A moist, classic Red Velvet Cake!! Made from scratch, and surprisingly easy when a few simple steps are followed – watch how to make it in the recipe video. This has a soft “velvet” texture, just like what you get from top end fine bakeries, and is topped with soft, cream cheese frosting. UK readers: Please read note 7.
Red Velvet Cake recipe – tried and tested favourite!
This Red Velvet Cake has been taste tested and given a big thumbs up by many people because it’s a rather large cake and I’ve made it 5 times in the last two weeks.
“FIVE TIMES??!!”, I hear you exclaim (out loud or in your head). “You’re MAD!!”
If getting this cake exactly to my taste, as close as I can get it to the cakes you get from posh bakeries, and ensuring it works using both US and metric (i.e. rest of the world!!) measures means that I’m a mad baker, I’ll take that title. 😉
Besides, I’m really enjoying baking at the moment. There is something so satisfying about making something as pretty as Red Velvet Cake.
To tell you the honest truth, the reason I made it so many times in recent weeks is because my original recipe got a “so-so” response from the two toughest taste-testers I know: my mother and brother.
“The sponge is zara-zara”, my mother declared on first bite.
What the….?? Zara-zara? What on earth does that mean??
“Zara-zara” means “rough” in Japanese. The Japanese language has a handful of words which sound like what it means. “Zara-zara” being a perfect example. Usually it cracks me up. Not that day.
I gasped, indignant, and grabbed a spoon to shovel a bite into my mouth, ready to argue. And I realised – she was right. It was not as velvety as it could be. As it should be.
NOT HAPPY.
So I improved it. 🙂
What is Red Velvet Cake?
Red Velvet Cake is not just a chocolate cake with red food colouring added. This cake is softer than most, “velvet-like”, and the chocolate taste is actually quite mild. It’s more like a cross between a vanilla and chocolate cake with a very subtle tang from buttermilk. And it is generously smothered in a fluffy cream cheese frosting.
It’s wildly popular in America and there’s a cult following in Australia. Give it a few years, it will become a firm favourite soon!
The cake tastes buttery and moist, because it has butter in it for flavour, and oil for moisture. Yes, you need both, I promise you. It is not the same if you use only one of them.
Why should you use THIS Red Velvet Cake?
There are 3 more specific things about this recipe which might be a bit different to other Red Velvet recipes you have seen, but there’s a reason for it.
1. Cake flour – it’s a must! It’s key to achieving that soft silky sponge, just like what you get from posh bakeries. However, if you really can’t find it, please see the notes for a substitute;
2. Only 2 eggs – I’ve seen some recipes call for up to 5 eggs. I only use 2. It’s enough to hold the cake together just fine – any more than 2, and find the cake begins to start tasting “eggy”; and
3. Buttermilk – For almost every other baking recipe that I make using buttermilk, I say that you can substitute with lemon juice + milk which, when left for 5 minutes, curdles to have the same effect as using buttermilk. Not for this recipe – sorry! It is just not the same – part of the reason mine was “zara zara”. ?
Oh, and one more rule. There is no substitute for Philadelphia Cream Cheese for the frosting. I’ve tried better value store-brand cream cheese before. It is never the same. Promise. ❤
I bake the layers in 2 separate tins, but if you don’t have two tins, you can make one big one and cut the cake in half. And to make the layers nice and neat, I cut the dome top off.
I like to crumble the off cuts and use it to decorate the cake. I think it looks pretty, don’t you? But that’s purely optional!
I promise you, there is nothing tricky about this cake. All you have to do is ensure you measure the ingredients properly, rather than just eye-balling it. 😉 As long as you do that, it’s actually easy to make, no more difficult than an ordinary sponge cake.
Putting aside fiddly fancy decorated cakes, Red Velvet Cake is surely one of the most striking and stunning cakes around. If you’ve never tried it before, you’re in for a real treat! – Nagi x
More cake recipes you should try!
- Chocolate Cake – gold nugget recipe, super easy (no creaming butter) and yet so tender and moist!
- Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake – made with both real chocolate and cocoa, fudgy but not dense like mud cake
- Everyday Vanilla Cake – the cake you can make without running to the store
- Apple Cake – love the spicing in this!
- Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze
- See all Cake recipes
Red Velvet Cake
Watch how to make it
How to make Red Velvet Cake – quick tutorial video! Red Velvet Cake for UK readers – please ensure you read Notes 7 and 9.
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Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cups (400 g) plain cake flour (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp (10 g) cocoa powder, unsweetened
- 1 tsp (5 g) baking soda / bi-carb soda, , NOT baking powder (Note 2)
- Pinch of salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter, softened (1 US stick)
- 1 1/2 cups (330 g) caster / superfine white sugar (Note 3)
- 2 eggs, at room temperature (around 2 oz / 60g each)
- 1 cup (250ml) vegetable oil
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (or essence)
- 1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature (Note 4)
- 2 1/2 tbsp red food colouring liquid (UK: use Gel, Note 7)
Frosting
- 14 oz (400 g) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, block (not spreadable tub, UK see Note 9)
- 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter ,at room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups (450 g) soft icing sugar / powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (all oven types). Butter 2 x 21cm / 8" round cake pans (sides and base) and dust with cocoa powder.
- Sift the Dry Ingredients and whisk to combine in a bowl.
- Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with electric beater or in stand mixer until smooth and well combined (use paddle attachment if using stand mixer).
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between to combine. At first it will look curdle - keep beating until it's smooth.
- Add vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla, buttermilk and red food colouring. Beat until combined and smooth (Note 5).
- Add Dry Ingredients. Beat until just combined - some small lumps is ok, that's better than over mixing.
- Divide batter between cake pans. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes on the same shelf, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. (Note 6)
- Rest for 10 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool.
Frosting
- Beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla for 3 minutes (this makes it really smooth and changes from yellow to almost white). Add icing sugar and beat for 2 minutes or until frosting is light and fluffy to your taste. If your frosting seems too runny (depends on quality of cream cheese/ if the cream cheese was too soft), just add more icing sugar.
Frost Cake
- Cut the top off the cake using a serrated knife (to make the layers neat).
- Spread one cake with 1 1/2 cups of frosting. Top with the other cake. Spread top and sides with remaining frosting.
- Optional: Crumble offcuts and use to decorate the top rim and base of the cake.
Recipe Notes:
.Life of Dozer
This is how he starts every day: assessing the surf. 😉
should I put the cake in the fridge to allow the icing to harden? or is it better to leave out in room temp?
I leave mine out of the fridge You can refrigerate if you prefer, but I recommend letting it come to room temp before serving ❤️
Hello Nagi. I just can’t say enough how good your recipes are. We just love everything. Yesterday we had the mushroom rice again for dinner but one of our favourite is the Butter Chicken. I want to bake the red velvet cake for my son’s 18th birthday next week. We tried the chocolate cake a few weeks ago and we love it. However, I just want to ask what Cake Flour do you use. I am in Melbourne and have checked Coles online for cake flour but nothing comes up. I saw the Lighthouse Self Raising Flour for cake, sponge & Bun.
Is that the one that you used for this recipe. Thanks. Read you soon
Hi Jennifer, yes that’s the exact one I use!
Thank you so much
I made your red velvet cake and every one loved it. I want to make an egg less cake. what should be substituted for egg in this recipe. pls reply
Hi Reshmi, I haven’t tried this one with an egg substitute sorry!
This was the best red velvet cake recipe I have ever tried! It was a BIG hit Christmas day 😀
What a great compliment! Thank you!
I made the cream cheese icing but it was too runny to pipe! What did I do wrong? I followed everything as directed! Please help! Was my first time using my kitchen aid too.
I made the cream cheese icing last night and tried to pipe it but it was too runny?? What did I do wrong? I followed everything I was supposed to. Please help. Was my first time using my kitchen aid too.
Hi please help me I live in UK and we don’t have all purpose or cake flour can I use self raising flour? And do I still need to add the 1 tsp of bi carbonate soda
Hi Danielle, all purpose flour is the equivalent of plain flour in the UK. Also, the larger Sainsbury’s supermarkets (not local version) sell McDougalls brand cake flour. I hope this helps.
Actually just realised that you’re right, we don’t have cake flour! Just like we don’t have blocks of cream cheese! The McDougalls one I was talking about is sponge flour which is as a premium self raising flour. I guess you can follow Nagi’s substitution information in the notes section.
