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This beginner friendly recipe yields delicious red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that are so delish, they disappear fast!

These Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are fancy enough to serve at an event or party, and with the tips in the post, you’ll find them just as easy to make as any other cupcake recipe.

three red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Fluffy Red Velvet Cupcakes

I used this exact recipe to make these red velvet cupcakes for my 13th Wedding Anniversary party. I won’t lie; it was a big undertaking! The good news is that with each batch I made, I found ways to simplify the steps and keep the recipe simple.

The recipe itself comes from my auntie Colleen. They’re fluffy and perfectly crumbly and like all her frostings, the cream cheese is incredible! She also shared these Red Velvet Pancakes, which are another type of weekend treat.

a red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

Like most recipes for baking, the ingredients used make or break the outcome, and these red velvet cupcakes are no exception. You’ll find the amounts below; but before you make any swaps, here are some ingredient notes:

Cake flour: it’s lighter and much finer flour than regular or self-rising.
Cocoa powder: unsweetened, Dutch process is richer in flavor. You can use Dark cocoa powder.
Salt: to enhance the batter flavor.
Sugar: essential to sweeten the cupcakes.
Vegetable oil: a neutral oil that provides moisture to the recipe. You can use melted butter or melted coconut oil; both of which will alter the flavor slightly.
Eggs: add them at room temperature. I don’t recommend omitting them or using an egg substitute with this recipe.
Food coloring: paste is always best -although drops work too.
Vanilla extract: pure vanilla extract is better than imitation, added to bring out the sweetness in the cupcakes.
Buttermilk: gives the cupcakes an extra lift to make them super fluffy. You can make your own by combining 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and waiting 10 minutes.
Baking soda: use soda (not powder) with this recipe.
White vinegar: will activate the baking soda in the recipe to give the cupcakes lift.
Cream Cheese Frosting: a delicious topping you can make with four simple ingredients; more on this below.

How to Make Red Velvet Cupcakes

You’ll find how to make these cupcakes in the recipe card below, but after making a lot of these for our anniversary party, I discovered some helpful tips that made it simpler and yielded better cupcakes, including:

Prep
Position the oven rack in the middle or top third of the oven. These are best baked one tray at a time. Using paper or foil liners is essential.
Measure and mix the ingredients
You’ll need 3 bowls for this recipe. The largest bowl will be the one for the sugar and oil since that’s the one you’ll be using the hand mixer in.
Make the cupcake batter
Alternate adding some of the dry mix and some of the buttermilk mixture into the larger bowl and use the mixer on low speed when doing this.
Bake
This cupcake recipe will rise so only fill the cups ¾ of the way. If you’re baking two trays at once, flip them halfway through.
Make the frosting
While the cupcakes are in the oven, make the frosting by mixing the ingredients.
Cool down
Letting the cupcakes cool down completely is essential for the cream cheese frosting to stay on top.
Decorate
Use a piping bag with your favorite tip or trim the edge of a zip bag. This makes the job easy!
Chill
Keep the cupcakes refrigerated until you’re ready to serve them.

on the left: laura pouring cupcake batter on a lined tin. On the right: laura placing baked cupcakes on a cooling rack

Getting the Perfect Cupcake Texture

The trick for perfect cupcake texture is how you measure the flour. Instead of packing flour by scooping the flour out directly with the measuring spoon, use another scoop or a spoon to fill it, and then use the back of a knife to level it off. If you pack too much flour into the cup, the cupcakes will turn out dense. If your cupcakes always sink, read this post for tips to be sure you get gorgeously fluffy cupcakes no matter what recipe you use.

Cream Cheese Frosting

This delicious frosting is super simple, and you only need four ingredients to make it happen. First, you beat butter and cream cheese, then you add confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract. How easy does that sound?

Just make sure butter and cream cheese are at room temperature before mixing them, and wait for the cupcakes to cool down before spreading the frosting. And just like that, these red velvet cupcakes taste and look amazing!

two pictures of laura fuentes decorating red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

How to Decorate Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red velvet and cream cream cheese frosting is an irresistible combination that makes these cupcakes feel fancy. Use a piping bag with your favorite tip to decorate the cupcakes, or keep it simple by cutting the tip off a zip bag! I also like to sprinkle some red sprinkles and place a single chocolate chip on top.

laura fuentes standing next to a cooling rack with five red velvet cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Servings: 24 cupcakes

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 20

This beginner friendly recipe yields delicious red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that are so delish, they disappear fast!

5 from 21 votes

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Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

2 ½ cups cake flour, (not self-rising)
2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ teaspoon red gel-paste food color
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cream cheese frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Prep:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and make sure the oven rack is in the middle position of the oven. Line standard muffin tins with foil or paper liners.
Line up 3 bowls. The larger one or the bowl of your stand mixer will be for the sugar and oil, the medium bowl for the dry ingredients, and the smaller one will be used last for the vinegar and baking soda (wait to mix until noted).

Make the cupcake batter:

In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, cocoa, and salt. Set aside.
Add the sugar and oil to the larger bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. And with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk the sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each egg is incorporated, stopping from time to time to scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. Once the mixture is smooth, add the food coloring and vanilla and mix well, until the color is even.
Reduce the speed to low. Add the flour and cocoa mixture in batches, alternating with the buttermilk, making sure they're mixed into the batter before adding more.
Measure the baking soda into a small bowl. Add the vinegar and mix it with a small spoon –it will foam. Add the foamy mixture to the batter bowl and mix it into the batter on medium speed for 10 seconds.

Bake:

Fill the lined cups ¾ of the way with the batter. Bake them for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. If you're baking two trays at the same time, make sure to swap positions halfway through baking. Personally, I bake one at a time since the cupcakes have to cool down anyway.
Remove the cupcake tray from the oven and let the tray cool down to room temperature before taking each cupcake out of the pan onto a wire rack for frosting. Cupcakes can be baked ahead and kept in the fridge, after they've cooled down, for up to 3 days.

Make the frosting:

While the cupcakes are baking make the cream cheese frosting by beating the butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, for about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add the vanilla, then the sugar, 1 cup at a time until the frosting is smooth.
Transfer the frosting into a piping bag. The frosting can be made a few days ahead, kept refrigerated, and then brought to room temperature before frosting the cupcakes.

Decorate:

Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Add sprinkles and a chocolate chip on top for a little more fun. Place the frosted cupcakes on a serving platter or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Storage:

Decorated cupcakes can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months, which means you can make these start-to-finish and have them ready in the freezer for any event. Remove them from the freezer and let them come to room temperature up to a day ahead of your party.