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Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Print Recipe
Servings 24

Ingredients
  

Dry Ingredients

  • 2.5 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 4 tablespoons cocoa powder (not dutch pressed)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Wet ingredients

  • 2 cups soy milk (room temp)
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon gel food color, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
  • 3 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 0.5 teaspoons almond extract
  • 2 teaspoons chocolate extract

Frosting

  • 10 tablespoons butter
  • 16 oz cream cheese (two 8 oz blocks)
  • 7.5 cups confectioner's sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanila

Instructions
 

Cupcakes

  • Preheat oven to 350 and take soy milk out of fridge, add the apple cider vinegar and let sit at room temp to curdle (we are making the non-dairy version of buttermilk in this step).
  • Add dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk to mix.
  • Add gel food coloring to 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl and mix, it is ok if it does not completely dissolve at this step.
  • Add canola oil, vanilla extract, almond extract, and chocolate extract to a medium bowl and mix. Add in the gel food color above and whisk with a whisk until gel is dissolved (will turn a bright magenta color).
  • Add wet ingredients in the medium bowl to the dry ingredients in the large bowl in three partitions, mixing in between.
  • Line 12 cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill each cupcake hole 3/4 full with batter. Bake for 20 min at 350C. Then let cool for 5 minutes on a rack. Then transfer cupcakes from the cupcake pan to cooling rack to continue cooling. I use silicon tongs (soft so not to make dents in cupcakes) for this step to avoid touching the cupcakes which are still hot.
  • Let cool COMPLETELY.

Frosting

  • Bring cream cheese and butter out, put in a mixing bowl and let warm to soften slightly about 15 minutes. Cream these two together with a paddle attachment (if using a stand mixer) or using a hand mixer regular non-whisk attachment for 2-3 minutes till evenly mixed up. Add vanilla.
  • Add in powdered sugar, mix till homogeneous every 3 cups. If you have a high level of motivation and plenty time to spare you can sift the powdered sugar in but that is completely optional. I did not shift, the cupcakes look like they do in the pictures.

Decorating cupcakes

  • Scoop frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large start tip (Wilton 1M is a good one but any start tip that is of similar size will work). Seal bag and pipe swirls on top cooled cupcakes.
  • Sprinkle gold stars on some cupcakes (optional). Top with a strawberry or raspberry. Make sure you pick a small-ish strawberries to keep it looking proportion.