Red Velvet Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with these gorgeous Red Velvet Cupcakes. Homemade red velvet cupcakes covered in clouds of real chocolate frosting and topped with a chocolate heart. 

Love is in the air 💕

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to celebrate with a little Red Velvet Cake – who’s with me?

These gorgeous Red Velvet Cupcakes are soft and sweet, and topped with clouds of chocolate buttercream made with real chocolate. Perfect for your loved ones!

Red Velvet Cake is one of my favourite cake flavours. I’ve had a gorgeous red velvet cupcake from Sprinkles in Los Angeles and one from Hummingbird Bakery in London. And this is my homemade version.

While, red velvet cake is usually served with cream cheese frosting, I’ve added a sweet, silky smooth chocolate buttercream – and trust me, it pairs beautifully with the gorgeous red velvet cake.

Most people who have never had red velvet cake before think it’s either strawberry flavoured or tastes like chocolate cake. It’s easy to see why that’s the case, when most red velvet cakes are vibrant red in colour and cocoa powder is generally used as an ingredient.

But neither of those rumours are quite true. Red Velvet is more like a buttery vanilla cake that has a hint of cocoa. It is neither here nor there. Neither vanilla or chocolate. But there is something about this in between flavour that really hits the spot.

These Red Velvet Cupcakes are soft and fluffy on the inside, with a truly tender crumb. And the chocolate frosting is just the icing on the cake.

Chocolate buttercream made with cocoa powder is good, but sometimes, for an extra special treat, I make my frosting using real chocolate. It’s really easy and it adds an extra depth of flavour, making your frosting smooth and luscious.

I usually use dark chocolate (semi-sweet) rather than milk chocolate, as you already have the sweetness from the sugar and butter – what you need is that rich chocolate flavour.

The finishing touch is a chocolate heart – perfect for Valentine’s Day or just because 💕 No matter the occasion, everyone will fall head over heels for these delicious homemade Red Velvet Cupcakes.

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Let's Bake

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Yield Makes 12 cupcakes 1x

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 4 reviews

Prep: 40 minutesCook: 18 minutesTotal: 58 minutes

Red Velvet Cupcakes topped with swirls of homemade chocolate buttercream.

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Ingredients

Red velvet cupcakes

• 175 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 level tablespoons cocoa powder
• 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons red food colouring

Chocolate frosting

• 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 100 grams (2/3 cups) dark chocolate
• 375 grams (3 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 tablespoons full fat or whole milk, room temperature

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, baking soda and cocoa powder, then add the sugar – give it a good whisk. Pop the butter into the microwave for a short time, 20 seconds or so at a time, stirring until it is just melted. Give it a stir with a fork to eliminate any lumps.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, add eggs, vanilla and butter and whisk together until smooth. Add yogurt and give it a stir – don’t worry if it goes a little lumpy. In a separate small bowl, add the food colouring and vinegar.
4. Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture, along with the food colouring and gently fold until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared liners and pop into the oven.
5. Bake for approximately 18 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Set cakes out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
6. To make the frosting, place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for a couple of minutes until pale and creamy. Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a microwave, stirring in between 20 second bursts, until just melted and set aside to cool a little.
7. Once the butter is very pale and creamy, add half of the powdered sugar and one tablespoon of milk and beat on low until the sugar is incorporated. Then, add the rest of the sugar and the milk, and again beat on slow until the sugar is incorporated before turning up to medium for another minute or so.
8. Next, add in your melted chocolate to the buttercream mixture, ensuring the chocolate is still smooth and melted but is not warm. Beat until the chocolate is completely mixed through. Transfer your frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large circular tip. Pipe swirls onto each cupcake.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1 cupcake Calories: 437

Nutrition information is a guide only.

Author: Jessica HolmesCategory: DessertCuisine: American

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This recipe was first published on Sweetest Menu in July 2016.

Jessica Holmes

Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.