Intimidated by baking, assembling, and decorating a homemade red velvet cake for Valentine’s Day? Give cupcakes a try instead!
As you probably know, I have already written about my husband’s family recipe for a gorgeous Red Velvet Cake. But when I noticed that lots of readers were asking questions about how to turn the cake recipe into a cupcake recipe, I decided it was time to give it a try myself!
At first I was going to try a version using less red food coloring than the cake recipe, but at the last minute I decided to stay true to the original. These aren’t pink, they aren’t reddish-brown, they are a dramatic RED, perfect for Valentine’s Day! And in addition to the beautiful color, these little cakes are light, tender, and downright delicious!
There are several different types of red velvet cake. Some are heavier on the chocolate flavor than others, some use less food coloring, and some use beets instead of artificial coloring. This one does not taste like a chocolate cake, although there is a subtle hint of cocoa. The flavor is unique and delicious, and I prefer it to the red velvet cakes that contain more cocoa powder. And as I’ve already mentioned, this cake recipe does not shy away from the food coloring!
Although red velvet cake is definitely a Southern tradition, it’s popularity has never been limited to the South. The recipe I’m going to share today is also called Waldorf-Astoria Cake, and is supposedly based on a red velvet cake that was popular at the New York hotel in the 1920’s. For more on the history of red velvet cake, check out this great New York Times article.
But regardless of where the cake originated, red velvet cakes and cupcakes have become an American tradition that is holding on strong. Whether it’s Christmas, Valentine’s Day, a birthday, or even a wedding day, red velvet is a wonderful way to celebrate!
Red Velvet Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Yes, it will fizz! Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake cups with cake batter (they should be 2/3 – 3/4 full). You may not fill all the cups, I ended up with 20 cupcakes. Place muffin tins on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check early and don’t overbake!
5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting. Frost cupcakes with cream cheese icing (recipe below) and decorate with red sprinkles if desired. The cupcakes above were decorated using the Wilton Cupcake Decorating Kit and Valentine’s Sprinkles. They can usually be found at craft stores like Michaels or Joann.
6. Enjoy the cupcakes with those you love!
Recipe Notes: *Sift cake flour once before measuring, then sift again with the other dry ingredients per recipe instructions. Wear an apron and be careful with the red food coloring–no matter how hard I try, I always end up staining something! As you’re mixing the cake batter, use a spatula to scrape down the bowl frequently throughout the entire process. Since the batter is fairly thick, I have found that an old-fashioned ice cream scoop works best for filling the cupcake wells (also great for muffin batter!). Since all ovens are different, make sure you check the cupcakes a little early. Mine were ready in just over 2o minutes, yours may be done sooner, or they may take a minute or two longer.
Cream Cheese Frosting
16 oz. cream cheese (2 packages), softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Turn mixer to low speed and blend in powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. If refrigerated, the frosting will need to be brought to room temperature before using (after frosting softens up, beat with mixer until smooth).
Recipe Notes: If you prefer a sweeter and/or stiffer frosting, more powdered sugar can be added (up to four cups). But remember, the more sugar you add, the less you’ll be able to taste the tangy cream cheese!
Related Recipes:
- Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
- Double Dark Chocolate Beet Muffins
- Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
Around the Web:
- Red Velvet Cake from Smitten Kitchen
- Red Velvet Cupcakes from Firefly Pie
- Red Velvet Cupcakes with Sprinkles Cream Cheese Frosting from Alice Q. Foodie
- Red Velvet Cupcakes from Off the (meat)hook
- Red Velvet Black and White Cookies from Joy the Baker
[...] Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting [...]
12:20 pm Feb 4th, 2009Beautiful cupcakes! These are surely on my short list for our Valentine’s night dessert.
12:35 pm Feb 4th, 2009This is an awesome idea for Valentines day. Maybe I’ll make some to surprise the girlfriend. I tried a red velvet cake a few weeks ago and I found it helpful to measure the flour by weight instead of by volume, that way you only need to sift once and can be exact.
Cupcakes look awesome!
