Who doesn’t love Red Velvet Cake? You will really enjoy these Red Velvet Cupcakes. Quick, easy cupcakes made with cocoa powder, butter, buttermilk, sugar, flour, vanilla and lots of red food coloring. One bowl mixing, 19 minute bake makes moist, bright red with hint of chocolate cupcakes. Piped Cream Cheese Buttercream decorates the top of each cupcake as well as a mini white chocolate heart. Whether making these for Valentines Day or “just because” you will love these cupcakes.

How to Make Red Velvet Cakes

First of all bring all of your ingredients to room temperature to ensure your batter holds together and will not curdle due to the buttermilk and vinegar. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make your own, use an equal amount of sour cream or you can add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to regular milk. Be sure to allow it to sit a few minutes until it starts to curdle.. this time you want home made buttermilk to curdle.

In this recipe I used 1 full tablespoon of super red food coloring. Thats a lot of red, but that is what makes red velvet so popular. Food coloring gel is really the best. To help keep things organized while mixing ingredients, I like to practice Mise en Place ( everything in its place). Meaning, measure out all of your ingredients before you start, so you are not caught off guard with not enough flour or sugar. Measure your ingredients accurately, like spooning & leveling off your flour into a cup instead of dipping the measuring cup into the flour, which packs it down. This packed flour could make your cupcakes dry.

Once the cupcakes are baked, I brushed the warm cakes with a chocolate syrup. This is optional and not part of the red velvet tradition.

1. Make white chocolate hearts if you plan to make your own. Melt white chocolate wafers in microwave safe bowl until smooth. Fill disposable piping bag with no tip with melted chocolate. Pipe into plastic heart mold.  Chill in refrigerator until set. Remove candies and reserve for finished frosted cupcakes for garnish.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2- 12- cup muffin pans with red cupcake liners.
3. Make chocolate simple syrup. In medium saucepan over medium heat, add all ingredients, whisk constantly until it boils, boil three minutes.  Remove from heat, allow to cool. Set aside, this will be brushed over baked warm cupcakes before frosting.
4. Combine eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, vinegar, butter, vanilla and red food coloring in a medium mixing bowl, set aside.
5. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in the bowl of your stand mixer with paddle attachment or beaters of hand mixer. Turn mixer on low and mix dry ingredients to blend.
6. Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture. Beating on medium speed for one minute or fully incorporated. Scrape down sides and bottom of mixing bowl, mix one more time to blend about 30 seconds.
7. Using a spring loaded ice cream scoop or 3 tablespoons of batter to each cupcake liner filling 2/3 full. This will give you a rounded top with out overflowing in cupcake pan.
8. Bake cupcakes 19 -20 minutes in center of preheated 350 degree oven. Remove from oven. Brush warm cupcakes with chocolate syrup allowing the syrup to soak into the cupcakes. Set aside to cool,  At this point you can chill cupcakes while you make the cream cheese buttercream frosting.

1. In clean mixing bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment, add room temperature butter and salt.  Beat until light and smooth. Add softened cream cheese, combine on low speed until smooth and creamy.
2. Add confectioners sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low to avoid sugar shower out of the bowl.
3. Add vanilla extract. Whip buttercream until smooth and creamy.  Consistency should be firm enough to pipe. Fill disposable piping bag fitted with tip # 1 M with frosting.
4. Pipe rosettes or swirls on top of each cupcake.  Add a small white chocolate heart or crumbled red velvet cake crumbs as a garnish.

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