The Story:
Alright, alright I here ya! You all wanted a Red Velvet recipe, well here you go! Why do I never make it? Because I’m allergic to it. And if I can’t eat it and taste and sample as I go, why would I make it? 🙂
So to make up for me being so incredibly selfish, I have a mini series of Red Velvet recipes, including my red velvet cookies from scratch. Today is Cupcakes but stay tuned for some other inventive ways to turn tasty treats into decadent red velvet.[end-stoy]
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Servings 28 -30 Cupcakes
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cake (scratch recipe)
- 2 1/4 C. flour
- 1/2 C. cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/4 C. butter
- 2 C. sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 C. sour cream
- 1/2 C. milk or buttermilk
- 1 oz. red food coloring liquid not gel
Instructions
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners.
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2. In a large bowl, sift flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together.
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3. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar for 2 minutes.
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4. Scrape down bowl and beat again.
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5. On low, add eggs one at a time and add vanilla.
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6. Add sour cream.
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7. Add dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt...) alternating while adding the milk.
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8. Stir in red food coloring.
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9. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 17-22 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
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10. Let cool and frost with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe above.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Servings 28 -30 Cupcakes
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cake (scratch recipe)
- 2 1/4 C. flour
- 1/2 C. cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/4 C. butter
- 2 C. sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 C. sour cream
- 1/2 C. milk or buttermilk
- 1 oz. red food coloring liquid not gel
Instructions
-
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners.
-
2. In a large bowl, sift flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together.
-
3. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar for 2 minutes.
-
4. Scrape down bowl and beat again.
-
5. On low, add eggs one at a time and add vanilla.
-
6. Add sour cream.
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7. Add dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt...) alternating while adding the milk.
-
8. Stir in red food coloring.
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9. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 17-22 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
-
10. Let cool and frost with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe above.
YEAH……thank you so much!……
Gorgeous! Love these for Valentines day.
Oh those are BEAUTIFUL! 🙂
Hi!
I really love your cupcakes and make them almost every week!
I live in Australia and i can only buy the cake mix boxes at one place and they only have Vanilla and Chocolate – No red velvet 🙁
Do you have another way of making these without the box?
Yes, the scratch recipe is under the cake mix recipe! But if you want to use the white cake mix, add 1/4 C. cocoa powder and then add the red dye and follow the rest of the cake mix instructions!
Awesome! Thank you!
Your cupcakes are amazingggggggg
Hey I love your website 🙂
I used your redvelvet cake recipe from scratch for my 21st birthday party and it was amazing@!!
Thought I would make it again but I cant find it above. I reloaded the websits but its gone! Freaking out because it was amazing!!!!!!
Alexis
It should be back now, sorry we had a few technical glitches
Hi I’m a home baker if anytime you need a cake happy to take orders
Any ideas please on how to make heart-shaped cupcakes – without a heart-shaped pan? Thank you.
I’ve seen the trick on Pinterest to put your liner in, and then sneak a marble down the side in between the pan and the liner. Though, I have never tried it.
You can buy heart shaped cupcake pans at most craft stores! I saw them today at Michael’s on sale.
OHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU LIZZY, YOU ROCK GIRL 😉 being waiting for this GOLDEN moment for a while now…THANKS so MUCH! and the fact that you give us BOTH the cake mix and scratch recipes…PRICELESS!!!
Lol I feel like you posted this for me! I made red velvet two days ago, and considering I use your recipes religiously, I felt a bit abandoned when I was left to my on devices. Is there a special reason for using melted butter in place of oil here? Also, did you leave out sour cream on purpose? Lastly, I like my cake very soft and airy so I add in the yolks, but separate the whites and beat them till they’re foam and then fold them in. Should I continue this way or just not use the yolks at all for even fluffier texture? Thanks a bunch 🙂
*own
You can use 4 egg whites instead of 3 eggs and beat the egg whites. You can add up to 3/4 cup of sour cream to the cake if you want, but it sends to make cakes denser, which I love but you might not. You also can use oil OR melted butter.
ooooo these r so pretty!!! perfect for valentine’s day!!
Hey there! If you can’t find a red velvet box mix, I like using a German chocolate cake mix + 1 box instant vanilla (or chocolate) pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, and one bottle of red food dye. I also like to add a cup of miniature chocolate chips.
Love this! Yes, You can make it with white cake mix too by adding 1/4 cup cocoa and the red dye!
Yep! That’s from The Cake Mix Dr., but I love checking your site for delicious cupcake recipes. I’ve also turned them into 13 x 9 cakes. Keep up the great work!!
