Decided to give this recipe the benefit of the doubt due to recent, more positive reviews. Followed the recipe to a T (and I usually don't do that, as I am a more experienced baker and generally incorporate modifications). My cupcakes came out tasting strongly of vinegar with very little chocolate flavor and were quite unevenly sweetened. Very disappointing, first batch in years I've had to throw out.

Thanks goodness I didn't read the reviews until after I was done baking these, otherwise I would not have made the recipe. I have no idea what the other bakers are doing to make these come out oily and brown, but they were PERFECTION. And I consider myself a fairly new baker. The only advice I can give is to FOLLOW THE RECIPE EXACTLY. I rotated mine after 10 minutes in the oven and they were ready to be taken out at 15 minutes. They were gobbled up in a matter of seconds.

what's wrong with you people? you must be new or lousy bakers! This yummy,genius recipe is a sure success, a must keep!!! Do not insult this recipe if you overbaked causing them to be dry or did not whip the oil with the sugar well before you continue the other steps!!! All of us in our company (500 people) bake & love this recipe! Thank you Martha, you're the BEST & OUR IDOL!!!

Is it possible that Martha meant 1/2 C oil instead of 1 1/2?

DO NOT TRY THIS RECIPE! It is worthless crap. I spent three hours making these "cupcakes" and apparently it was worthless as well. These greasy, brown, crunchy thing were flavorless. If you want to waste 1/8 of your day to this stuff then go ahead but I'm warning you they do not turn out pleasant.

Spent three hours making this recipe today. Unlike the classic, moist, red, fluffy Red Velvet cake, these "cupcakes" turned out as brown, hard, sunken in patties drenched in oil. Disgusting. These are the most horrible cupcakes I've ever tasted. Do not make this. Avoid at all costs. Very disappointed in Martha. The frosting, however, was delightful and versatile. Use with anything. The cupcakes? Looked (and tasted) more like bran muffins. Never. Make. This. Garbage.

I was sure I could trust this website to give me reliable recipes. I was wrong. Instead of your typical moist, red, chocolaty Red Velvet cupcakes, I ended up with disgusting flavorless brown sunken in hard patties that were drenched in oil. Very unhealthy. I would not recommend this recipe to anyone. However, the frosting was delicious and versatile. Try the frosting on anything you like. But the cupcakes are garbage. Avoid this recipe at all costs. A waste of three hours.

I have to agree with the previous reviews.... VERY oily! I will try this recipe again and cut the oil by half a cup, increase the butter milk by half a cup, double the cocoa and double, if not triple the red gel. They look brown and not rich red... Disappointing, but they won't be wasted either!

I couldn't find the Red Velvet recipe that I'd had for years, so I went to Martha Stewart to get a recipe. My original recipe was not from Martha and have no idea where it came from, but it was a good one. After reading the first few reviews I was very apprehensive to try this recipe, so I searched some more for my old recipe, to no avail. I decided to give this one a try and I'm SO glad that I did! These were delicious, moist and easy to make! I won't lose this recipe!!

Great ,an easy to follow....delicious fllavor!

Maybe I'm the only idiot in the world who despises Red Velvet Cupcakes, but I do. And not from lack of trying, either -- I've tried so many adorable, designer red velvet cakes and cupcakes that my skin is pink (okay, not really). It seems as though red velvet is only popular for popularity's sake, because I've never met one person who honestly likes red velvet -- including this recipe. Tried it, hated it. (If lore is true, this recipe hails from the South, which I suppose is fitting: it's oily!)

i tried a really similar recipe to this one and i was surprised/grossed out at how much oil gathered on the cupcake linings. i went to look for more recipes and found martha stewarts. it looks like a lot of people didn't like this recipe because of the oil but when i search for diff recipes, that were pretty similar (most all had 1.5 cups of oil) people were raving about how good it was.

is there a misconception between martha stewart vs. other food blogs?

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With 1.5 C oil and buttermilk, I can't see how anyone would call these cakes dry. The liners are saturated with oil, and the cakes themselves have a decided oily flavor. I don't know that I will make these again -- if I do, I will figure out some sort of substitution for a good portion of the cooking oil. Also, I used the gel food coloring and my cake looks more brown than red. I like the idea of not using 2 bottles of food dye, so I will use more gel if/when there is a next time.

