Description
Red velvet marble cupcakes offer a delightful twist on classic desserts. Rich cocoa and cream cheese frosting create a perfect harmony of flavors that chocolate and red velvet enthusiasts will adore.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 ¼ cups (160 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 oz (115 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp red food coloring (gel recommended)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups (190 g) powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Calibrate oven to 350F (175C) and arrange cupcake liners in a 12-cup muffin tin.
- Dry Ingredient Fusion: Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl until uniformly blended.
- Butter Transformation: Cream butter and sugar using an electric mixer until achieving a cloud-like, ethereal consistency.
- Liquid Integration: Blend egg and vanilla extract into the butter mixture, then gently fold in buttermilk and dry ingredients to create a silky, homogeneous batter.
- Color Separation: Divide batter, introducing cocoa powder and red food coloring to a portion, creating a vibrant red velvet variant.
- Marbling Technique: Fill cupcake liners halfway with plain batter, strategically adding red velvet batter on top. Use a toothpick to swirl batters, generating an elegant marble effect without excessive manipulation.
- Baking Process: Slide muffin tin into preheated oven, baking 18-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted emerges pristine.
- Cooling Strategy: Rest cupcakes in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack for complete temperature equilibration.
- Frosting Creation: Whip cream cheese and butter until luxuriously smooth, gradually incorporating powdered sugar and vanilla extract until achieving a pillowy, light consistency.
- Final Presentation: Once cupcakes are thoroughly cooled, ornament with cream cheese frosting, optionally garnishing with sprinkles or red velvet crumbs for visual appeal.
Notes
- Perfect Marbling Technique: Avoid overmixing when creating the marble effect; use a gentle toothpick swirl to maintain distinct color separation and prevent muddying the beautiful red and white patterns.
- Moisture Control: Use room temperature ingredients, especially buttermilk and eggs, to ensure a tender, moist cupcake texture that doesn’t become dense or dry during baking.
- Food Coloring Pro Tip: Start with a small amount of red food coloring and gradually add more to achieve the desired vibrant red velvet shade without compromising the batter’s consistency.
- Frosting Stability: Ensure cream cheese and butter are at room temperature for smooth blending, and avoid overbeating to prevent the frosting from becoming too runny or losing its creamy texture.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 11
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 23 g
- Sodium: 180 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg