisters birthday, so I like how this recipe is half of the cake one, could I use this cupcake recipe to make a multiple layer 6 inch cake? I also love how this recipe technically doesn’t use buttermilk! There is seriously no other recipes that doesn’t, which proves how awesome your recipes are! 😀
Sam says
Hi Anna! If they are only a centimeter or two tall I wouldn’t recommend trying to bake a cake layer in them. The layers would turn out almost papery thin. I haven’t seen a dish that shallow. That’s interesting. I am so glad you have enjoyed everything so much. 🙂
Anna says
Yes lol I didn’t even know they were cake pans. They were from a ‘kit’ at michaels and we’re supposed to be used to make a smash cake for one baby 😂
Sam says
That’s interesting. I would not think a cake pan would be that thin.
Annabel says
Came out delicious! I buttered muffin tins but may have not done it enough bc one broke when removing, so I got to taste test 🙂 haven’t tried the actual cupcake yet but from the small piece I took, these are so moist and delicious 😀
Sam says
That’s awesome! It’s really a shame one broke and you had to test it! 🤣
Valerie says
Delicious! My son asked for red velvet cupcakes for his birthday. You’ve become one of my go-to websites for recipes. Thanks for posting this one at the perfect time!
Sam says
Thank you so much, Valerie! I am so glad you have enjoyed everything so much. 🙂
Morgana says
Hi Sam!
I’m so glad you overcame your fear of red velvet cake and made this recipe. I was originally just going to make your red velvet cake recipe and bake them as cupcakes. But then I saw this recipe and you said you tweaked the recipe to make the cake more stable. Is this going to change the flavour of the cake. Or will it taste the same as the actual cake recipe. And of it doesn’t taste the same as the cake which one is better?
Cheers!
Sam says
Hi Morgana! This recipe will taste pretty similar to the actual cake. It’s hard to choose a favorite here. It’s really about the texture. 🙂
Dawn says
Sam
I just read your Red Velvet cup cake recipe and can’t wait to try them
I believe your explanation with using cup cake paper you used left twice
When comparing the outcome of the cup cake papers.
Sam says
I can’t wait to hear how you liked the cupcakes! 🙂
Anna Patricia says
Hello it’s Anna.
Can I get tasty cupcakes if I eliminate the red colouring
Sam says
Hi Anna! You *could* and I talk about this both here in this post and in my red velvet cake post, but I recommend using it for true red velvet cupcakes.
Deedee says
Thank you so much, I can’t wait to bake this over the weekend. Question, I only have buttermilk, just so that I am clear, are you saying through your blog, that you used buttermilk with the additional vinegar and found it too tart. I am trying to figure out if I should or should not include the vinegar if I am using buttermilk only.
Thanks again.
Sam says
Hi Deedee! I would leave out the vinegar entirely (or if you want to add a bit I wouldn’t add more than half a teaspoon) and just use the buttermilk in place of the milk. I hope that helps but let me know if you have any other questions! I hope you love the cake!
Deedee says
OMG, I couldn’t wait. I don’t think I have made or tasted a more “moist” cake this year. I made a half batch today, and will make another one tomorrow. The color was perfect for me, all-purpose worked well (although I use cake flour mainly) for me too. The cuppies cooked well, not under cooked or over cooked, the batter was fluid, but not runny. I am going to try again tomorrow with the vinegar, either way it goes, thank you for all of your research on this, these cupcakes are going to be hard to beat.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