Phenomenal Red Velvet Cupcakes
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If you were raised anything like I was, you’re scratching your head right now saying “Red Velvet cake in AUGUST?”.
Well yes, I know it seems odd. This wonderful cake is usually made around the holidays but since it’s gone mainstream I’ve seen red velvet everywhere all year long. From those fancy schmancy cupcake joints with the four inch high icing to frozen yogurt flavors and it’s even showing up in snack cakes! Still, I usually only made it around Christmastime at home out of well…habit, tradition…and a little bit of “well it never occured to me to make it any other time of year!”
This past weekend, though, my Katy Rose got her first ever taste of red velvet. Now y’all don’t go decrying my parenting skills over that, the child has had plenty of chances to try it but it was of her own accord that she chose not to eat the cake that looked like an animal had been slaughtered and stirred up into the cake batter. ~giggles~ You know, I think someone came up with that deep red color just to scare off the newbies so the diehards could have more for themselves!
So Katy Rose had Red Velvet – frozen yogurt. ~sighs~ I know, her first taste and it wasn’t even the cake!
Anywho, I’m not gonna split hairs because it was enough to get her hooked and when we were in the Opryland Hotel this past weekend she saw a Red Velvet cupcake in a bakery and just about had a dying duck fit wanting it.
I, being the loving mother that I am, refused to get it for her - because it was $6.50! I said “Katy Baby, you know we can make those at home, right?” She turned to me with eyes wide with wonder. “YOU know how to make RED VELVET?”
Honestly, somedays I wonder if my children have ever met their mother.
“Yes Baby, I know how to make Red Velvet. I’ve been making it since I was a little girl and I use a really old recipe that Grandmama taught me.”
Once I told her that we could make 18 of them for about the same price of that one, she was a happy camper and we went back to our fun day out while looking forward to a nice little baking session together later.
Now let me tell you something, I LOVE cake mixes and use them often. They are a lot of fun and a whole lot of convenience. HOWEVER, this from scratch red velvet cake is above and beyond anything a cake mix could possibly produce so make time for a few extra minutes of work because I promise it will be well worth it!
If you have my cookbook, you can find more on our Red Velvet Cake and what we do different from most people (and why) by reading page 170. If you don’t have my cookbook and want a copy of all the recipes I’d ever need if stranded on a deserted island with a fully stocked Southern Kitchen, as well as learning my childhood nickname and how my Papa Reed scared me to death when he was teaching me how to drive in Toney, Alabama: click here. I do tend to share a lot, don’t I?
Let’s get cookin’!
You’ll need: Baking Soda, Sugar, Salt, Eggs, Red Food Coloring, All Purpose Flour, Vegetable Oil, Buttermilk, Vinegar, Cocoa Powder, and some cupcake papers….
All of these ingredients are at the bottom of this post in the handy dandy printer friendly recipe thingiemawhosit so don’t go studying them here like there’s gonna be a test or something. 
Oh yeah, Vanilla. You gotta have that, too.
This is pure vanilla but don’t go thinking I’m getting all high falootin‘ because I’ll still buy the cheapest stuff I can get my hands on. When the cheap stuff is sold out (maybe because y’all are buying it too..~sniff~ I’m s’proud!) I end up having to buy higher end stuff.
So here is my snooty little vanilla ~rolls eyes at the vanilla~
Place your flour in a medium mixing bowl.
Add salt, bakin soda, and cocoa powder.
Stir it up and strike a really cute pose.
That is a butterfly temporary tattoo on my daughter’s cheek. Those things usually only stay on a day at best, but apparently this was a good one because it was with us for several days – nigh on a week!
Mildly interesting fact: I have no tattoos and won’t ever have tattoos. There is a simple reason for this : My Mama told me I couldn’t ever get any.
Some advice stays with you. This is also why I have never ridden a motorcycle. Mama said not to. I’m not missing out on anything though. I get my rebel jollies by eating raw cake batter and occasionally looking directly at the sun.
In a separate bowl, pour in buttermilk…
Add in Oil, Sugar, vinegar and eggs.
If you’ll notice in that previous picture I did use a Christmas patterned pyrex bowl.
It just felt odd not somehow incorporating Christmas into red velvet cake.
