A moist, classic Red Velvet Cake!! Made from scratch, and surprisingly easy when a few specific, simple steps are followed. This iconic cake has a soft “velvet” texture, just like what you get from the best top end fine bakeries, and is topped with soft, cream cheese frosting.
After Red Velvet Cupcakes? Here they are! 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
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 3a)
- 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 (Note 10)
- 14 oz (400 g) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, block , softened but not too soft (UK see Note 9)
- 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter , softened (but not too soft)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups (450 g) soft icing sugar / powdered sugar sifted (Note 3b)
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:
Let them eat cake! 10 more classic cakes
.Life of Dozer
This is how he starts every day: assessing the surf. 😉
Frida says
Hi,
Love this recipe! I had a trial run the other day and it came out very well in texture and flavour.
I’m now going to attempt making a 10 inch cake – do you think your recipe x 1,5 sounds sufficient?
Comparing another 10″ recipe I found everything is very similar apart from the amount of white vinegar where they use 1tbsp rather than 1,5 tsp. What would you recommend?
Many thanks!
Frida
Nagi says
Hi Frida! Personally I’d just use this recipe and know that it won’t be quite as high 🙂 But yes other 1.5x and please scale up every ingredient including the vinegar! N x
Frida says
Oh my oh my, the cake came out beautifully and everyone absolutely loved it!
For any UK based people I’d recommend using sugarflare paste extra red food colour as it makes it really red and pretty. Food colour liquid didnt work for me at all.
Thank you for the recipe Nagi! I’ll be making it again very soon x
Nagi says
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Friday, thank you for letting me know! And thank you for sharing that tip, you’re very kind 🙂 N x
Kat says
Will premium 100% pure sugar cane work for the recipe?
Nagi says
I’m sorry I haven’t tried Kat. 🙂 I don’t know enough about cane sugar, sorry!
Maddy says
Hi Loved this recipe it worked perfectly and everyone commented on how amazing it was! Thankyou! If I was going to make these into cupcakes how long do you recommend cooking it for??
Nagi says
That’s so great to hear Maddy! 22 – 25 min for a standard cupcake size @ 180C/350F 🙂 Check with a skewer at just over 20 min, see how it’s going!
Carlo says
Recipe looks great! Is there a reason you specify liquid food coloring and not gel? I’m in the states and typically gel is preferred over liquid. Our version of liquid can sometimes give the cake a funny aftertaste.
Thanks in advance
Nagi says
Hi Carlo! I use liquid because it’s easier to measure out because gel is so concentrated. You can definitely use gel if you prefer! 🙂
Carlo says
Oh great! Thank you! Can’t wait to make it tomorrow morning..
Abbie says
How do I modify this to make 3 layers? Will the amount of batter work or should I double the recipe?
Nagi says
Hi Abbie! Just divide the batter between 3 tins, bake for 22 minutes (check with skewer). If you don’t have 3 tins (like me!) then pour 2/3 into one tin (30 min bake) and 1/3 in another (22 min bake), and cut the larger one in half. 🙂
abbie says
great! i’ll give it a try! thank you.
Kim A Simpson says
My son asked for a red velvet cake for his birthday cake. I’ve never made one before so I thought I’d give it a whirl with your recipe. I live at 7000 ft above sea level so can you please tell me what adjustments would you make to the recipe for baking at this altitude? Thank you!
Nagi says
Hi Kim! Sorry I don’t know the specifics for this recipe but this resource will help! http://dish.allrecipes.com/high-altitude-cake-baking/
delipostsdotcom says
ain’t it perfect for valentines day? 😛 Probably one of the most insanely perfect cake it looks amazing, i can’t wait to make these Valentines day!!!. Thank for the sharing this great recipe with us. May God Bless You.
Nagi says
Oooh yes you are SO RIGHT about that!!!! ❤️
Hannah says
So I made this last night and the flavour was bang on but my cakes sunk horrendously in the middle. I only had plain flour (which after googling lots was advised by the Internet to go with 2 cups of flour which is standard for a cake this size if you don’t have cake flour) I did think it was too liquid-y when it went in the pans so will either add more flour next time or reduce the oil cos when I was crumbling my offcuts my fingers were very greasy after!
Also I thought it would be good to mention that I’m in the UK and most of our shop bought liquid food colourings are ‘natural’ and will not hold their colour when baked. I didn’t realise this til it came out looking like a normal chocolate cake. I noticed it said ‘not bake stable’ on the side of my food colouring bottle so after more googling found out that the gels and pastes which are artificial as opposed to natural are bake proof. So I will try a paste next time and hopefully it’ll stay red in the oven! My other half is very happy to eat the practice runs though. 🙂
X
Nagi says
Hi Hannah – sorry to say that 2 cups of flour is certainly not enough 🙁 Also if you see Note 1, there are the substitutions for how to make this with plain flour. Hope you do give it a go again! Promise it is worth it 🙂
Bessie matthews says
I made this cake from another source l wanted a cake with more flavor or taste but cannot fine it. Any suggestion thank you.
