Black Velvet Cupcake Recipe

5 from 5 votes

These black velvet cupcakes are simple to make, super light and dreamy and effortlessly vegan. Plus they're a little spooky.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Course: Dessert, Holiday Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Calories: 542kcal

Preheat oven to 170°C or 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin pan.
Sift the flour, black cocoa powder, baking soda and powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl combine the milk and apple cider vinegar and leave for 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the remaining wet ingredients and then add them to the dry, whisking until combined. Don't over-mix, just whisk until most of the lumps are gone but a few is OK.
Fill each cake mould two-thirds with the batter and transfer to the oven to bake for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through. Once done, remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely.

With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on low speed until creamy - about 30 seconds.
Add a cup of sifted confectioners’ sugar Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, and add the sifted black cocoa powder. Continue beating for a minute- you may need to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl - before adding another cup of confectioners' sugar.
Add in the vanilla, milk and beat again until combined. Add half a cup more of the sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the final half-cup if you need to.
The buttercream should be smooth and silky but hold its shape well. Transfer it to a piping bag and pipe onto your cupcakes to serve. I used a Wiltons 1M tip for the pictured cakes.

Tips.

Sift the black cocoa. Like all cocoa, black cocoa gets a bit lumpy so sift it into your cake batter and buttercream.

Don't wear white. Black cocoa can get in everywhere and it's a bugger to clean. I haven't had it stain anything but I have been a hot mess with black hands on more than one occasion.

Don't over-mix the batter. I should get this stamped on my forehead, I say it so often. Always whisk or stir cake batters until combined and most of the lumps are gone but stop there. A few lumps won't hurt as much as rubbery cakes. Rubbery cakes? Now that's a tragedy.

Darken the buttercream. To make your buttercream super black, add a drop or two of natural black food colouring. I actually don't do it myself, but if you want a true black you'll have to give it a little help. You can also add a touch of food quality charcoal if you have it.