Stir that up really good.
Til it is kinda like this.
Now dump the liquid into a large mixing bowl and then dump your dry mixture on top of it.
It’s all in there, I promise.
Mix with an electric mixer until smooth and blended, about two minutes.
This is my Hamilton Beach Electrics Stand Mixer. The bowl on it is much wider than the bowl on a Kitchenaid mixer so you can easily add ingredients while it’s mixing without getting mess all over everything. I’ve turned the folks at Taste of the South onto these mixers, too, and they’re using them in their test kitchens now. Oh! Speaking of Taste of the South, the debut issue with my Southern Plate Suppers column will be on newsstands as early as next week! If you’ll nose around on this page a bit you’ll see an offer where you can get a subscription to the magazine for almost half price. Each issue will feature a new column from me and a complete supper menu of never before published recipes.
Here it is, all mixed up.
It isn’t really this dark but the sun refuses to bend itself and bounce across my kitchen in order to shine in this one little corner.
Stubborn sun.
This is Katy Rose, squeezing in an entire bottle of red food coloring.
Yes, you need a whole bottle, most recipes use two bottles!
Of course you can make this cake without the food coloring. Just like you can draw a unicorn without the horn, or have Santa Claus ride a bicycle instead of a magical flying sleigh..
@,@
You can do it, but it t’ain’t fittin’ and it t’ain’t right.
Here is our red food coloring and some of that uppity vanilla.
Notice how the vanilla is staying off in it’s own little corner as if it is too good to associate with the red food coloring. pfft!
Mix that up really well with the electric mixer again until it is deep red and fully blended.
BOOYAH!
Get something cute to put cupcake papers into two pans for ya
This will make about 18 or so.
Fill your cupcake papers about 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed with a finger in the center.
Allow to cool before icing.
I don’t have photos of the icing because Karo and I got a little involved in having fun and I set the camera down somewhere to enjoy the moment. I did use an icing bag with a 2D tip in it though. I just use an even pressure and outline the outside of the cupcake top, then continue circling around until I get to the center.
The recipe and instructions for icing are below though, and it’s really easy. you just dump everything in a bowl and beat the mess out of it until it’s smooth and creamy If you want to see how I make cream cheese icing, you can visit my Chocolate Velvet Cake Post for photos.
Don’t feel like you have to put the icing on pretty like I did here. My original goal was to pile it up really high like the ones Katy had saw in the Opryland Hotel but my icing kept wilting down..then it dawned on me that trying to have a stiff and full cream cheese icing in August, especially while decorating cupcakes in the sunroom, is not the easiest thing to do
Slather the icing on there with a knife and just don’t worry about it. ENJOY!
Ingredients
- 2 +1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1+1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1+1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ounce bottle red food coloring
- 8 ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter (or margarine), at room temperature
- 1 pound confectioner's sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, mix together sugar, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vinegar. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and beat on medium speed until well blended.
- Add vanilla and entire bottle of red food coloring to batter and mix again on low speed until well blended and uniform in color.
- Line 2 - 12 cup muffin tins with papers. Fill each paper about 3/4 full with batter. Will end up with 18-20 cupcakes.
- Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until center springs back when pressed lightly with finger. Allow to cool completely before icing.
- Cream together cream cheese and butter. Add sugar and vanilla and beat with electric mixer until smooth and creamy, scraping down sides as needed. Ice cooled cupcakes.
- Can be left at room temp but I love it refrigerated!
Print This Recipe
Oh wow! Here is a thought with an impact! Can you imagine?
“How would your life be different if…You walked away from gossip and verbal defamation? Let today be the day…You speak only the good you know of other people and encourage others to do the same.”
― Steve Maraboli
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Aug 14 2012. Filed under Cake, Dessert.
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O boy! Red velvet cupcakes! I have to make these for my little brother he loves red velvet! I made the pumpkin roll cupcakes today and they turned out great!!! Can you possibly post a recipe for peanut butter and jelly cupcakes????
[...] beautiful red velvet cupcake were made by Christy Jordan at SouthernPlate.com. She provides the recipe, a wonderfully detailed set of instructions, and pictures showing each [...]