12:37 pm Feb 4th, 2009Nick
Macheesmo
I’m thoroughly jealous. I wish I had one of those cupcakes sitting on my table. It’d be gone in seconds!
12:38 pm Feb 4th, 2009It looks amazing!! Did you ever check out my red velvet cake? its on the blog. I had to gag though when you mentioned beets in a cake.. I loathe beets..
12:46 pm Feb 4th, 2009I’m planning to do a (gluten-free) red velvet cupcake for a valentines day post- this is great inspiration! I’ll probably do a beet version. It sounds good to me and I already have beets in my fridge, perfect for dye. I am reassured that these cupcakes don’t have to taste strongly of chocolate as I’m not that crazy about chocolate cake… Great post all around!
-Sea
1:14 pm Feb 4th, 2009I love red velvet cake. This cupcake looks so good right
1:17 pm Feb 4th, 2009So nice and red and wonderful! I think I may have to make these for my husband for Valentine’s Day. Let’s be real – I’ll be making them mainly for me
1:43 pm Feb 4th, 2009Jamie: Thanks! I say make them for Valentine’s Day breakfast
How’d your cake come out?
1:58 pm Feb 4th, 2009Nick: You’re right, it’s always best to measure flour by weight when baking. But since most Americans are used to measuring only by volume, I’ve always written my recipes this way.
Recipe Girl: I know, I ate way too many myself on Superbowl Sunday!
Alyce: Yes, your 7-layer cake is absolutely beautiful! I made chocolate muffins with beet puree and they were really good (didn’t taste like beets at all)!
Seamaiden: I’m thinking about trying a new version of Red Velvet Cupcakes using beets, just because I’m curious about it. I made Beet Chocolate Muffins a couple years ago and they were great! The link for them is at the bottom of the post if you want to check them out.
Ben: You’re not the only one!
Panini Kathy: There’s nothing wrong with making something special for yourself for Valentine’s Day (or any day for that matter)! And even better if your husband likes them too
This is hilarious: I was at the grocery store to get the ingredients to make your Chocolate Stout cupcakes when I suddenly remembered reading your Red Velvet cake recipe and I decided to make that instead. But I still wanted to do cupcakes, and when I got home and checked your website – voila! You’ve just put up a recipe for red velvet cupcakes! Amazing! I’m so excited to try these.
2:10 pm Feb 4th, 2009Christine: That’s awesome, what a great story! So glad I got it posted at the right time
2:27 pm Feb 4th, 2009Wow, beets in red velvet cupcakes! I love beets so that would be so fun, that is if I ever have leftover beets. Love the photo too and the little sprinkles are so pretty. great for Valentine’s day.
3:04 pm Feb 4th, 2009Oh RV’s are the best. It’s all about the icing really, but it’s definitely that hint of cocoa you taste!
3:56 pm Feb 4th, 2009These look OUTSTANDING!! I can’t wait to try them!
5:18 pm Feb 4th, 2009I loved the last picture, so cute!
5:41 pm Feb 4th, 2009Looks awesome! One thing though—how many eggs??!!
8:42 pm Feb 4th, 2009Emma said she wants Nicole to make these for her when she come to visit you in April. Okay….it was me. LOL
9:38 pm Feb 4th, 2009These not only look pretty, they also look pretty yummy!!!
I think we’d have a lot of those empty wrappers in our house! I’d love to make this for my hubby on Valentine’s day. Just need to make sure I don’t spill any of that red food coloring…I’m a kitchen klutz.
10:24 pm Feb 4th, 2009I love cupcakes and I don’t make them very often. These look delicious.
10:26 pm Feb 4th, 2009I was planning to make red velvet cupcakes for Valentine’s Day! This recipe looks great; I will have to compare yours to the other recipes I was looking at.
The color of your cupcakes are great. There does seem to be more dye in your recipe than others I’ve seen but I love the look of yours.
7:48 am Feb 5th, 2009Thank you SO MUCH for posting this! I have been looking high & low for a tried & true recipe… the RV Cake is so ambiguous! I had no idea. Thanks for all the honest pointers & awesome pictures, too!
