It’s exactly 2 weeks to Valentine!  And one of those cakes that ‘RULE‘ the day is the RED VELVET CAKE recipe!  And I am going to share my all time favorite, super moist, super fluffy, super buttery RED VELVET CUPCAKE RECIPE! 

I have come across some school of thought who believe that Red Velvet cakes are same as Chocolate cakes. Infact it’s said that it’s just chocolate cakes coloured red. I beg to disagree. WHY?

Red Velvet has an acidic taste that comes from two unique items. The first is BUTTERMILK. This is slightly tangy, and add lots of moisture to the cake, producing a super creamy and moist result. It also activates the baking soda in the recipe. Although some Chocolate recipes calls for buttermilk, it is however very important for red velvet cakes. You can substitute the buttermilk for GREEK YOGHURT, or SOUR CREAM.

The second item is – VINEGAR. Vinegar gives the cake more acidity. It also enhances the food colouring and activates the baking soda. You can use distilled white vinegar like I did or use Apple cider vinegar. If you are out of vinegar, you definitely can make use of LEMON JUICE.

The acidity of these items is balanced out by the sweetness of the cake. A traditional red velvet cake is accompanied by cream cheese frosting. Although I choosed here to use my MOST STABLE WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING.

It is no longer news that cupcakes tends to dry out faster because of their sizes. Hence my all time favorite recipe uses items that produces moist red velvet cupcakes till the last bite!  It’s also a one-bowl recipe, making it my favorite. If you have been following my channel, you will know I LOVE ONE-BOWL RECIPES, ‘cos they are simple, straight to the point, delicious, moist, and most importantly healthy!  Check out my other 5-minute recipes here : Moist Tutti Frutti Cake Recipe , Classic Victoria Sponge Cake, Moist Chocolate Cake recipe.

So let’s get started with PRO TIPS for my Perfect Red Velvet Cupcakes recipe.

• FOLLOW THE RECIPE. This is one basic tip you should stick to if you want to achieve same result as mine.

• THIS RECIPE IS STRICTLY FOR CUPCAKES. Don’t try to use this recipe for layered cakes. It will end up in tears. 😂😂😂  I am serious though. It’s strictly for cupcakes. (If you want a layered Red velvet cake recipe then sign up for my BAKE WELL online course where I covered the rudiment of baking healthy cakes from scratch).

• The use of all purpose flour and cornflour. The combination of these two result to Cake flour. Cake flour is a low protein flour and has a very fine texture. Using cake flour to bake results to a moist cake. If you are lucky enough to have store bought cake flour, then go ahead and use 98g of the Cake Flour (Don’t use the all purpose flour and cornstarch measurements). The All-purpose flour and Corn starch were measured and sifted separately before I used them.

• The use of oil and unsalted butter. Oil produces a super moist texture in cakes. I have also discovered that too much oil in a cake recipe also tend to weigh down the cake. Hence, for this particular recipe, butter is introduced to create a crumbly texture. So there’s a balance between moist and crumbly.

• Excellent Blend: This blend is specifically made for red velvet cakes. It gives that balanced red color we see in red velvet cakes. If you don’t have access to it, use a good brand of liquid or gel food colouring. For a liquid or gel food colour, add the colouring 1 tsp at a time to the Buttermilk and stir well till you have a good shade of red. If you are using a very good brand, you won’t use more than a teaspoon of food colouring.

• Buttermilk. To make Homemade buttermilk, measure 1 cup of whole milk and add 1 tablespoon of distilled white Vinegar or lemon juice, stir and allow to sit in an undisturbed area of your work surface for 10 minutes before using. You will notice some bubbly reaction. That’s the effect of the vinegar. Alternatively, you can use 1 + ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar to your 1 cup of whole milk, mix well and keep aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, measure out the ml needed for the recipe. You can keep the rest buttermilk in the fridge for another recipe requesting Buttermilk.

• Do not be tempted to over mix. Over mixing will lead to overworking the gluten and this will affect your batter’s end product.

• When it comes to baking cupcakes, you have to be careful not to overfill your cupcake liners. This is very important. If you overfill your cupcake liners, you will end up with cupcakes having funny shapes. A rule of thumb I normally stick to is to fill my cupcake liners up to ⅔ full. This is usually 2½ to 3 tablespoons of cake batter.

• Another thing about making cupcakes is baking temperature. You might have the perfect recipe but your oven’s temperature may mess it all up. Unlike regular layered cakes, cupcakes spend lesser time in the oven. Leaving them too long will lead to them drying out. One thing I usually do with them is to steam bake. The heat produced from the steaming regulates the oven, and in turn produces moist cupcakes. Steam baking is simply adding water to a big pan and placing that pan in the last rack of your oven just before you start preheating the oven. Leave that water while preheating, and baking the cupcakes.

• Also it is adviceable to bake at the center rack of your oven. If you have more cupcakes batch to bake, DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO BAKE OTHERS AT THE TOP OR BOTTOM RACK of your oven. All batches must be baked at the center. Hence you bake a batch at a time depending on your oven’s size.

• Don’t be tempted to open your oven’s door to check your cupcakes during baking. This action will prevent the cakes from rising properly and make the batter fall. With a good temperature, your cupcakes should be baked within 15-20 minutes. After 15 minutes, use a skewer to check for cake’s doneness or slightly press the top of your cupcake. If it bounces back, then it’s baked. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before decorating or eating.

• Recipe yield roughly 7 cupcakes. Cupcakes’ shelf life is 3 days. It can however be frozen for 3 months. To freeze them, make sure they are uniced. Wrap them two to three times with plastic wrap then place in a ziplock bag. To defrost, thaw overnight in the refrigerator or keep on your work surface to thaw to room temperature.

If you are interested in learning more about BASIC CAKE BAKING, then sign up for my  online COURSES by chatting with me using any of the social media links (All online courses runs only on TELEGRAM). If you are in Lagos, Nigeria and needs an on-sight/physical class, feel free to chat me up too for my  MENTORING PROGRAM OR SANDWICH classes.

SEE STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO HERE: 5 Minutes Red Velvet Cupcake recipe 

To make:

• Preheat your oven to 350°C

• Prepare your cupcake liners by placing them in muffin pans. Set aside

• In your buttermilk bowl, add your excellent blend or liquid/gel food color, and mix well to combine. Next add your vinegar, vanilla extract, oil, egg, and mix well with a spatula. Set aside.

• Next, in a larger bowl, add your flour, cornstarch / cornflour, baking soda, salt, sugar, butter, and cocoa powder. Next add in the buttermilk mixture.

• If using a stand or hand mixer, beat all items together for a minute on low speed. Then increase mixer’s speed and whisk for 4 minutes on high speed.

• If using an egg/hand whisk (manual method), whisk all items together for 7 minutes. Be careful not to exceed these mixing time.

• Pour batter into prepared liners and bake for 15 minutes.

• Check for cupcake doneness. Remove from oven and transfer to a rack to cool completely before eating or decorating with cream cheese frosting or whipped cream frosting

Enjoy!