Buttermilk vs Vinegar

Do most red velvet cakes require both buttermilk and vinegar? Yes, a lot of them do! However, I find that eliminating the buttermilk and replacing it with whole milk as well as a little extra vinegar than you would typically use creates such a delicate crumb and keeps the cake light.

In my experience, using a bit more vinegar in your red velvet cake tends to be better than using buttermilk. Along with keeping that delicate crumbs, vinegar gives the cake an extra tangy flavor (a key component of red velvet cake) and it also helps to enhance the red food coloring more! That being said, buttermilk is of course a wonderful option and can be used in this recipe if you would prefer that instead.

If you are going to use buttermilk as opposed to whole milk with vinegar, be sure to measure the buttermilk to 121mL when making your cupcake batter! If you choose this option, I would recommend also adding 1 tsp of vinegar to ensure that you get the most out of the red color.

Red Food Coloring

Yes, this recipe does use artificial food dye! If that is not something that you’re interested in using, you can use beet juice or beet powder. Both of these options may result in a slightly earthy taste to the cupcakes, however, the vinegar (or buttermilk) in the recipe should mask that flavor and keep the red color throughout the cake as it bakes. That being said, research the type of beet juice/powder you are using before adding it to the cupcake batter as some brands may have varying intensities/flavors.

Maggie Banko

Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Red velvet is one of those classic cake flavors that everyone should have in their recipe collection! My Red Velvet Cupcake is paired with my creamy and delicious Cream Cheese Frosting which makes for the perfect sweet treat anytime of year.

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 18 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 3 minutes mins

Servings: 10 cupcakes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

For the Cupcakes

• ½ cup all-purpose flour 69g
• ¾ cup cake flour 100g
• 1 cup granulated sugar 210g
• 1 ½ tbsp sifted cocoa powder 12g
• ½ tsp baking soda 3g
• ½ tsp fine salt 3g
• 1 large room temperature egg
• ½ cup vegetable oil 108mL
• ½ cup room temperature whole milk 115mL
• 1 ½ tbsp vinegar 6mL
• 2-3 tsp red food coloring 9mL – 14mL

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 cup room temperature unsalted butter 226g
• 10 oz powdered sugar 284g
• 5 oz softened cream cheese 142g
• tiny pinch of fine salt
• vanilla extract to taste

Method

 

For the Cupcakes

1. Preheat your oven to 350℉ and line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners (this recipe makes 10 cupcakes when you fill the liners almost to the top with batter but it will make 12 cupcakes if filled ¾ of the way! I like to fill mine well so that I can get larger cupcakes.)
2. In a small bowl, add the room temperature whole milk along with the vinegar. Give this a good mix and let that sit for 5-10 minutes. This will give you a perfect substitute for buttermilk, however, you can use buttermilk if you would prefer! If you are using buttermilk, make sure to measure it out to 121mL.
3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients (including the sugar) until well combined. Set this bowl aside.
4. In a separate bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients (including the whole milk/vinegar mixture) and whisk well.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Always remember to never over-mix the batter!!
6. Next, carefully pour the cupcake batter into each cupcake liner. Again, I like to fill mine until there is just a little part of the cupcake liner sticking out which is why this recipe technically makes 10 cupcakes. Feel free to fill your cupcake liners ¾ of the way to get 12 cupcakes out of this recipe.
7. Place the cupcakes in the oven at 350℉ for 18-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of each cupcake comes out with just a couple of crumbs on it. A couple of crumbs means that they're fully baked but still moist!

   *The baking time will vary depending on your oven!
8. After baking, allow the cupcakes to rest in their pan for 5 minutes before carefully taking them out of the pan and placing them on a cooling rack.
9. Allow the cupcakes to fully cool before adding the cream cheese frosting!

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you can also use an electric hand mixer), whip the room temperature butter on medium speed until pale in color and silky smooth in texture.
2. Add a pinch of fine salt and vanilla extract to taste and mix until combined.
3. Next, add in the softened cream cheese and continue mixing on medium speed until everything is combined. Scrape the bowl down using a rubber spatula to ensure everything is well incorporated.
4. Add the powdered sugar, begin mixing on low speed for about 1 minute, and then increase the speed to medium for another 4-5 minutes. Stop the mixer once you have reached a smooth consistency.

Decorating

1. For an added decoration, I like to take one cupcake, crumble it up, and then sprinkle those crumbles on top of each cupcake! This step is totally optional but I wanted to mention that here before you decorate all of your cupcakes just in case you would like to save one for this step.
2. Once the cupcakes have fully cooled, place an Atecto 809 piping tip into a piping bag and add the cream cheese frosting.
3. Pipe the frosting on top of each cupcake using circular motions.
4. Sprinkle the red velvet cupcake crumbs on top of the cream cheese frosting to finish!