Valentine's Day Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes
These mini red velvet cupcakes with a swirl of cream cheese frosting are the perfect Valentine's Day sweet treat!
Equipment
- 3 mixing bowls or 2 bowls and one large liquid measuring cup
- electric mixer
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk at room temperature or 1/2 cup milk mixed with 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- red food coloring Adjust your amount until you get your desired color. See note below.
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg at room temperature
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1-3 tsp milk optional, to adjust the texture of your frosting
Instructions
Make Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes
- First things first, preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a mini cupcake pan with liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. This ensures that the dry ingredients are evenly distributed.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring. This mixture gives red velvet cupcakes their vibrant hue and tender crumb.**See note below about food coloring
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar using a hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the egg and mix until fully incorporated. This step is key for moist red velvet cupcakes.
- Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ full. Bake for 12–15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. (You might need multiple batches for this recipe, as it makes a little over 24 mini cupcakes and most mini cupcake pans bake 24 at a time)
Make Cream Cheese Frosting
- After the cupcakes have cooled, beat the softened cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, then mix in the vanilla extract. Beat until fluffy and irresistible.
- If you feel like your frosting is too thick to pipe and decorate, you can add just a tinge of milk, but go very slowly adding the smallest bit at a time (like maybe ½ teaspoon)
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag with a star tip (I like the Wilton 1M tip) and swirl it onto each cupcake. Add a sprinkle of red velvet crumbs or festive Valentine’s Day decorations to make them truly special.
Notes
**A note about red food coloring: You can use any type of red food coloring for this recipe. I recommend a gel red food coloring or the red food coloring that you can get in the baking section of most craft stores. I always buy the deep red from Michael's because with such a deep red color, I only need a few drops to get the color I want. With grocery store food coloring, you might need a lot more food coloring to get the color you want. Also, please note that your red color will get diluted throughout the whole amount of batter you have, and you should always start slow with color and add a bit more later on if you think you need it.