Red Velvet Cupcakes

Hundreds of years ago, cocoa powder had a unique reaction to other ingredients during the baking process that produced the prototypical “red velvet” color. This reaction doesn’t happen anymore, so we create our red velvet with natural food colorings like beets or commercial food dye. The result is a luscious and elegant dessert spread with a homemade cream cheese frosting that’s fun to make and eat.

STEP ONE – Preparations

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Line 12 muffin tins with baking cups.
  3. Take out ½ a stick of unsalted butter to soften.
  4. Get out a small glass measuring cup, a stand mixer, and a food processor.
  5. Set up a cooling rack.

STEP TWO – Make the Batter

Ingredients:

½ cup milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons red food coloring

Instructions:

  1. In the small glass measuring cup, combine the milk and vinegar and let sour for 5 minutes.
  2. In the stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. Cut the butter into small pieces, add with the soured milk, egg, vanilla, and food coloring to the food processor, and mix until incorporated.

STEP THREE – Bake the Cupcakes

  1. Divide the batter among the 12 muffin tins.
  2. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  3. Cool the cupcakes on the cooling rack for 10 minutes.
  4. Remove from the tins and cool for another 5-10 minutes.

STEP FOUR – Make the Frosting

Ingredients:

2 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ teaspoon milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

  1. In the food processor, combine the cream cheese and butter.
  2. Add the milk, vanilla, and sugar and mix on high speed until smooth.
  3. Use a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with a small hole cut in one corner to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
  4. Top with sprinkles and enjoy!

Recommended Serving Size: 1 cupcake

Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 fat

Posted by

Nourish is all about wholesome food preparation for those with disordered eating. Our mission is to provide delicious recipes anyone can make at home, along with education and support for individuals recovering from eating disorders and their caregivers.

20 thoughts on “Red Velvet Cupcakes

  1. Ooh yum! A valentine’s Day inspired treat! I love red velvet so much! 🙂 these look so delicious and pretty! 🙌🌟🤍
    I’m also posting a red velvet recipe to my blog for Valentine’s day! 😂😊

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s