Serves
12
cupcakes

Intro

This is a little bit of showing off in the best way: a classic red velvet cupcake with tangy cream cheese frosting, finished with a mini red velvet macaron on top. It’s two of my favourite things stacked together, and it’s how you turn a cupcake into something that looks bespoke. The macaron tops borrow straight from themacaron recipe — make a small batch, or use up shells you’ve already got.

At a glance

  • Makes: 12 cupcakes(base for the scaler)
  • Prep: 25 min ·Bake: 18 min ·Decorate: 20 min
  • Difficulty: Moderate(macaron tops optional)
  • Pillar: The Bake → Quick Bakes
  • Themes (dietary): contains gluten, dairy, egg · nut-freewithout the macaron tops

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 190g plain flour
  • 20g cocoa powder
  • 150g caster sugar
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 120ml flavourless oil
  • 1 medium egg
  • 120ml buttermilk(or 120ml milk + 1 tsp lemon juice)
  • 1 tbsp red gel food colour adjust
  • 1 tsp vanilla · 1 tsp white wine vinegar

Cream cheese frosting

  • 100g unsalted butter, soft
  • 200g full-fat cream cheese, cold
  • 400g icing sugar, sifted

To finish

  • 12 mini red velvet macaron shells(see themacaron recipe; colour the batter red)

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas 4 / 350°F. Line a 12-hole tin.
  2. Whisk the dry ingredients. In a jug whisk oil, egg, buttermilk, colour, vanilla and vinegar.
  3. Combine wet into dry until just smooth — don’t overmix.
  4. Divide between the cases and bake 18–20 minutes until springy. Cool fully.
  5. Frosting: beat butter smooth, add cream cheese, then icing sugar; beat just until pipeable — overbeating makes it loose.
  6. Pipe a swirl on each and set a mini macaron on top.

Allergens & swaps

  • Contains: wheat/gluten, milk, egg (and tree nutsif topped with almond macarons).
  • Nut-free: leave off the macaron top, or finish with a red velvet crumb — still lovely, fully nut-free.

Baker’s notes

Cold cream cheese and minimal beating keep the frosting pipeable. The macaron tops can be made days ahead and stored in a tin.