Hi guys!

This is my very first post and I need some help with my cupcakes. I made red velvet cupcakes and while they tasted really good there were a few problems..

1) They came out flat, even a tiny bit sunken in the middle - my baking powder and soda are not old, I also cook them 400 for 2 minutes then decrease to 350 because I want them to dome.

2)They stick to the liners - NEVER had that happen before??

3)They are TOO airy, if you hold them they feel so delicate and when you bite into it it sinks down. - I mixed the batter as little as possible?

I tried to get a hold of the author of the recipe with no luck. I am wondering if I am not adding enough flour? I've heard the correct way to measure flour is to spoon it into the measuring cup, which is what I did, but I don't think most recipes are made with this technique. What do you guys think?

Also, I am thinking I should add a little less oil? I don't think it tastes oily or anything but I read on a different forum about a guy that wanted to increase the density of his cake and his cakes were sticking as well. He ended up using less oil and he was happy with the outcome.

I think I will tap the cupcake pan on the counter next time, too. One last note: I didn't bring my eggs or buttermilk to room temp. could this have anything to do with the problems I'm having? I thought bringing the liquids to room temp. resulted in a lighter cake, which I don't want.

Here is the recipe:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened, cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1-2 oz. red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar
• ½ cup of prepared plain hot coffee (don’t skip this ingredient)

That sounds like a whole lot of oil in that recipe. You may want to try cutting it in half or possibly down by 1/4 cup to start with. It really sounds like there is a lot of liquid in that cake recipe. You may just want to try a whole different recipe altogether. 

Here is a link for another one that uses butter instead of oil. 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/red-velvet-cupcakes-3/

Hey, thanks for replying. I actually used that recipe as well, it was dry, bland, and really dense. I will try decreasing the oil because I think the cake tastes really good compared to other red velvets I've tried.

AI have tried half oil, half butter that helps the consistency and the taste and also the sticking. Although I have never added the coffee. I found if I use the ghiradelli cocoa the taste is out of this world! Hope that helps!

AOh and I melt the butter and mix it with the oil...( not sure that helps but thought I would put that out there)

You have tried this recipe as well? Did it help make it more dense as well as help with the sticking?

I think the coffee makes it taste really good, and you can't taste that there's coffee in there!  

AJessica Yes, but I use cake flour and don't use coffee. Split the butter and oil evenly. It will be light and fluffy but won't stick to your papers. Also I really like the glassine cupcake liners they are grease proof and are awesome to keep cupcakes moist. They are the same consistency as the Reese's peanut butter cup candy liners. Good luck! Let us know how they turned out!

To the OP...

It looks like you used the recipe from this source:

http://divascancook.com/2009/11/the-best-red-velvet-cake-recipe-easy-homemade-moist-with-southern-flair.html

I just tried that recipe this morning.  I tasted the batter before I put it into the cupcake papers and found the coffee taste was obvious, so I added another tablespoon of dark cocoa.  (I personally like the "mocha" taste, but added more cocoa so it would taste more like a traditional red velvet recipe.)  The coffee does intensify the overall taste, because I made another red velvet recipe which tasted less chocolate-y even though it had more cocoa in it.

This batter is the runniest batter I have ever made for cupcakes!  However, it did turn out.  :)

The other recipe I made was from allrecipes, and had a nicer texture, but I preferred the divas recipe for taste.  Here is a link for the other recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/red-velvet-cupcakes-3/

AI use this recipe all the time and reduce the oil from one cup to 3/4 and I don't usually use buttermilk I use regular milk since I always forget to buy it. It's my fav and people that try it also love it