Unfortunately, these cup cakes were horrible. I spent a lot of time reseaching recipes for cup cakes to serve at my sister's baby shower. I ended up going with Martha Stewart because I assumed she was legit. I was so dissappointed. These red velvets were almost completely void of flavor. It was like eating white bread in the form of cake. The frosting recipe was also disgusting.

I had tried another recipe I found on the internet first but wanted to try Martha's too. I did them yesterday and they ended up in the trash. The taste of oil was horrific. It was the only thing I could taste. I was really disapointed. Thumbs down

They had a perfect consistency and looked great, but unfortunately they had a disgusting oily taste. I'm not sure if the oil I used was bad, or if it just called for way too much oil.. otherwise the recipe is great, though!

These are moist and delicious. If the batter seems to brown try using a bright pink gel instead, I ran out of red and used it as a substitute with a little orange and it was a more vibrant and classic color red velvet. I add melted white chocolate to the cream cheese frosting and it is sublime.

This was my 1st time making red velvet cupcakes from scratch

This was my 1st time making red velvet cupcakes from scratch

These cupcakes are easy, perfectly yummy and moist! I only had regular red food coloring and used 1 tsp. I made mini cupcakes with this recipe and baked for 6 minutes in a convection oven at 325. If you want moist cupcakes check EARLY and often. My family won't stop eating them! The perfect Valentines Day treat :-)

i just made these for valentines day. i used 1 whole bottle of food coloring, and cupcakes were aesthetically perfect. however, i think the cupcake itself, was a little too dry and could've definitely been sweeter and more chocolatey. overall it was kind of bland, despite having a sweet icing.

These came out more brown than red. I would double the amount of food coloring asked for.

I used an ounce of melted 86% dark chocolate instead of cocoa powder because I have a LOT of it laying around, and it worked perfectly, I let it cool and mixed it into the sugar base before mixing in the flour and milk. These cupcakes are beautifully light and the red colour is awesome! The icing is runny but I stuck'em in the fridge so it's fine.

Fabulous, easy to make cupcakes! They turned out perfect moist and delicious! I only cooked mine for 14 minutes (instead of 20). Perhaps that's why your were too dry? I know I have an especially hot oven!

Ok cupcakes, i would not make them again at allll. Very dry and for sure it did not taste like red velvet.wasted my time and money

Ok cupcakes, i would not make them again at allll. Very dry and for sure it did not taste like red velvet.wasted my time and money

wow these cupcakes were incredible!
i used 1 cup vegetable oil instead, and i didnt have buttermilk, so i used regular milk and a tablespoon of vanilla! either way, it came out amazing:)

I've made these twice now. Once last week for a Christmas party, and were a huge hit. Not sunken in or dry. I do happen to like the color not super red, so was happy with the amount of food coloring. Will keep this as a standard cupcake from now on, love it Martha!

I tried several cupcakes recipes and failed. But this recipe was the best. my co-workers told me that it was the best cupcakes ever. I even got a business to make some more for them. I added 1/4 cup of Mc Cormick reliqued food color instead what says in the recipe. it was great in color and the taste. Thanks Martha As always you are the best.

can i use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour?

These cupcakes are great as long as you eat them they day they are baked - tend to dry out quite a bit overnight. Also, if you want the cupcakes to have the classic red velvet color you will need to double the amount of food coloring called for in the recipe. Cream cheese frosting was the best part and turned out great.

As everyone has said, they do not turn out bright red, but more of a natural red color. Mine rose very well and were puffed and nicely rounded. However, we felt the texture was off...a little tough and dense. After letting the baked cupcakes cool overnight, we thought that they were slightly dry. I even tried to brush on some simple syrup to revive them, but because the cake was so dense, it didn't sink in very far. The icing was delicious, but I won't make the cupcake again.

