Red Velvet Cupcakes

5 from 2 votes

Flirtatious & fun. Red Velvet Cupcakes are wonderful eye candy and a joy to bite into. Hints of chocolate, vanilla & buttermilk crowned with thick cream cheese buttercream make these little treats irresistible.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Total Time50

Course: Baking, Cake

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 255kcal

Author: Jane Coupland

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes

125 g/ 4oz Unsalted butter - very soft
125 g/ 4oz Caster sugar
125 g/ 4oz Plain (all purpose) flour
¾ teaspoon Baking powder
15 g/ 4 teaspoon (rounded) Cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon Vanilla extract
4 tablespoon Buttermilk
2 Large eggs - separated
Red gel food colouring (⅛- ¼ teaspoon - depending on strength)

For the buttercream

90 g/ 3 ½ oz Unsalted butter
90 g/ 3 ½ oz Cream cheese
180 g/ 7oz Icing (confectionery sugar)
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Garnish

Chocolate flakes
12-14 Fresh strawberries - small are best

Instructions

Make the cupcakes

Line a muffin tin with paper cases and preheat the oven to 170°C/ 325°F/ GM3
Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy
Add the yolks to the butter & sugar mix. Beat well
Weight the flour, baking powder & cocoa into a bowl and sift into the cake batter
Beat until just combined
Add the buttermilk & the red food gel and mix in. (Don't go crazy with the colouring gel at first - add a little and see how strong it is. Add more as necessary & aim for the colour as depicted in my photograph above)
Whisk the egg whites to the firm peak stage. Add a third of the whites to the cake batter and fold in using a large metal spoon. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in, very gently, until just incorporated
Fill each cupcake case around ⅔ full with the batter and bake for 17-20 minutes until the cakes spring back when lightly pressed
Allow to cool completely

Make the buttercream

Beat the butter, vanilla extract and icing sugar together until smooth
Add the cream cheese and beat again
Put a generous spoonful of buttercream on top of each cupcake and spread out
Sprinkle with chocolate flakes
Just before serving, top with a fresh strawberry (stalk removed).

Notes

It is hard to specify exactly how much red colouring gel you will use, since brands vary. I used a cocktail stick to scoop out the gel - I plunged it in around 2cm and pulled it out, keeping as much gel on my stick as possible. I did this 4 times to reach the right colour (as shown in my photograph).

Nutrition