Healthy Red Velvet Cupcakes with a light cream cheese frosting
- cynthiastreats
- Feb 1, 2019
- 6 min read
Will you bee my honey?...Galentine?...Valentine? Red Velvet cupcakes are always a good idea. Now, I know the Red Velvet cupcake is getting a bad wrap these days. Here's a Valentine's secret...you don't need the red food coloring to make a delicious Red Velvet cupcake. If you want a little color, add some beet juice to the buttermilk for some lovely Pink Velvet cupcakes, or leave out the color altogether for some delicious Natural Velvet cupcakes.
Our recipe only calls for 1 tablespoon of red food coloring, which we find gives the cupcakes enough color. We've never had any complaints about our #1 cupcake. If baking for the little ones, we recommend leaving out the coloring and going for the Natural Velvet versions in pretty red wrappers.
Here's another secret to the most delish Red, Pink, or Natural Velvet cupcakes...the cocoa powder. As you all probably know, to get the best results, you must use the best ingredients. We use Scharffen Berger, but it's not available in your local supermarket.
This is the one ingredient I would recommend you splurge and level up from everyday cocoa powder.
So without further ado...let's get to it!! 🙌🏼
Red or Natural Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 cup unbleached AP flour (or gluten-free oat flour)
1 cup 100% white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp low-sodium salt (or a salt substitute like Nu-Salt) or 1/8 tsp of sea salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons (this is not a typo) unsweetened 100% natural cocoa powder
1/2 cup all natural unsweetened applesauce
3 T stevia (I prefer Truvia because it acts most like sugar, from my experience)
2 large eggs (or 1 large egg and 2 egg whites from large eggs, for vegan substitute with 1/4 cup aquafaba)
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (yes, 1/4 does make a difference)
1 T red food coloring (or leave it out altogether)
1 tsp white vinegar
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
Directions
We're shooting for an inside oven temp of no more than 300ºF because when you bake with stevia you have to bake slower and longer, and have to reduce the oven temp by 50ºF to 75ºF, depending on your oven. Here are my recommendations, based on my experience baking my cupcakes in all 3 types of ovens with an oven thermometer, pre-heat your oven for at least 30 minutes at:
Conventional gas oven at 280º-285ºF, the inside oven temperature will probably get closer to 300ºF by the time you're ready to bake. Plus, the flames are simply too close to the bottom of the pan and will burn the bottom of the cupcakes before they are finished baking.
Electric oven between 290ºF and 300º depending on the calibration of your oven.
Convection oven, commercial grade, at 280ºF. Once again, this may vary ± 10ºF depending on the oven, but the goal is an inside oven temp of no higher than 300ºF.
Now to the good stuff...
1.) Place cupcake wrappers into a cupcake pan, regular size or mini, your choice. FYI, this recipe yields approximately 16 regular sized cupcakes or approximately 30 minis, so prepare your pans accordingly.
2.) In a medium bowl sift, (simply put a strainer on the bowl and if you don't have one big enough, just hold one over the bowl) together the the dry ingredients: AP flour, WW flour, baking powder, baking soda, low-sodium salt, and cocoa powder.
3.) Give the ingredients a good mix with a whisk and put to one side, make sure it's to your left side...just kidding 😜.
4.) In another medium or large bowl, mix together the applesauce and stevia. Mix on the 2nd highest setting, until it starts to look frothy. Approximately 1 - 2 minutes.
Remember, we're not working with any trans or saturated fats, so mixing time is decreased.
5.) Switch your mixer to low, second lowest setting, and mix in eggs one at a time, whether you're using 2 whole eggs or 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites. If baking with aquafaba, add in two portions and continue to mix until frothy, again.
Working with these ingredients is more difficult because they are more delicate and require a lighter touch during mixing. You want to see some egg streaking, don't over mix the first egg.
6.) Keeping your mixer on the second lowest setting, add in your vanilla extract & red food coloring, and mix for about 15-20 seconds. Don't stress out about the timing here, just don't go crazy over-mixing.
7.) With your mixer set on the lowest setting, add flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Mix until the ingredients are just combined, intermittently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
8.) Add the teaspoon of vinegar and give the entire mixture a slow mix with your spatula scraping all the bits at the bottom of the bowl.
9.) Fill cupcake wrappers halfway only. These cupcakes will rise quite a bit. Bake for 15 minutes.
Baking time will vary depending on the type of oven and the calibration. Start checking at 15 minutes, if you touch them and they spring back, they're done. If you leave a fingerprint, leave them in for another 3, and check again. Continue in 3 minute intervals until they spring back.
For best results, you should always have a thermometer in the oven, closer to the back but not touching the oven wall, even if you have a digital temperature control.
In case you don't already know, the secret to professional looking cupcakes is using an ice cream scoop, a mechanical one, to fill the wrappers.
9.) Remove from the oven and let cupcakes rest in the pan for 5 minutes on a wire rack. After 5 minutes, take them out of the pan and let them finishing cooling on the wire rack.
Frosting
While the cupcakes are cooling we're going to make the frosting. However, if the kitchen is too warm from the oven, wait until it cools down before making the frosting.
Our frosting, like our cupcakes, is low-fat, low-cal, low-carb so it's more delicate to work with than the full-fat version. Also, please note the amount of confectioner's sugar, it's the perfect amount to cut that cream cheesy after taste and still be diabetic friendly. We've worked hard to develop our recipes and balance carbohydrates, fats, and fiber to make them diabetic friendly.
Frosting Ingredients
8oz. brick of Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese (otherwise known as Neufchatel Cream Cheese, and here it's important you use Philadelphia or the frosting will not have the correct consistency).
7/8 cup confectioner's sugar (or looking at the cup just below the rim, any more will make it too sweet).
1 tsp vanilla extract (no imitation vanilla extract for frosting)
Directions
1.) DO NOT bring the cream cheese to room temperature. Take it out of the fridge and put it directly into a medium bowl, (probably best to take it out of the packaging).
That's one of the tricks to working with 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese. It needs to be really cold, and the best way to achieve that is by storing it at the back of your fridge, but do not freeze it.
2.) Sift the confectioner's sugar into the medium bowl. Here it's important to sift the sugar because you do not want any clumps.
3.) Add the vanilla extract.
4.) With the mixer on the lowest setting, mix ingredients until smooth. Give the frosting a slow mix with your spatula or spoonula, making sure to scrape all the bits at the bottom of the bowl.
Do Not over mix or you'll have frosting soup. Because of the low fat content too much mixing will break down the consistency very quickly. If this happens to you the first time just throw it out or drizzle it over the cupcakes. Adding sugar or corn starch will not make it thicker because the structure is already broken down at that point.
5.) Using a spoonula, spoon the frosting into your piping bag. It's much easier if you spoon small amounts. To pipe a rosette, use a 1M tip. To stiffen up the frosting, you can make it the day before and store in the fridge.
Because of the type of ingredients called for using a healthy baking method, I use a hand mixer so I have more control. It's the mixing that's the most difficult since there are no trans or saturated fats. For those of you who use stand mixers, if you follow the directions as closely as possible, you should be ok. Everyone has their own mixing style, maybe I'll do a short video to demonstrate my mixing style for this type of baking.
To store the cupcakes, put them in a ziploc bag and keep them in the fridge if you're going to eat them within a day or two, or in the freezer if you intend to have them around longer than two days.
We wish you a delicious & nutritious Galentine's/Valentine's Day! 🌹💘
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