11:41 am Feb 5th, 2009Do the cupcakes have to be refrigerated after decorating with the cream cheese frosting or can you leave them at room temperature?
2:09 pm Feb 5th, 2009Erin C Two eggs, at room temperature (it’s on the list)
5:44 pm Feb 5th, 2009Sara: If you google “Waldorf-Astoria Cake” you’ll find lots of recipes with this amount of red food coloring. Many of the newer recipes have reduced the amount. I agree that it’s a lot, but we don’t eat these very often so I don’t worry too much about it. I just love the color of the finished cake/cupcakes!
Kristy: I hate refrigerated cakes/cupcakes so I don’t frost them until the day they will be eaten. You can make the cupcakes a day ahead of time and store them in an airtight container and then frost them the next day if necessary. I think they are fine left at room temperature for a day, but if you have leftover frosted cupcakes, you should probably refrigerate them. If you do have to refrigerate them, let them come back to room temperature before eating or the cake texture will seem terrible.
Yum! I think I might make some of these for Valentine’s Day. I actually tried the Sprinkles mix a few weeks ago. It’s not cheap at $14. and it basically just consists of the dry ingredients – you still have to add the butter, eggs and vinegar – and you have to make your own frosting. It was fun to try though, and they did come out just like the ones at the store!
7:32 pm Feb 5th, 2009Beautiful cupcakes — so perfect for Valentine’s Day!
7:32 pm Feb 5th, 2009Sooooo yummy. I love cupcakes and the sprinkles are a perfect touch.
8:14 am Feb 6th, 2009These look delicious! Even though I recently made vanilla cupcakes, I just might have to make these next week…
1:16 pm Feb 6th, 2009I love red velvet cake, but I’ve never had it as a cupcake! What a sweet idea for Valentines!
7:33 pm Feb 6th, 2009I’m about to make these right now, for tea time. It will be a welcome break from essay writing : ) AND I just got the Wilton Cupcake Decorating Kit for Christmas! Wahoo!
9:27 am Feb 7th, 2009p.s. – so i just made them – don’t know what i did wrong but they were sort of dry & dense. i didn’t have buttermilk (they don’t sell it in the UK) – so i just mixed some plain yogurt and milk – maybe that’s why? but one thing’s certain – they look pretty and were still quite tasty! i wish there was a feature on this site so everyone could upload the pictures of the food they’re making!
1:51 pm Feb 7th, 2009OH! These are just lovely.
5:29 pm Feb 7th, 2009As always, your photos are gorgeous enough to eat! I’m almost embarassed to say I’ve never made red velvet cake— although these are all the inspiration i need to get moving on it!
5:06 pm Feb 8th, 2009Ahh, thank you for posting this! I’ll have to try this for Valentine’s day… Red Velvet cupcakes are just so delicious
3:47 am Feb 9th, 2009Wow!! Just finished making these and they are just divine. I didn’t have any red food colouring so I used double dose of pink. They came out a gorgeous crimson colour and they taste divine. Thanks for the recipe.
6:54 pm Feb 9th, 2009I’ve tried your earlier recipe and I made red velvet cupcake with that recipe (with less time baking). It went find, although, I only used about 2 tsp. of food coloring. The cake was red and we can feel food coloring in our mouth (maybe it’s difference between Thai’s food coloring and US’, I have no clue on that)
I love the color but I’m stuck with the problem that nobody in my family will eat them. They’re all afraid of toxic. sob :’(
4:02 am Feb 10th, 2009They look awesome! you used unsalted butter for both cupcakes and frosting ya?
12:04 pm Feb 10th, 2009thanks alot!!
Sameera: Yes, I use unsalted butter in frosting too, although you could use salted butter and omit the extra pinch of salt. Thanks for pointing out that I hadn’t specified! I’ll edit it now.
1:32 pm Feb 10th, 2009red food coloring is bad for kids, I would never feed that much coloring to mine.
3:48 pm Feb 10th, 2009Thanks for the valentine’s day inspiration. These look wonderful! I am going to make these for my sweetie.
7:29 pm Feb 10th, 2009[...] are a few recipes out there for red velvet that I want to try but I found this one in Feb’s Runner’s [...]