Nagi says
Hi Bessie! This cake to me is everything you want a Red Velvet to be 🙂 Hope you do try it!
Allie says
Should I butter the bottom and the sides of the pans or just the bottom? also, if the pans are nonstick and rather dark, should I decrease the oven temp to 325 or is 350 okay? thanks!
Nagi says
Hi Allie! Sides and base 🙂 What do you mean “if the pans are rather dark….should I decrease oven temp”?? Are they some sort of magical pans? 🙂 I’ve never heard of the pans affecting the suitable oven temp!
Marie-Pierre says
Color of the pan changes a lot the final result!
Here’s a link with infos about it?
http://www.thekitchn.com/do-dark-colored-pans-heat-differently-weve-got-chemistry-219610
Nagi says
Learn something new every day! I can imagine it can make a real difference to cookies 🙂 I only have grey springform pans so this is made with a grey one!
Allie says
OH and, if i only have 9″ pans, do you recommend I add to the ingredients or will it be okay as is? thanks!
Nagi says
Hi Allie! 9″ pans will be fine 🙂
Sarah says
My cakes didn’t rise 🙁 I have yet to taste them
Nagi says
Oh dear. Did you remember the rising agents??? 🙁
Lulu says
The flavour of this cake is SO good, and definitely moist. However when I flipped them out of their pans there were spots of gooeyness. Not everywhere! Just in spots. I don’t know if I underbaked them (I baked for 30 mins) or maybe its little lumps that when cooked melted and stayed at the bottom of the pan? Either way I am very happy with the result! I was scared to overmix so there definitely was some lumps but nothing to freak out about
Nagi says
Hi Lulu! that sounds really odd ? Where were the spots of gooeyness?? So not concentrated in the centre? I’m glad you were happy with the result though! I really should make a video of this recipe one day soon! N xx
Ruxana says
I’ve made red velvet cake so many times always looking for the best recipe. This is definitely the best so far. But there is one more ingredient that I have to add…
Instant coffee, it is a must. Half a cup of coffee after adding the eggs. ?It lifts the flavour to the sky! It’s a promise!
Nagi says
OK! You’ve convinced me I will add it next time!!!!! 🙂 N x
Rakiya maqsood says
Hi just wanted to know whether this cake could be used for a tiered wedding cake?
Nagi says
Hi Rakiya! I’ve never tried it myself but if you use the supports then I don’t see any reason why not!
Tiffany says
Love it. I just omitted the cocoa. It was moist and light. I did adjust my cooking time a little. However, I add vinegar to my milk and let it sit for 15 minutes before I use it instead of lemon juice. It works for me!
Esther says
Hi Nagi,
What will the outcome be like if I remove the cocoa powder- can’t risk the cake turnng brown again :'(
Nagi says
Hi Esther – are you in the UK? If so, I have added new notes about UK food colouring 🙂 It’s a nationwide problem!!!! If you remove the cocoa powder, you will miss that hint of chocolate flavour that is part of a real Red Velvet Cake!
Esther says
Hi Nagi,
Yes I live in the UK. I’ve read all the notes about the change in regulation affecting us British bakers :'( Would it be okay to reduce the amount of cocoa powder and increase the food coloring?
Nagi says
Hi Esther! Yes you can reduce the cocoa powder 🙂 There’s only 2 tbsp so it won’t affect the recipe too much
Nagi says
I’m so happy to hear that Tiffany! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
Barbara says
I cannot tell believe how disappointed I am. I made this recipe and followed it to a “t”. It looked beautiful, but the cake itself was DRY! What a waste of time. I didn’t substitute anything. I had all the ingredients and was so disappointed. It was supposed to be the highlight of our Christmas desserts.
Nagi says
I’m sorry to hear that Barbara. All I can think is that you accidentally misread one of the ingredients or instructions because I can absolutely promise you (and also the many comments support) that this is not dry, it is moist and really tender. 🙂
Sangeet says
How long can this cake be kept outside after the icing and/or does it have to be kept in fridge after frosting. If we do keep in fridge how long and will the icing melt or something if we keep in fridge for like 4 5 hours and then take out…appreciate your response. Thanks
Nagi says
Hi Sangeet! I don’t refrigerate this unless it gets above around 28C 🙂 It is definitely best served at room temperature so if you do refrigerate it, yes, please take it to about 1 – 2 hours before you serve it. 🙂
Jean Pless says
What weight is the buttermilk – I am in Scotland – going to attempt this for new years day – thank you – oh happy new year when it comes 🙂
Nagi says
Hi Jean! Please ensure the buttermilk by volume – 1 cup / 250ml 🙂
Sarah says
The mixture won’t separate at step 5 if you add 1 teaspoon of the flour with each egg at step 4. 🙂
Nagi says
Thanks for the tip Sarah, I’ll give it a go the next time I make it! N x
Sharifa Hassan says
Hello! I can’t seem to find a liquid buttermilk here in our country, but I found a buttermilk powder. Sadly your recipe calls for liquid one, right? What should I do?