Extra Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes
Amycakes Bakes | amycakesbakes.com
Incredibly moist red velvet cupcakes (from scratch) made without a mixer! This easy red velvet cupcake recipe is frosted with cream cheese buttercream frosting and topped with a red velvet crumb topping.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 177 grams (1 ¼ cups + 1 Tablespoon All-Purpose Flour I use Gold Medal
- 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- 16 grams (2 Tablespoons) Instant Clearjel a food starch used in commercial baking that you can use at home, see Note #1
- 19 grams (3 Tablespoons) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder I use Hershey's
- 238 grams (1 cup + 3 Tablespoons) Sugar
Wet Ingredients
- 2 large Eggs
- ¾ cup Buttermilk
- ¼ cup Water
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Other Cake Ingredients
- ¾ stick(s) (3 ounces) Salted Butter
- 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Liquid Red Food Coloring
- 1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 x batch prepared Vanilla Bakery Buttercream Frosting for extra frosting on the cupcakes, double the frosting recipe
Instructions
Make The Red Velvet Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with 17 cupcake grease-proof liners.
- Using a sifter or fine mesh strainer, sift the Dry Ingredients into a large bowl, then whisk until well blended.
- Combine Wet Ingredients in a separate large bowl and whisk until smooth and well-blended.
- Melt salted butter in the microwave (or over the stove) until just melted. Avoid overcooking.
- Pour Wet Ingredients over the Dry Ingredients, then immediately before stirring add in the apple cider vinegar. Whisk everything together--the apple cider vinegar will bubble slightly as it reacts with the wet and dry ingredients.
- Pour the melted Butter and the red food color into the batter and whisk until smooth, uniform and lump-free.
- Use a 2-oz scoop (¼ cup) to divide your batter into around 17 standard-sized cupcakes with greaseproof cupcake liners. Start by baking at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 300 degrees for an additional 3-5 minutes until they pass the toothpick test.
- While the cupcakes cools, make a simple syrup by combining 2 teaspoons water and 2 teaspoons sugar in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until the sugar is dissolved after whisking, about 20-30 seconds.
- Reserve 2 cupcakes to crumble for a red velvet dust decoration, if desired. Use a silicone pastry brush to lightly brush the remaining cooled cupcakes with simple syrup.
Make Vanilla Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Prepare the creamy vanilla bakery buttercream frosting recipe according to its instructions.
Make Red Velvet Dust topping
- To make red velvet dust, crumble 2 cooled red velvet cupcakes onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, and bake at 250 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until the cake feels slightly crisp to the touch. Once the cake is cool, pulse the dried cake in a food processor until it turns into crumbly dust. Keep dust at room temperature or freeze until using.
Notes
Read my article Instant Clearjel: a Magical Little-Known Bakery Ingredient to see why I think this ingredient is worth having in your pantry. Instant Clearjel must always be whisked thoroughly with other dry ingredients before being added to wet ingredients to avoid clumping. (Make sure what you use is labeled as “Instant.” Cooktype Clearjel is a different product that does not work the same in cakes). If you need a substitute, in the cake batter you may substitute 4 tablespoon Jello Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix in place of the 2 tablespoon Instant Clearjel in a 1x batch. This will make the cupcakes a darker color.