8:39 am Feb 11th, 2009[...] Bonus Recipe: Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting – Nicole from Pinch My Salt shares the recipe for these bright red cupcakes perfect for baking for [...]
11:05 am Feb 12th, 2009I love Red Velvet and made these cupcakes for my Valentine but they turned out dry and dense. I baked another batch, doubling the butter and alternately folding instead of beating in the flour and buttermilk and they came out delicious!
12:08 pm Feb 12th, 2009I also doubled the cocoa to suit my taste, and used only 2 tablespoons of red food coloring which worked out just fine.
I’ve tried lots of red velvet recipes including the more natural beet versions which tasted deliciously earthy and were super moist but without the trademark artificial hue.
I know a lot of Red Velvet recipes call for lard – has anyone tried it?
[...] reminded of my red velvet fascincation when I saw Nicole’s recipe for red velvet cupcakes on Pinch My Salt, and I decided to revisit this dessert. Terri’s recipe reviews were mixed; some thought the [...]
2:40 pm Feb 12th, 2009I have gel food coloring, not liquid. Any idea how much I’d need to use? Thanks! Your pictures are great!
3:04 pm Feb 12th, 2009Wow, these look truly amazing. I really want to make them but my kitchen has just been painted and the decorators have warned me not to touch a thing!!
Quick question though…is powdered sugar the same as icing sugar?
6:05 am Feb 13th, 2009Oh, quick one for the UK mention about lack of buttermilk. I have found it in the past in larger Tesco stores in the milk section. Alternatively I think you can use a combination of skimmed milk and natural yoghurt…
6:08 am Feb 13th, 2009[...] Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (receipe and photography from Nicole at Pinch my Salt) [...]
10:35 am Feb 13th, 2009Just got finished making these for my hubby for V-day! Thanks so much for this recipe! They taste great! I hope he likes them. I am sure that he will.
4:32 pm Feb 13th, 2009[...] recipe i used was from Pinch my salt. The only changes i made to the recipe was i added more cocoa and vanilla. This recipe made approx [...]
10:47 pm Feb 13th, 2009I made these today and they are delicious! I followed the recipe and ended up with 3 dozen cupcakes and they were done baking in 13-15 minutes. I think next time I’m going to add less food coloring, but overall they taste great!
12:32 am Feb 14th, 2009[...] encountered it much. I’d seen recipes around online and was intrigued, but finally seeing Pinch my Salt’s beautiful red velvet cupcake decided it. I had to make a recipe for this Valentine’s Day. First I wanted to find out more [...]
11:46 am Feb 14th, 2009I made these today with great success! I halved the recipe since it’s just the two of us (although my 15 mo old did manage to score one as well
) and yielded 9 beautiful RED cupcakes. My husband especially enjoyed the frosting. This is definitely a keeper – thanks, Nicole!
9:30 pm Feb 14th, 2009Made these yesterday. I am NOT a baker but these turned out great. By the way, you can add the eggs and the vanilla after you put them in the oven to cook. I told you I wasn’t a baker. Totally forgot the eggs, had set them by the stove to get to room temp, and having such fun with red batter…completely forgot them. Put the cupcakes in the oven, shut the door, stood up and saw the eggs. So, opened the door, scraped all the batter back into bowl and beat the you know what out of the eggs in to the batter added the vanilla and put back in pan and back in oven. And the icing was divine as well! They were a huge hit!
10:24 am Feb 15th, 2009Yum yum yum!! I love those multicolored sprinkles!
10:10 am Feb 17th, 2009I thought these might be fun to make for my 8 year old son’s class Valentine party. He came home to tell me that he was the only one to eat them. I guess the other kids were a bit alarmed by the red color and most of the cupcakes ended up in the garbage although I guess the Dunkin’ Doughnut holes were a big hit! LOL what are we doing to our kids!
9:55 pm Feb 18th, 2009[...] Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting [...]
1:23 pm Feb 20th, 2009I’ve tried your Red Velvet Cupcake recipe – the cupcakes turned out wonderful! I did cut the recipe into half and that still yielded me 12 cupcakes! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe, I will be back for more recipes to try!
