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Red Velvet Cupcakes
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Christmas Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet gets popular around Valentine's Day - but what about Christmas? These Red Velvet cupcakes fit a Christmas dessert table perfectly!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time17 minutes
Decorating time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour 22 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Christmas cupcakes, Ganache filled cupcakes, Red Velvet Cupcakes, Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Calories: 438kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Red Velvet Cupcakes

  • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 8 ounces 1 cup butter, cold & cut into pieces
  • 4 eggs (or you can use 6 egg whites for a brighter red color)
  • 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 4-5 large drops Red gel food coloring

(Chocolate ganache filling – optional but recommended!)

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese (one package; softened)
  • 1 cup butter (two sticks, softened)
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • 1-2 Tablespoons milk
  • 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter

Decorations

Instructions

Red Velvet Cupcakes

  • Preheat oven to 350℉. Line 24 cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
  • Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. With two knives or a pastry cutter (or with a stand mixer/paddle attachment), cut in the butter until the chunks are no larger than pea sized.
  • Add in the eggs (or egg whites) one at a time, mixing after each addition. (The mixture will be fairly thick and sticky at this point - this is normal.) Add in the vanilla extract, buttermilk, and gel food color, and stir until well combined.
  • Divide the batter evenly into the 24 cups – I usually use a large (1/4 cup) cookie scoop for this, but a spoon will work as well. Bake until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when touched; about 14-17 minutes. Cool completely before filling and/or decorating. (This is a great time to make your frosting (and / or filling)!)

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

  • Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt if needed and beat until well combined.

(Chocolate ganache filling – optional but recommended!)

  • Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Add whipping cream and microwave on half power in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until fully melted and smooth.
  • Cool until a thicker pipe-able consistency is obtained – this can be sped up by placing in the fridge (or freezer), stirring at 10-minute (or 5 minute) intervals until thickened.
  • Once cupcakes are cool, core and fill them. (Coring can be done with a cupcake corer, the back end of a large piping tip, or a plastic knife.) Save and crumble the cores to decorate the cupcake tops!
  • Transfer ganache into cupcake cores - I like to use a piping bag, but a spoon will work.

Decorating

  • Transfer frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a closed star tip. Pipe frosting in large swirls onto cupcakes. Decorate each frosting swirl with sugar pearl sprinkles if desired, and red velvet core crumbs if you've filled your cupcakes.
  • Done and done! Enjoy!

Video

Notes

(Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate. Counts will be lower in all fields if cupcakes are not filled and/or if entire batch of frosting is not used.)

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 438kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 23g