Christy, you did it again! These are fantastic!! We are having a birthday party for our son who is turning 16 this weekend. He requested Red Velvet Cupcakes and I knew your recipes are ALWAYS phenominal, and these are nothing short of wonderful! Thank you for posting this incredible recipe. As always, thank you!
KARO~ THANK YOU for inspiring your momma! *Keep up the good work!*
How do you get the icing stiff?
Add a little more sugar as needed. Also, make sure your butter and cheese are room temp, but not melted. If your house is really hot, stick icing in fridge for a bit before using
Gratefully,
Christy
The cupcakes were a hit! I also made some chocolate cupcakes and used this same icing and added a few tablespoons of cocoa until I thought it had a nice chocolate flavor. My husband loved the chocolate version! Thanks so much for your recipe!
I am glad to hear that they were a hit Carmel!!!
I made these for work and they are all gone! Thank you for the great recipe.
I am so glad to hear they were a hit Laura!!
Christy,
I have so much fun reading your post, you are a great writer and you make me look forward to making your recipes!! I have recommended your website to several people. Thanks so much for passing on the joy!!
Karen
Oooh I’ll have to make these sometime! But I won’t add the food coloring (I know, ain’t right) since I’m not keen on consuming that much dye, and I’m not sure we have that much food coloring! I’m gonna be my mother’s favorite child when I make these!
I’ve been going through your site and saving a lot of recipes
I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes Sarah, I hope you get to try these soon!!
I made these cupcakes yesterday for my Mom’s birthday – they were fantastic. They were dense and delicate at the same time. This recipe is a 10, thanks so much for posting.
I am so glad to hear that you liked them Delaine!!! Hope your Mom had a fabulous birthday!!
Christy, what is the purpose of the vinegar in the recipe?
[...] 1/2/3/4/5/6 [...]
Can the cocoa powder be left out or substituted? reason: I do not eat chocolate.
I love, love, love your web page. I am so glad I ran across it today. I will using it for a lot of my baking. Love your writing and humor. Happy Holidays!
I can’t wait for Friday. My son will be turning 6. We will have so much fun with these. They sound fabulous! I do have a very basic question. Do the eggs need to be room temperature?
Nah. Just use em out of the fridge HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Thank You. He is super excited. Wish me luck, I’m starting them in…..5…..4…..3….2….1….
Made tonight and they are already gone. What a delight.
I am so glad to hear they were a hit!!
Making these today for the Bama game…. With my houndstooth cupcake liners of course!!! Cannot wait to try them!
What a great idea Amanda!!
These were AWESOME!!! Will be making them again, great recipe!
I am so glad you liked them Amanda!!!
Hey.. Sorry if I sound really dumb..
I’m new to baking but am absolutely determined to bake red velvet cupcakes for my friend’s birthday next week..
I was going through your recipe n came across the ingredient ‘buttermilk’. Can u please tell me how to make that? It isn’t available in stores where I live (Delhi, India).
I googled it n came up with quite a few different ways to make buttermilk which has only successfully confused me a hell lot more about what to do
Hey Manasa! You can take whole milk and add one tablespoon (about half to an ounce) of lemon juice to it and let it sit for five minutes. This substitute is one I use often and works great!
What a great friend you are!!
Thanks Christy
They turned out absolutely FAB!!!! Thank u soooooo much!
In the process of making these cupcakes right now, just didn’t make the cream cheese icing this time. Will let you know how they turn out
Hi there! I made your chocolate velvet cake for my son’s birthday last year and it was delicious. This year he wants a homemade red velvet cake and I was hoping you had a recipe for it since the other cake was so good. I found your red velvet cupcake recipe and was wondering if it would make a 2 layer cake out of the recipe. I have a ton of cookbooks and none of them have a recipe, so frustrating, lol! Please help!
Mandy
only a teaspoon of cocoa??? doesnt seem like enough
Idk confused.
Mel
there so long that I wanted to eat this red velvet and economies are hard to find here in Brazil … recheita enjoyed this and I will do right now would also like to buy your book … has the edition in Portuguese?
Katy continues inspiring his mother girl
ps: I loved your tattoo and her blouse
Umm… These were horrible. they were dense and tasted like play dough!
I have DEFINITELY been missing out by not eating playdough! Thanks for letting me know!