3:56 pm Feb 20th, 2009that cupcake is almost real size. that is wrong…so very wrong! i almost hurt my hand trying to put it into the computer screen.
9:43 am Feb 22nd, 2009This was delicious! I’m made these cupcakes a few times now and there is never any left overs. I did double the amount of coco powder since I perfer a more chocolate flavor. I did get food color on my fingers and if you wash your hands right away with hot water they will go away. If you wait to wash your hands, even 5 mins, they they are going to be red for a couple days. The second time I made a batch of these lovely cupcakes I wore gloves while mixing the food coloring with the coco powder.
9:59 am Mar 10th, 2009[...] This recipe was adapted (halved, actually) from one of my favorite food blogs, Pinch My Salt. The original is here; I’ve included the half-batch amounts in this [...]
1:25 pm Mar 10th, 2009[...] (and Mr Godfrey’s grandmother), are our extremely red velvet madeleines (based on a recipe by Pinch My Salt, except I converted her measurements into weights and used the batter to make about 40 [...]
7:19 am Mar 13th, 2009I made this recipe into one large cake for my husband to share with his unit. The marines LOVED it! I used only 1oz of food coloring, though, and it still came out red and beautiful. All of your recipes have been fabulous! I make your Creamy Guacamole all the time, and your Ultimate Manwich was a huge hit! You rock!
9:50 am Mar 25th, 2009I have just made a batch of these and tried a red velvet cake for the first time. It tasted really good, and I haven’t got round to icing them yet! Thanks for the recipe and the pictures look fab-they’re the reason I tried making these in the first place!
8:43 am Mar 28th, 2009[...] Red Velvet Cupcakes – Nicole, who runs one of my favorite blogs, has been on a bit of a hiatus lately, but came back with a bang with these guys. Beautiful and perfect for the upcoming lover’s day. (@ Pinch My Salt) [...]
10:07 pm Mar 30th, 2009[...] what did I do with my extra time this evening? I make red velvet cupcakes! I used this recipe and it was a nice way to end a frying marathon. Many thanks to PinchMySalt for this [...]
11:18 pm Apr 20th, 2009I posted a very similar recipe yesterday I saw Bobby Flay make recently…is your batter as thin as mine was? Yours look beautiful!
12:21 pm Apr 21st, 2009I love it! Looks absolutely delicious! I will try your recipe this weekend so I can bake it perfectly for Mother’s Day! I do hope they will taste good on the first try, considering this will be my first “bake from scratch,” and not “Betty Crocker box.” Wish me luck!
12:14 pm Apr 28th, 2009Perfection!! I’ve made these a handful of times and they’re always moist, really red and delicious! Great recipe:-) It’s really important to keep buttermilk and eggs at room temp. I learned that the hard way.
2:20 pm May 4th, 2009wonderful! i’m new to baking and especially using food dyes, so i wasn’t sure what type to use (gel/liquid/soft gel). i didn’t have enough of the liquid or the gel, so i used 1/4 oz liquid + 1 3/4 oz water plus half of a container of gel food dye to get what i thought might give me red velvet cupcakes. i ended up with hot pink velvet cupcakes! they taste great, nonetheless, and in the future i will use 2 oz gel food dye. it just seemed like an awful lot of dye at the time! made them for my little sister’s 21st birthday
thanks for the recipe!
oh and for anyone who was wondering, ap flour is a fine substitute for cake flour if you can’t find it!
11:47 pm May 21st, 2009thanks so much for this recipe! i’m a real beginner baker but these cupcakes turned out perfectly! i especially love the creamcheese frosting
11:15 pm May 28th, 2009oh my godddd. thank u so much for putting this up!!!!!!!!!!! i love baking……i had tried this at a local southern bbq restraunt and fell in love…so i made the cake using your recipe a few months ago.
9:05 am Jun 1st, 2009now everyone at work wants to try! so i decided cupcakes would be easier for transport.
and sure enough!!! your recipe was the first one i clicked on! thank u so much!