I was wondering if the cake can be made the day before as well as I’m making it for x-mas. I’ll frost it the day of. Thanks.
I was wondering how this cake is if you make it the day before (as in today for me lol). My daughter’s 21st birthday is tomorrow, and I’m afraid to leave it until tomorrow to bake having never made a red velvet cake before. But is it best on the day? Thank you!
Hi Jayne, should be fine made the day before!
Wonderful new website Nagi! Fresh, easy to navigate and everything is mouth watering! Love your work!
Thanks so much for the feedback Julia!!
Hi Nagi,
I will be baking this for our family Xmas party (along with your triflfe), my pans are 21c, however only 3cm high, so I was wondering if it would still work the same with doing three layers instead of two? 🙂
Hi Hayley, just use three pans instead of two, just keep an eye on them and check at about 18 minutes or so!
Hi! Love your site, the way you write is so warm and familiar (and not annoying like other recipe blogs), love your puppy! I always refer your site to friends and family because every single one of the recipes have turned out amazing…except this one! I was wondering if it’s 2 2/3 cups or 400g cake flour? I weighed 400g of cake flour out and the cake turned out powdery dry! 🙁
That doesn’t sound right at all Diana, 2 & 2/3 Cups of flour equals 400g so either way it is the correct amount. I’ve never had this issue before and made this cake plenty of times!
Hi, if 1 cup of flour=120g (std measuring cup), doesn’t 2 2/3 cups=320g? 400g actually works out to 3 1/3 cups doesn’t it?
I had the same problem (just left a comment to that effect – although accidentally referred to sugar weight instead of flour weight in my plea for a correction! 🤦♀️)
Hi! I’m a BIG fan. I always recommend your site to friends and family when they ask for good recipes because I love your cutie puppy. and I find the way you write so warm and real (and not annoying, like some food blogs I’ve read.) AND every single recipe I’ve made has come out perfectly delicious! All except…this one! *Gasp! The cake came out powdery dry. And I was wondering if it’s really 400 grams of cake flour? Or is it 2 2/3 cups? I didn’t think that’s the same thing? Anyway, I’d love to know what you did when you made this beautiful cake.
Hi, THIS LOOKS GREAT. I REALLY WANT TO TRY IT THIS WEEKEND.COULD I ADD RUM TO THE FROSTING TO GIVE IT A KICK? IF SO, WILL IT AFFECT THE CONSISTENCY OF IT DRAMATICALLY.
A dash of rum sounds great!
Love love love this recipe! It never fails me and I have made it often, so often that I keep getting hints dropped about when am I baking again! I’m in the uk so I use the substitutions which work very well. You can’t go wrong! Thanks for a great recipe!!
Hi. Does the recipe call for 2 tablespoons of cocoa or 10g? These measurements are different weights so I’m a little confused. Thanks.
I made this for my Dutch in-laws and it was a massive hit. My daughter also asked for it for her 9th birthday party. I love this cake so much I am now looking for occasions to make it.
Just made this cake, my very first red velvet and I am in the UK! I was scared I have to admit especially when at the very first step mixing butter and sugar and it didn’t combine …just looked like breadcrumbs I almost cried, so I did chuck a bit more butter in just to combine (all measurements were as per the recipe?!) anyhoo I persevered as there was no going back …I didn’t have enough stock to try again. The rest went ok aside from a whole tube and a half of gel icing still making it baby pink 🙄. I only had one tin (I was going for heart shaped) so split he batter and baked. Stayed quick soft in the middle and my first one sunk ever so slightly. Second bake was better. Left to sit overnight (covered).
Today I made the cream cheese frosting as recommended with only 250g of Philly and a smudges more icing sugar and wow …delicious. I’m quite literally eating the cut offs and finger fills of the icing …I can’t. Stop. Eating. It! 🐽
It’s to be transported so I’m going to assemble tomorrow when I reach my destination. The cakes feel very weighty but I’m excited! 😊 hopefully it stands up ok and the frosting survives the weight. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Can’t wait for all the family to try it. Even as crumbs and finger fulls it’s heaven in my mouth! I’m baking this every time from now on!
Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! Love it xxx