Green Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

I went there. Let's say that I do not take St. Patrick's Day lightly.  This is a day for my Irish heritage to shine.  (PS - I'm totally not Irish, but I will celebrate with those that are.)  This is a time for celebration.  This is a perfect excuse to bust out a batch of green velvet cupcakes.

Green Velvet Cupcakes.  As in Red Velvet Cupcakes with green food coloring instead of red food coloring.  This isn't rocket science, but let's face it: I'm a sucker for pretty food.  I'm also really into vibrant green colors right now so this was perfect for me.

I've made red velvet cupcakes in the past, but each time I did they just ended up being too dry for my liking.  I spoke to my co-worker who's a baking expert and she suggested I try the Martha Stewart recipe since it uses oil and would make the cake pretty moist.  I initially balked (SAT-word alert!) at the amount of oil Martha called for, so I toned it down slightly and I was quite pleased with the outcome!  I've said it before that I'm not a die-hard red velvet cake fan, but these would help me to reconsider.  I topped these cuppies with my co-worker's white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Green Velvet Cupcakes

slightly adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe
yields ~24 cupcakes

Print Recipe

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons green food coloring*
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

* This is one of those instances where you should do as I say and not as I do.  I only added 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons green food coloring to the batter.  At the time, I thought it yielded a really pretty green.  I thought this green would translate beautifully into a bright green cupcake.  Yeah. Right.  About 20 minutes later, I had mossy green velvet cupcakes.  So make sure you add even more green food coloring than I did.  You will need it!


1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners.


2) In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, cocoa, and salt.  Set aside.


3) Use an electric mixer to beat together the sugar and oil.


4) Drop in the eggs, one at a time, beating in between each addition so that the eggs are incorporated in the sugar and oil.


5) Add the green food coloring and vanilla to the egg mixture.


 6) Alternate pouring in the flour mixture and the buttermilk.  Use the mixer to blend the wet and dry ingredients into the batter after each addition.


7) In a small bowl, stir together the baking soda and vinegar.  It will foam, so make sure you use a bowl that is not very shallow.


8) Pour the baking soda and vinegar into the batter and mix together for ~10 seconds.


9) Ladle the batter into the cupcake liners, filling ~2/3 of the way up the liners.


10) Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes.  Check for done-ness by inserting a toothpick or knife in the middle of the cakes.  When the object cleanly emerges from the cupcake, it is done.


11) Cool the cupcakes completely before attempting to frost them.


(Yes, these cupcakes are being displayed on a snowman plate.  We tend to smush holidays together over here. There's nothing wrong with maximizing the amount of times you can use a holiday item!)


White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
from my coworker Deirdre of Zoe's Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 6 ounces white chocolate, melted
• 3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1) In a mixer, cream together the shortening, butter and cream cheese.


2) Add the vanilla and melted chocolate.  Stir to combine.

3) Slowly add the sugar to the mixture, a few tablespoons at a time.

4) Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.  (If you choose to pipe the frosting, you may need to double the recipe.)