I made a red velvet cake this weekend using this recipe http://www.howcast.com/videos/139827-How-To-Make-Red-Velvet-Cake and it turned out absolutely gorgeous. It was bright red and I used a combination of beet juice and food coloring. I think i’m going to try and make the cake into cup cakes the next time though and maybe make them for valentines day next year!!
1:52 pm Jun 9th, 2009I made this recipe today for my kids’ birthday (they turned 1 and 2) party today. Those were the best muffins I have ever had! I had never had red velvet cake before, so I can’t compare, but these were seriously moist, delicious in flavor and I loved that as subtle the cocoa was, you could still taste it at the end of the bite, which made it completely decadent. The cream cheese frosting was perfect as is, just tangy enough and sweet enough.
Thank you so much for this recipe, that I will definately be keeping in my favorites for years to come!
3:45 pm Jun 13th, 2009[...] here: http://pinchmysalt.com/2009/02/04/red-velvet-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-frosting-recipe/ No Comments [...]
8:20 pm Jun 14th, 2009[...] reminded of my red velvet fascincation when I saw Nicole’s recipe for red velvet cupcakes on Pinch My Salt, and I decided to revisit this dessert. Terri’s recipe reviews were mixed; some thought the [...]
9:23 am Jun 15th, 2009[...] Cream Cheese Frosting (My new favorite!!) Source: Pinch My Salt [...]
10:03 pm Jun 22nd, 2009[...] buttercream frosting, I wanted to try something different with a cream cheese frosting adapted from Pinch My Salt. I’m pleased to say that the combination works well – the richness of the cake blends [...]
5:08 am Jun 23rd, 2009[...] Cream Cheese Frosting Source: Pinch My Salt [...]
10:07 pm Jun 29th, 2009I’ve got to say these cupcakes are delicious. Thanks for sharing and I recommend everyone to try it.
2:48 pm Jul 4th, 2009I made the red velvet cupcakes today because I always wanted to try this recipe. My husband said they were delicious but expected them to be moister … he said they were a bit spongey. I never had red velvet cake before (i’m Jamaican) so I didn’t know what to compare them too.. Did I do something wrong? Is that suppose to be he texture? Spongey or really moist?
9:11 pm Jul 9th, 2009Stacey: Some red velvet recipes are very very high in oil, which makes them very moist, but also heavy. This recipe is more traditional, and I guess it might be a bit spongy in texture. But the cupcakes are generally very tender without being heavy or oily. Perhaps they got baked just a few minutes too long, or it may be that your husband is used to a different type of recipe.
11:15 am Jul 11th, 2009I found your recipe for Red Velvet cupcakes by doing a google search and made them last night! They were so delish! I even blogged about them today on my blog!
10:03 am Jul 27th, 2009I made these tonight for a bbq tomorrow and they are pure heaven
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. The color, flavor and texture were just perfect.
9:35 pm Aug 12th, 2009Thank you so much for inspiring me to make cupcakes for the first time! I made a big batch today to celebrate the season premier of Mad Men–I thought it was the most appropriate dessert for our 60s-themed party. Can’t wait to post about it!
5:22 pm Aug 16th, 2009I’m going to make a pull apart cake made of red velvet cupcakes!!!
2:59 pm Aug 18th, 2009pull apart cakes are cupcakes iced together. for my 12 birthday this is what I’ll have red velvet pull apart cake and Vanilla Ice cream! sound good??
email me at maryclairemccabe@gmail.com
i sure hope this is a good recipe!!!!
i just made this and they are ssoooo good thanks for this amazing cupcake recipe… am from dominican republic soo am pretty sure that am going to make an statement here because its that common a cupcake like this one!!!
1:06 pm Aug 19th, 2009Hey, just a quick question. My cream cheese frostings ALWAYS turn out runny. How do I get them stiffer? I keep adding more powdered sugar and nothing happens…
1:59 am Aug 20th, 2009put in in the fridge for about 5 minutes that should make it stiffer
10:45 am Aug 21st, 2009Thaanks a lot for this great recipe! I baked those cupcakes twice but. Dunno why they are inconsistent and collapse until I put them under the a/c? Also this time it wasn’t fluffy like last tme
4:14 pm Sep 4th, 2009One more thing nicole! I dunno why it burns from down? Please help!
