Red velvet cupcakes

Fluffy and moist, these buttery red velvet cupcakes are my favored. The tangy cream cheese frosting puts them more than the prime!

Over the previous yr, the most requested recipe on my site is… red velvet cupcakes. To be trustworthy, I was in no way a huge fan of red velvet up till a handful of many years ago. Is it chocolate? Is it vanilla? The taste usually leaves me baffled.

But I began to fall in love with it when I bit into a lavish 3 layer slice of red velvet cake at my friend’s wedding ceremony. It was so unworldly moist, really buttery, full of vanilla taste with a hint of chocolate goodness. And the tang from the cream cheese frosting was the perfect compliment to the indulgently sweet red velvet crumb underneath.

Basically put? That red velvet cake was the bees knees.

I have by no means been in a position to recreate some thing like it! I’ve felt like a red velvet failure for the past three and a half years. I’ve tried a lot of “good” red velvet cupcake and cake recipes– some great– but nothing at all that deserves a spot in my archives. When I acquired the billionth request from a red velvet loving reader (thank you for the nudge, Nancy!), I knew it was time to place on my large lady red velvet pajama pants. Ick! I don’t put on velvet pants.

In the midst of all my pumpkin pie shenanigans final week, I also worked like a mad scientist on a red velvet cupcake recipe. And I am praising the heavens that I lastly nailed it. NAILED IT! These cupcakes are absurdly incredible. And I’m not just saying that. My husband who “hates” red velvet inhaled two before his dinner of buffalo wings and french fries. The metabolic process of a 20 anything man, ladies and gents.

I’m obtaining off topic. So, allow me inform ya a issue or two about these here cupcakes.

What makes red velvet stand out from say, chocolate cupcakes, is its wonderfully buttery flavor. I adore that about red velvet. And in the course of some recipe testing, I threw that taste aside since all I could focus on was “make this cupcake moist, sally.” And we all know oil brings so a lot moisture to cupcakes! But with oil we (one) don’t have that natural buttery taste and (two) the cupcakes aren’t as light and soft. Anything creamed butter imparts into cakes and cupcakes. Moreover, I frequently find that as well considerably oil weighs baked items down.

So, let’s use each. Oil – “the moist maker” (name that quote!) and creamed butter – a tried and real way to a fluffy cupcake crumb.

The cocoa. We’re making use of that so the red velvet cupcakes can have a hint of chocolate. To me, red velvet is much more of a vanilla cake than a chocolate cake. So I use only 4 teaspoons of cocoa to give the cupcakes that subtle chocolate flavor. It’s excellent.

Although I typically love throwing brown sugar into just about almost everything I bake, I depart it out of these red velvet cupcakes. I don’t want one hint of molasses flavor overtaking the vanilla, butter, and chocolate flavors. Simple white sugar is adequate.

Baking Science // Nerd Alert…

Buttermilk is a must when it comes to red velvet. Slightly tangy, lots of moisture, and ultra creamy. You actually cannot make these red beauties without having it. Aside from what buttermilk does to the taste and texture of these red velvet cupcakes, it also helps to activate the baking soda. So does the vinegar. Don’t get frightened, a touch of vinegar is typical in red velvet desserts– and no, you are not able to taste it. If you don’t have white vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar. The vinegar also can make the red… redder.

I practically forgot to mention the flour. What may possibly have thrown off all my red velvet cupcake testing was the flour. Cake flour is essential to an ultra light cake, but I (and you, I’m confident) don’t actually preserve cake flour in the pantry. So, I typically build my cake and cupcake recipes with all-function. Nicely. The minute I additional cornstarch to all-goal flour to make DIY cake flour was the minute I knew this recipe would be the winner. What’s cake flour and why is it so extraordinary? Cake flour is a low protein flour (about eight%) and has a quite fine texture. A reduce protein count = much less gluten types when you mix it into a batter, thus producing a cake with a fine, soft crumb. Feel, angel foods cake. In a nutshell, cake flour produces a noticeably lighter cake crumb than all-purpose and red velvet cakes are recognized for their soft, light texture. Rather than acquiring cake flour, decrease all-objective flour somewhat and include cornstarch.

That was a lot longer than I intended it to be. Oy.

Even though the red velvet cupcake itself is pretty extraordinary, my favorite component about this cupcake is its combination with cream cheese frosting. My frosting is like a cloud from cream cheese heaven. Extremely creamy, tangy, sweet, smooth, and luscious. It’s my favourite cream cheese frosting recipe and has by no means steered me wrong.

You’re going to adore ’em. Red velvet lovers, now we rejoice.

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