I CANNOT cook to save my life, but decided to try these anyway for a friend. They were easy to make, came out exactly as I expected thanks to all of the comments (esp. the thoughts on the oil... that would have been shocking had I not expected it) and INCREDIBLY well received!! I was so proud of myself and so grateful for the recipe and the comments! THANKS!!

hey gurls, i lurved this recipe, verrryy yummi. i recomend it highly YUM

Wow. I made those cupcakes and I am very happy with the results. Next time, I may add more cocoa powder, may be 2 tablespoons. But try it as is.

I made these for the first time and they were perfect - the the colour is so fun. Used the Georgetown Cupcake Vanilla Frosting Recipe (on the Martha Stewart website) with them and they were delicious and beautiful too! They would make perfect Canada Day Cupcakes with a red maple leaf on top!

I made these cupcakes tonight for the first time and they came out moist and delicious. I following the recipe exact and had no problems.

I don't know what I did wrong, but I followed the recipe TO A TEE. I've never used non-self-rising cake flour before, and my cupcakes were all sunken in! Also, the batter was strangely gummy and dense, and the color is NOT red (I used the gel paste just like the recipe called for)... more of a brown, natural color. Very strange. I have no idea why these didn't turn out as I'd hoped. Very very strange...

My go-to cupcake recipe. Moist and delicious, especially with the frosting. My only substitute is to use McCormick red food coloring instead of the gel paste. The color of the cupcakes comes out perfectly red. I did not find the cupcakes unpleasantly oily. I almost didn't try this recipe because of a few negative comments. Yes, you will have a bit of oily residue on the bottom - these are cupcakes!!! Moist cupcakes need oil (fat) or they'll be dry.

This homemade buttermilk cheat worked great, I used the vinegar and everything went smoothly, the cupcakes were moist and yummy, I will be making this again.

I found this cheat online, if you don't have buttermilk and need to make your own, place 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in an empty 1 cup measuring cup, fill with milk to the 1 cup line, let stand for 5 minutes (the acid should sour the milk) I will be trying this today so I will let you know if it works

To Rainbowjoy: You can get buttermilk in the dairy case at your local supermarket OR where the sell powdered milk, you can purchase powdered buttermilk. The latter stays a lot longer in your fridge.

To Rainbowjoy: You can get buttermilk in the dairy case at your local supermarket OR where the sell powdered milk, you can purchase powdered buttermilk. The latter stays a lot longer in your fridge.

Wherec can you get buttermilk

Velobaker - WHISK the cake flour, cocoa, and salt with a little hand whisk in a separate bowl. You can whisk (with the same little hand whisk) the sugar

Velobaker - WHISK the cake flour, cocoa, and salt with a little hand whisk in a separate bowl. You can whisk (with the same little hand whisk) the sugar

Question - it says to 'whisk' together sugar and oil, and then 'beat' in the eggs. Then to 'whisk' flour and buttermilk. Do I keep the whisk attachment on my mixer the whole time? or switch to the paddle at some point?

This was a hit and I'd make them again! The coloring even turned out great. It was a bit greasy, but still super yummy.

Even though the amount of oil concerned me I went ahead and made this recipe anyway and boy, not like any red velvet cake I've ever eaten. Gross. I had to throw them out and now I have cream cheese frosting I will have to freeze.

Amazingly moist and delicious! I will make over and over again.

These cupcakes are indeed pretty delicious...but they're not red! They're sort of a disappointing reddish brown. I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things about red velvet cupcakes is the color. This is certainly more "natural," but if you want the full visual effect, tone down the cocoa powder.

made these last night but without the red food coloring... they were a beautiful mocha color and had a moist and spongy texture. I also added a bit of meyer lemon juice and zest to the frosting and sprinkled the tops with cocoa powder... delish!

These were GREAT! Moist, fluffy, and the frosting was the best part!

These were fantastic! They rose up and had a perfect dome, and were moist but still substantial in texture. Changes made - 1) used 1 bottle of regular red food coloring by McCormick rather than the paste 2) added 3 heaping spoons of cocoa rather than 2 level which I felt gave it a better subtle cocoa taste. After taking them out of the oven and letting them cool for 15 mins, I put them on a paper towel because there WAS a little oil residue. Great even straight out of the fridge 3 days later.