Tried the recipe from scratch and they are amazing. Moist and delicious. Thanks for posting!
My family can’t have the red dye. So I tried the scratch recipe replacing some of the sour cream with a beet puree. The batter was red but they baked brown, well slightly auburn, but definitely not red. Any ideas? And what about red cocoa powder? Would it actually bake red? Thanks!
if you use beets, don’t use canned beets!
i see that in your pictures you made mini cupcakes.id like to make them from scratch and regular size.do i double it?
I am so happy! My boyfriend’s birthday is on the 20th, and I asked him a few weeks ago what sort of cupcakes he’d like. He tells me red velvet, not what I expected, and when I hopped over here I discovered you didn’t have any red velvet recipes! Sigh. Off to Google I went a’searching, and I found several options… but I just don’t trust anyone else’s cupcake recipes because yours are so consistently DANG GOOD. 😉 Then one day I opened my email… to this recipe! I could kiss you. Can’t wait to make these! Thank you, as always!
Oh yay! So happy to have this recipe up in time for his bithday!
ok.
oh these look soooo good!! i’m allergic to red dye too, but only reallly large amounts. if i were to make a dozen standard size cupcakes and the rest mini cupcakes, how long should i bake them and should i bake them separately??
The minis will take about 12 minutes!
Love your recipes! I love baking out of a box – so consistent and I always have great results. With the way you doctor them up, no one can even tell they’re from a box! Made these red velvet cupcakes today and they were a huge hit. Thanks for another great recipe 🙂
Oh good! Yes, I love the quickness and consistency of the box recipes
turn up gul that look good
Hi Lizzie, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your website. I made the red velvet cupcakes, but interested in knowing how to make a good cupcake using Strawberry Cake mix. I purchased a box because it was on sale and I am making the cupcakes for my girls play group and thought strawberry was more kid friendly :).
Replace the called for water with milk or buttermilk and add 1/2 cup of sour cream. Add the eggs and oil called for. Then top it with cream cheese frosting and it would be fun to toss some pink sprinkles into the cake batter to make them “confetti” cakes
I am sorry I spelled your name incorrect. Correction: Lizzy 🙂
I was wondering why you can’t use the red gel food dye? I couldn’t find the liquid at the store, so I’m going to have to use the gel, any tips?
You can use the gel, but put a little in a tablespoon of hot water or milk and turn it into liquid dye first. If you use just the gel, it doesn’t always mix in well
Thank you! Also, do they need to be stores in the fridge or can they be left at room temperature?
I left mine at room temp for 24 hours with absolutely no problem
I made the scratch recipe tonight and they turned out PERFECTLY! Thank you so much! My friends are going to love them!
How would I go about making 12 cupcakes instead of 24? I really don’t need two dozen. And I’m using the cake mix recipe.
I do this quite often 🙂 Just split the bag of cake mix into two (I usually just estimate) and then half all the other needed ingredients. I do it all the time and it works out great! I love the Pillsbury mixes the best
that’s what i’m planning to do!! except, how would you halve 3 eggs? just put one egg in and then measure another but add half of it?
I just use 2, it always works out fine 🙂
Hi! If I want to make this into a “green velvet” cupcake (for St. Pat’s!) – would you suggest I use the white cake mix + 1/4 cup of cocoa powder or would german chocolate cake mix + 1/4 cup cocoa powder (and green dye) work better?
Thank you!
I actually came across this recipe, but wasn’t 100% sold on it as I love your combinations! …
1 package German chocolate cake mix with pudding
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
If you use a chocolate based cake mix then don’t add cocoa powder and you will have to add MUCH more dye.
No sour cream? How do you know when to use it and when not to?
Eh… You have use it or not use it. It changes the texture of the cake so I like to mix things up a little bit.
How many cupcakes does your scratch recipe yield for?
Hi Lizzie, I’ve been eyeing your cake mix recipe to make for my husband’s birthday (he’s a BIG red velvet cupcake fan). I’ll let you know how it goes and would totally link here when I post photos from his birthday 🙂
xo, janmloves.blogspot.com
PS: Love your blog!
I want to make these with a box but I was thinking for a birthday it would be fun to make them black… I have gel black dye, could I make it as usual and just add it in until I get the right color or do you have any other suggestions?
To use gel dye, take a little bit of hot milk and hot water and try to turn the gel into liquid by stirring it into the liquid vigorously. Stirring just a gel dye into the batter can be hard to do.
Hi Lizzy,
I have tried various red velvet recipes and I have not been able to get the cupcakes as they appear in the pictures. I plan to try your recipe very soon to see if I can achieve similar cupcakes to yours. As they seem really nice. Do you have any advise or tips for me?