4:31 pm Sep 4th, 2009Thanks for recipe & tips.
12:18 pm Sep 7th, 2009I managed not to stain anything even w/o an apron, which is a miracle for me!
They taste sooooo yummy.
I must have a teeny muffin tins as I got 30. Very dangerous!
Thankyou so much for this recipe. They are the most beautiful red velvet cupcakes I have ever made. I threw my other recipes out.
11:35 am Sep 18th, 2009these are delicious cupcakes they are good for making cupcake cakes
3:26 pm Sep 18th, 2009u kno the ones were it looks like a cake but its cupcakes!
amazing recipe!!
[...] Since I got the red-velvet part down, next time I am going to make a cream-cheese frosting from scratch but I need an easy to follow, yet yummy recipe! I think I will try out this one from pinchmysalt.com: [...]
3:17 pm Sep 29th, 2009Hey!
Thanks for the recipe! I have tried several but this one captured my attention due to excellant presentation skills!
I tried your recipe and followed it down to a T!!!! but my cupcakes came out concave and although I put in the whole 2oz of food colouring it came out burgunday rather than red?? :0( is there a reason for that??? what am I doing wrong??
P.S: for those in the UK, Sainsburys and Waitrose sell buttermilk-even their small stores!
7:12 am Oct 9th, 2009I just made a half batch of these for the first time with your recipe using regular cupcake size instead of muffin size and they came out really well! It has a dense semi-sweet consistency that I really like and because the cupcake by itself it not too sweet, it should be perfect with the frosting (haven’t tried the frosting yet)
I also folded the flour and buttermilk together as someone else as suggested and I think this helped. But I would like the center to be somewhat more moist. Anyone have suggestions for how to do this? I don’t want to undercook it. There seems to be a fine line between gookiness and being overcooked. Will more butter help?
2:09 am Nov 10th, 2009Dear christna.. Recipes that calls for vegtable oil and water turns out to be more moist!
2:17 am Nov 10th, 2009I just made these, following the recipe exactly, and they came out perfectly – fluffy and moist. I made the frosting as well, using just 2 cups of the sugar since I tend to like it a little less sweet.
6:11 pm Nov 10th, 2009Oh my goodness! These cupcakes are to die for! Perfect cake and icing recipe!
6:47 am Nov 19th, 2009[...] Cream Cheese Frosting Source: Pinch My Salt [...]
9:49 am Nov 24th, 2009[...] *Recipe courtesy of Pinch My Salt [...]
5:11 am Dec 1st, 2009The cream cheese frosting is my absolute favorite! It has been a long time since I found a perfect recipe, but this is it for sure. LOVE THIS!
6:26 pm Jan 1st, 2010-Sylvia
Seiko Space Walk Watches
[...] Recipe from Pinchmysalt [...]
8:11 pm Jan 7th, 2010Made these for my work christmas party and they were fantastic! Thank you for your recipe!
http://fizzleout.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/red-velvet-christmas-cupcakes/
8:11 pm Jan 7th, 2010I absolutely loved your recipe! I made a dozen to give as a gift over the holidays, and they turned out fantastic. Thank you!
http://cloudywithachance.vox.com/library/post/the-best-red-velvet-cupcake-recipe-ever-a-picture-recipe.html
4:55 pm Jan 10th, 2010I love your Red Velvet posts and I’m going to try one of them this Valentine. This may not be essential to the recipe but may I know the size of your muffin cups? I have 3 muffin trays and each one is a different size! Thanks!
5:30 pm Jan 21st, 2010KY: They are standard muffin cups…not jumbo or mini…12 cups to pan!
6:22 pm Jan 21st, 2010I definitely want to try out this recipe but I have one question: for the cocoa, do you use 2 level tablespoons or heaping ones?
1:25 pm Jan 23rd, 2010[...] a vanilla flavor, so my palate was constantly searching for some kind of familiarity. So, using a highly recommended recipe I found from Pinch My Salt, I followed the instructions exactly except for adding to the already [...]
