If you can't find that, you can also just use red food gel paste or red food coloring. Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion: I exclusively use LorAnn Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion, because it's more concentrated and adds flavor to the finished product.Once the cupcakes are cooled and the frosting is whipped, you're ready to transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with the piping tip of your choice and start decorating! Substitutions & Variations Step 4: If you're going to add white gel paste (or any other color), add a couple drops and beat again to combine and your desired color is reached. I like to add Bright White food gel paste to my cream cheese frosting to eliminate a little of the yellowish hue that naturally comes with butter-based frostings. White food gel paste – This is totally optional, and purely a personal preference.Powdered sugar – Adds sweetness and structure to the frosting, and can be scaled up or down based on your personal preference for sweetness.Just note that it will add a bit of color and darken your frosting a tad. Clear vanilla extract – I use clear vanilla extract in my frosting since it doesn't add any color to it – but you could always use pure vanilla extract.Unsalted butter – Adds structure and flavor to the frosting.Room temperature blocks of cream cheese, not the spreadable kind you use on bagels. Cream cheese – Because, you know, cream cheese frosting.Key Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting While the cupcakes are cooling, you can make your frosting! It can be placed in the fridge until your cupcakes are completely cooled and ready to be decorated. Step 7: Carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Step 6: Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. If you can't find that, you can also just use red food gel paste or red food coloring for similar results. Red velvet bakery emulsion – I exclusively use LorAnn Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion, because it's more concentrated and adds flavor to the finished product.Pure vanilla extract – The good stuff, not the artificial stuff.It also helps produce the tender crumb we're looking for, as well as preserve that bright red color we know and love in red velvet. White vinegar – As I explained earlier, baking powder needs a liquid to interact with, and vinegar specifically helps kicks off the leavening process.You can even make your own buttermilk, it's super easy and quick! Buttermilk – Buttermilk is a must, as regular milk won't give the same tender crumb and lightness we're looking for.Unsalted butter – Melted and slightly cooled, adds flavor and some moisture.Cold eggs can be difficult to combine and seize up other ingredients it interacts with. Eggs – Room temperature eggs are essential to easily incorporate with the rest of the ingredients.Baking powder – The leavening agent of choice, which will interact with the vinegar and buttermilk.Unsweetened cocoa powder – Nothing fancy, just good ol' unsweetened cocoa powder.Granulated sugar – For sweetness that every good cupcake recipe requires.You can even make your own cake flour if you want! All that said, you can still use all purpose flour in a pinch though. Cake flour – I highly recommend using cake flour over all purpose flour, as it provides a more tender crumb to the cupcakes.Science for the win! Key Ingredients for Red Velvet Cupcakes Don't forget to melt the butter! This shot was taken before I'd taken that step. Baking powder includes sodium bicarbonate and an acid, and it only needs a liquid to become activated.Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which requires an acid and a liquid to become activated and help baked goods rise.If you're thinking “But Leslie – the ingredients say to use baking powder, not baking soda!”, let me explain: The vinegar is essential in helping the baking soda leaven the cake. Why do you put vinegar in red velvet cake? The reaction of vinegar and buttermilk combined together makes the cake moist, light and fluffy – and it also brings out the color in the cocoa powder, which we then emphasize even more with the addition of red food coloring. What makes red velvet so special?įair question, since I just told you it's basically just vanilla cake with a little extra stuff mixed in. So the flavor is more similar to a vanilla cake than a rich chocolate cake. When you break it down, red velvet cake is actually a vanilla cake that has a little bit of cocoa powder and red food coloring added. What is the actual flavor of red velvet cake? Key Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting.Key Ingredients for Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Using red velvet bakery emulsion