Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These Homemade Red Velvet Cupcakes are soft and moist, with a light buttery chocolate flavor. Each bite pairs the classic cupcake with cream cheese frosting for a delicious combo. Make them for Valentine's Day or any time of the year!

Where Red Velvet Cake Got Its Start

Some say red velvet cake began at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, while others credit the Adams Extract Company, one of the first companies to sell red food coloring.

During World War II, rationing limited foods like butter and sugar, so bakers used beet juice or boiled beets to deepen the cake's color. The beet juice also helped keep the cakes moist.

Today, few red velvet recipes call for beets. Most use red food coloring to get that bright, vibrant red shade.

What Goes Into Red Velvet Cupcakes?

You've probably seen the traditional red velvet cupcakes made with buttermilk and white vinegar. My recipe is a slightly different take on the classic that uses sour cream. Here's a rundown of the ingredients you'll need.

Red Velvet Cupcake Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• All-purpose flour
• Unsweetened Cocoa
• Baking soda

Wet Ingredients

• Unsalted butter
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Sour cream
• Milk
• Red food coloring

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Unsalted Butter
• Cream Cheese
• Clear Imitation Vanilla Extract
• Sifted Powdered Sugar

Looking for a red velvet cake made with buttermilk? Try my Single Layer Red Velvet Cake! If you want to use up more sour cream, I highly recommend my Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Easy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, or my Devil's Food Cupcakes!

Swaps and Substitutions

Milk. Any dairy milk works in this red velvet cupcake recipe. I've made these with 1%, fat-free, and lactose-free 1% milk. I haven't tested it with any non-dairy milk.

Sour Cream. You can use the same amount of plain Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.

Vanilla Extract. For the frosting, you may use regular pure vanilla extract in place of the clear imitation kind. I went with the clear version to keep the frosting whiter.

I haven't tested this homemade red velvet cupcake recipe with alternative flours, cocoa powders, sugars, or egg substitutes.

Let's Make the Recipe!

Here's a quick overview of how to make these easy red velvet cupcakes.

1. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Combine the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, and baking soda.
2. Mix the wet ingredients. Start with the unsalted butter and granulated sugar, then add the eggs, vanilla extract, and sour cream.
3. Bring it together. Alternate adding the whisked dry ingredients and the milk until everything is used. Mix just until combined.
4. Add the red food coloring. The more you use, the more vibrant your cupcakes will be. I strongly suggest wearing rubber gloves when you add it. Nothing is worse than having red-dyed fingers for days.

If you mix in the red food coloring with your mixer, keep it on low speed. You can also stir it in by hand with a spatula. Either way, be careful not to overmix the batter.

How to Make Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting

This cream cheese frosting has a light whipped texture and pipes beautifully onto cupcakes!

Start by beating the unsalted butter and cream cheese together, then mix in the vanilla extract.

Stop the mixer to add the powdered sugar, then mix on low until it comes together. Turn the speed up to medium-high and beat for about 3-4 minutes to whip it up nicely.

Decorating Your Homemade Red Velvet Cupcakes

When it's time to decorate your red velvet cupcakes, there are 2 ways to apply the frosting:

Offset spatula. This is the easiest way to decorate. With this method you may end up with some frosting left over.

Decorating tip. This can feel a bit intimidating at first, but it's a fairly simple way to apply cream cheese frosting.

I recommend a large decorating tip, like the Wilton 1A, used with a large piping bag, which is what I did for this recipe. The Wilton 1A tip is also called the open tip or open circle tip. A smaller option to try is the 2A decorating tip.

How to Keep Cream Cheese Frosting Whiter

Cream cheese frosting can take on a yellowish tint, which isn't always the look you want. Here are a few tips that have worked well for me to keep it whiter.

Start with the butter. This matters more when there's a larger amount of butter in the recipe, but I still think it's worth mentioning. The longer you beat the butter before adding anything else, the less yellow it becomes. Since we're using a small amount (2 tablespoons) in this red velvet cupcake recipe, you don't need to worry too much about it.

Swap Out the Vanilla Extract. Pure vanilla extract can tint the cream cheese frosting brownish, which works against a white finish. A clear imitation vanilla extract is the alternative.

Use white icing color. If you really want a bright white frosting, I recommend Wilton's White White Icing Color. It works well, and some professional cake artists I know use it too.

Add purple food coloring. Another trick is to add a tiny amount of purple food dye to the butter at the start of making the frosting.

By tiny, I mean just a dab on a toothpick. Any more and you could end up with a light lavender icing, which is probably not what you're going for.

I haven't tried this with cream cheese frosting, but I have with buttercream frosting.

Homemade Red Velvet Cupcake FAQs

What decorating tip did you use for the red velvet cupcakes?

I used a Wilton 1A decorating tip, also known as an open tip.

Where are your heart sprinkles from?

They're from my local grocery store, but you can find lots of Valentine's Day-themed sprinkles from Wilton, Sprinkle Pop Shop, and more.

What brand of food coloring dye did you use?

I used Wilton's Color Right red.

How much red food coloring will I need?

I used 8-10 drops of Wilton Color Right red. The number of drops depends on the brand and whether you use regular or natural food coloring.

What cupcake liners did you use?

I used Wilton's white wave cupcake liners. They don't hold as much batter as standard cupcake liners, but they're so cute! To see the wave liners in black, check out my Devil's Food Cupcakes recipe! For reference, they come in a pack of 24.

Can I use the standard-size cupcake liner instead?

Yes. Keep in mind you'll get about 15 cupcakes with standard-size cupcake liners.

More Cupcake Recipes!

This red velvet cupcake recipe was first published on 1/23/2019. It has since been updated with fresh photos and new tips.