10:25 pm Jan 25th, 2010I have tried several red velvet cupcake recipes on the internet and this one is the BEST. I only used 1oz (1 container) food coloring and the cakes still came out as red as the photo. Also, the cakes were extremely moist…I even ‘overcooked’ one pan by 3 or so minutes but they were still super moist compared to other recipes.
Thank you!
9:26 pm Jan 26th, 2010[...] are relatively easy to make and have a cheery, apropos color scheme. You can find a good recipe at Pinch My Salt. If you want to make her squeal, try rummaging around for a mini-muffin baking pan. Girls love [...]
1:49 pm Jan 28th, 2010Just made these cupcakes, and they were delicious! I definitely recommend the cream cheese frosting. I also added some chocolate curls on top for show. Thanks for the recipe!
7:20 pm Feb 1st, 2010Thanks for your very scrumptious site!
12:21 am Feb 3rd, 2010Silver Bells are ringing, Do you hear what I hear?
What is it all about without sweet love?
redicecreations.com/winterwonderland/meroveredragon.html
Worth several very careful listens; also you may wish to look to his photo at end of page; you know him don’t you?
[...] Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting: Cliché, I know, but they are so good that I don’t care. It makes me a little sick to put so [...]
9:43 am Feb 5th, 2010[...] scouring the internet, I found a seemingly delicious recipe for red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. While I may not be a cake fan, I do like some good frosting and this seemed like a winner. If [...]
9:05 am Feb 9th, 2010Thanks for the recipe, they turned out great.
11:32 am Feb 10th, 2010I’m not sure why some fellow UK residents are having trouble finding buttermilk. Every supermarket I know stocks it. As do most small local shops..
[...] recipe adapted from Tartelette and Pinch My Salt [...]
6:02 pm Feb 10th, 2010[...] Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe: At first I was going to try a version using less red food coloring than the cake recipe, but at the last minute I decided to stay true to the original. These aren’t pink, they aren’t reddish-brown, they are a dramatic RED, perfect for Valentine’s Day! And in addition to the beautiful color, these little cakes are light, tender, and downright delicious! Recipe from Pinch My Salt. [...]
11:39 am Feb 11th, 2010I tried a red velvet recipe earlier this week that was ok but not quite what I was looking for and definitely not spectacular enough to share with others! This recipe, however, turned out fantastic. The only change I made was halving the food coloring. I didn’t have (and didn’t want to spend the money) for two bottles of the stuff. They’re still a vibrant red color. Thank you for making me look like a pro!
9:18 pm Feb 11th, 2010[...] can find the original recipe here. This recipe can also be turned into a cake, which is also shown and beautifully photographed on [...]
12:16 pm Feb 14th, 2010[...] The recipe I used is one that comes highly recommended from a co-worker and can be found here. [...]
9:51 pm Feb 15th, 2010I have made your red velvet cake multiple times and it has turned out great (and delish!). Just this past week, I doubled the recipe to make both a cake and cupcakes. Once again the cake came out great, but the cupcakes fell flat in the middle. What did I do wrong? I googled why cupcakes fall and one possibility is that I over mixed. I did let the mixer run while I got the cupcake liners in the pan, but considering that the cake came out ok, I don’t really think that this would be the problem. I also filled the cupcakes 3/4 full (maybe that is too much?). Also, my 6 year old did open the oven when they were first put in, but like I have said before, the cake still came out ok. The cupcakes were put on the center rack (and only cooked for 20 min), while the cakes were on the bottom. The cupcakes still came out moist and tasted great, but were a little embarrasing when I brought them into work and it looked like someone sat on them! Anyone have any ideas of what I need to do next time to make them look like the pictures that are posted?
11:31 am Feb 28th, 2010What if I don’t have cake flour, do I still have to put 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour? Does it mean a different to add a vegatable oil into the cupcake?
8:43 am Mar 10th, 2010I just made a green version of this for St. Patrick’s Day! Can’t wait to eat them!!
11:40 am Mar 17th, 2010