Long back, when we got married, the first thing I baked for my husband was a Red Velvet cake for his birthday. It was a very simple cake with no frills attached and he loved it because it was made with love. We still have that love alive, but to confess; anything I bake today for him, I make him wait till I take photographs and I am satisfied with the outcome from the camera. What a crazy wife, I have become in 15 years of marriage. Lol, and he sitting here beside me agrees with that statement.

I have been asked a lot for red velvet bakes, but most of the requests are for the eggless version. Finally, I share with you a recipe, which is unworldly moist, very tender, with a hint of chocolate goodness and is eggless. I was 100%  satisfied when the cupcakes came out of the oven. This is a recipe to bookmark if you are into eggless bakes.

Though the baked red velvet cupcakes itself are pretty impressive, when we say cupcake, the frosting plays an important role. The cream cheese frosting is a perfect compliment to the indulgently red velvet cakes underneath. “The frosting is like a cloud from cream cheese heaven”, my daughter says. Incredibly creamy, little tangy, sweet, smooth, and luscious.

This is a pretty simple recipe to follow, you will not need much equipment. The ingredients used are easily available too, most of them you will have in the kitchen.  For baking, you will need two bowls one for wet ingredients and other for dry ingredients. Just need to mix them together and bake.

Let’s get to our list of important points first and then we start with the recipe:

1. Cake Flour is key to an ultralight red velvet cupcake recipe. , but you and me, both don’t keep cake flour in the kitchen. So, we can make our own cake flour at home.

Add cornstarch to all-purpose flour to make DIY cake flour. Add 2 Tbsp of Cornstarch for every 1 cup of flour. (replacing the tablespoons of flour taken out).

Sift 5-6 times and it’s ready-to-use cake flour.

Cake flour is a low protein flour (about 8%) and has a very fine texture. A lower protein count = fewer gluten forms when you mix it into a batter, thus producing a cake with a fine, soft crumb. In a nutshell, cake flour produces a noticeably lighter cake crumb than all-purpose when making red velvet cupcakes.

2. All red velvet cakes have specific ingredients in common besides cake flour: cocoa powder, vinegar, buttermilk and baking soda; the reaction of the vinegar with the buttermilk helps to pull out the red colour in the cocoa powder.

Buttermilk is a must when it comes to red velvet. It adds lots of moisture to the baked goods, especially when making an eggless version. You really cannot make these red beauties without it.

To make buttermilk home – 

1. Pour 1 cup of milk into a bowl.
2. Stir in a tablespoon of lemon juice OR vinegar into the bowl with the milk. Let sit for 5 minutes until the milk begins to curdle and becomes acidic. Your buttermilk is ready to be used in any recipe.

In spite of adding buttermilk to the recipe, we will be adding little more of vinegar combined with baking soda to the cupcake batter in the end, just before baking. And don’t get scared with the thought of vinegar in a cake recipe. A touch of vinegar is normal in red velvet desserts– and, you cannot taste it. If you don’t have white vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar. The vinegar also makes the red… redder.

3. Red Velvet Cupcakes have a mild chocolate flavour that comes from adding just 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder to the flour mix. Although it is said, that the reaction between cocoa powder and baking soda gives a red tinge to the cupcake batter.  But to make them look gorgeous and vibrant, we need to add lots of liquid red food dye.

4. It doesn’t feel right, but the fact is we will need to use a lot of food colouring for making red velvet. I want to mention here – The amount of red food colouring is up to you. I tested with varying amounts. To get the dark red colour you see here, use one tablespoon of liquid food colouring.

I suggest dyeing the buttermilk until you are pleased with the colour. There is this brand with the name of Spinz, they have this natural food colours which are not bad for health, you can check them out here Sprig Natural Extracts for Colouring Food and Beverage, Paprika Orange, 15ml

But the closeest red avalible doesn’t make the things look much redder, I have tried that too. The more you add to the recipes, it starts to take an oranges shade. Or you get these reds, which are bright and beautiful Colourmist® Colour Splash (Red),200gm

5. Unlike many of my cupcakes, there’s no creaming involved. Instead, in this recipe, we are using oil and it makes wonderfully moist cupcakes that stays delicious for several days. Just make sure that the oil you use is flavourless and odourless. Vegetable oil or Canola oil any of these will work fine in the recipe.

6. Cupcakes can be made ahead 1 day in advance, covered, and stored at room temperature. Frosting can also be made 1 day in advance, covered, and stored in the fridge until ready to use. Decorate/assemble cupcakes immediately before serving. Leftover cupcakes keep well covered tightly at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 3 days.

7. Baking soda and vinegar, are the ingredients which we will be adding in the last, before pouring the batter into cupcake tray for baking.

Baking soda + vinegar together starts a chemical reaction that helps the cupcakes to rise. It’s a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide bubbles and that’s what makes a cake/cupcake fluffy and light. As and when you add these to the batter, quickly give it a mix using a rubber spatula and pour the batter into the cupcake tray and bake.Rolex Non Stick Coated Muffin Tray A06 12 Cavity

And lastly, preheat the oven and measure the ingredients accurately. Line the baking tray with cupcake cases and you will not have any mess to clean. And don’t overfill the cupcake cases.Maxeon 100 Pcs Greaseproof Paper Cake Cups Liners Muffin Cake Cupcake Cases Fashion Baking Accessory

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cup of cake flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

A pinch of salt

2 teaspoons of cocoa powder

1 cup of sugar

3/4th cup of buttermilk

1/2 cup of oil

1/4th cup of warm water

1 tablespoon of liquid  red food colouring

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of vinegar

For the cream cheese frosting 

1/2 cup butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese
Kraft Philadelphia Original Cream Cheese, 226g

4 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Morphy Richards 28 RSS 28-Litre Stainless Steel Oven Toaster Grill (Black)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180*C. Place the rack in the centre of the oven. Line the cupcake tray with paper cups and set aside.

Mix the dry ingredients properly using a whisk (flour, sugar, baking powder, a pinch of salt, cocoa powder).

In another bowl mix together buttermilk, food colour, oil, warm water, and vanilla. Combine well and set aside.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients with your fingers and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix all the ingredients together using a wire whisk till all are incorporated.

Add the vinegar to the baking soda and give it a quick stir. Add vinegar and baking soda mix to the prepared batter and mix using a rubber spatula and pour the batter into the cupcake tray and bake for 20 too. 25 minutes.

Make sure you pour the same quantity of batter into each cupcake cavity. You can use a big spoon or ice cream scooper for appropriate measurement.

When the baking time is about to get over, insert a toothpick in the centre of a cupcake and it comes out clean, the cakes are baked. Transfer the baked cake to a rack and let it cool for about 5- 10 minutes.

To make cream cheese frosting:

Morphy Richards 300-Watt Hand Mixer (White)
Beat softened butter and cream cheese until well blended using an electric hand whisk. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy.

To assemble:

When the baked cupcakes are completely cool, use a piping bag with your favourite piping nozzle Taz Nozzle, Set Of 9 Piece to decorate the top of each cupcake the way you want. You can also use various sprinkles available in the market.

The picture below is one of my favourites, I enjoyed the photo shoot and it’s my daughter Nitya holding the baked cake for me to click. I love you sweetheart.