It’s hard to give advice if I don’t know what went wrong. Feel free to send me an email telling me HOW they didn’t turn out like you wanted them too
I am having trouble with printing the red velvet cupcake recipes. All the others print beautifully. Any help is greatly appreciated since you have the best recipes on the web. thanks, Cris
Lizzy,
What are your thoughts on using mayo? I have seen a couple of recipes adding mayo and just wondered if you had used it.
It sort of does what sour cream does, I have used it but I just tend to keep sour cream on hand more than mayo. So go ahead and go for it! (It also has oil and fat in it so you can add less oil)
hi, how many grams does 1 box of the cake mix equate to? thanks!
About 450 grams depending on what size box mix you use. Anything close to that will work!
Hello, 🙂 firs of all congratulate you for sharing therecipes.
but i have a question, when you put 1C. sour cream refers to a scoop?
Thanks and greetings from Mexico
Not completely sure what your question is, but the recipe calls for 1 Cup of sour cream.
I made the recipe from your cookbook and the cake came out super sticky and also stuck to the wrappers which it has never done before with the othe cupcakes I’ve made. What did I do wrong?
Hmm, did you use different liners? Sometimes when I use certain liners my cupcakes always stick.
Trying to print off your Red Velvet Cupcake Recipes and they won’t print.
All I get is part of a picture of the cupcake and the title of the cupcake and “Article printed from Your Cup of Cake” with the website, but no recipes.
BTW I do own your book and I love it.
I apologize, these recipes just won’t print. I’ve tried reformatting and nothing will work. Just highlight the text and copy and paste it into a word Doc and print from there. Sorry!
I made these last night from scratch, but was disappointed because they came out really flat. Do you need to put baking powder in the recipe? They tasted great!
I need to make a 11 x 15 sheet cake would the cupcake recipe work just as well as the scratch cake recipe?
Yes!
Hi there- I’m just wondering if your from scratch recipie is plain or self raising flour? Thanks so much.
Plain All Purpose flour!
Hi Lizzie – I used one of your cupcake images on my blog as per your FAQ.
http://food2please.com/red-velvet-cupcakes-from-your-cup-of-cake/
Love all your recipes you are very talented 🙂 Best wishes girl!
Turn up that look good
Now I feel pretty dumb for announcing that I will not have any sweets for the next months! These look so good!
Made these tonight and they were SO good! I didn’t have enough to frost all 24 cupcakes though. Thanks for the recipe!
Please I would like to know in the scratch recipe is it soft butter or melted 11/4C??
Thank you
Soft!
Lizzy,
For the box mix, if I wanted a denser cupcake, would I just add sour cream to the above ingredients or do I need to omit something? And, how much sour cream would I add?
Thanks!
Use 1 C. sour cream and only 1/3 C. buttermilk/milk!
I loveee this recipe! I use it all the time! I am wondering though, do you know how I could make this sugar-free? My mom is hosting a party for my great aunt but she is diabetic but lovesss red velvet.
Hello Lizzy,
I want to know with the cake mix recipe do I follow the recipe on the box as well as add in the ingredients you listed? Or do I use the cake mix and only the ingredients you listed? I am a first timer in an attempt to make cupcakes.
Hi, I was wondering if you ever tried stacking this recipe. I love it for cupcakea but I need to make a 2 tier cake, so I’m not sure if it will hold up well. How can I make this recipe more stable?
Ꮋi, just wanted to mention, I enjoyed this post. It was inspiring.
Keep оn posting!
Love ittt!!!
Great post!
thx
i wanted to make these as a mini cupcake my question is will they dry out if made smaller and is there an alternative to buttermilk for uk people
They will only dry out if you over bake them, so adjust the baking time as needed. You can mix a little lemon juice with milk to make buttermilk OR just use something like whole milk! I love using something with more flavor in it to add to the batter!
Hi I just wanted to check, is the cream cheese recipe that you’ve said above found as the cream cheese filling in the red velvet cookies link? I just want to make sure as there’s no cream cheese frosting link.
Thanks 🙂
I used to have the red velvet cupcake recipe that you used a box cake mix and buttermilk in it. Can you please email it to me? The only one I can find is the scratch recipe.
Nice work
Ive looked all over this page and dont see the cream cheese frosting recipe.
Could not find the cheese frosting recipe. Please let me have it.
This blog about Red Velvet Cupcakes – Your Cup of Cake
has helped me a lot, is very well written. I used this fat burner product: https://s96.me/fit and I reached the ideal weight.
Kiss you All!