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. 😉
Sharifa Hassan says
Hello! I can’t seem to find a liquid buttermilk here in our country but I have found a buttermilk powder. Sadly your recipe calls for a liquid one. What should I do?
Nagi says
Hi Sharifa, I’m sorry I haven’t tried it with powder but I’m pretty sure it will work!
Marie Lebreton says
Excellent recipe!!
Nagi says
Thanks Marie!! N xx
Marie Lebreton says
Nagi,
I love, love your instagram posts! Your enthusiasm comes across loud and clear!
I made your red velvet cake for my family’s Christmas party. The recipe and especially the notes made it foolproof. It was a huge hit.
I’m making it again for New Year’s Eve. My question is: can I make the frosting a day ahead?
Thanks!!
Marie
Nagi says
Hi Marie! I am so glad you enjoy my IG posts, thank you! I’m sorry for the delay responding 🙁 I don’t recommend making the frosting the day ahead, it kind of flattens so you wold need to re-beat it. N xx
Jennifer says
Absolutely delicious! Made this for Christmas per my husbands request. I searched many different sites and recipes before deciding on this one. Although many of the recipes were similar, this one stood out because it calls for a cup of oil, also uses cake flour and super fine sugar ( which I made in my food processor). I do think that contributes to the soft, super moist cake. Of course I also read all the reviews. It was a hit and everyone devoured it! Thank you for a superb recipe that will join my archives of “best recipes” that I will make again.
Nagi says
WOO HOO! so glad you enjoyed this Jennifer!! The oil, cake flour and super fine sugar are definitely very specifically in this recipe 🙂 Oil makes it more moist than just using butter, the cake flour makes the crumb really tender (like what you get from good bakeries) and the super fine sugar dissolves much faster so also contributes to that beautiful tender texture. 🙂 N xx
Carmen says
Loved the cake however the frosting had a tangy taste, not sure what happened also had lumps in frost.
Nagi says
Hi Carmen! The frosting will have a slight tang because it is made with cream cheese 🙂 Most people love that!! For the lumps, the icing sugar needs to be sifted (please see ingredients) 🙂
MelB says
I viewed about 20+ red velvet recipes (no exaggeration) since 5am this morning, and I figured there had to be a more simplistic one out there. Then around 3pm I crossed yours; however, what attracted me were #1 the positive reviews and your quick response, and #2 the easy to follow recipe. Since this was my first time making a red velvet cake, I reduced the ingredients by half and made one pan instead. It turned out PERFECT! I did run into a hiccup, but it was on my part: I don’t own any circular bake pans so I had to use the cheap tin one from the grocery store, which made me cook it for 50 mins. Even with the extra time, it still turned out really moist. I didn’t have regular buttermilk so I used low fat buttermilk, and I used Swans Down Cake Flour. This was my test run for my Post Christmas Dinner Party, rest assure that I will be serving this cake there.
I lived in Japan for a year and I must say that perfection was all I had while there.
Thank you so much!
Nagi says
Woo hoo! I am so thrilled to hear that it came out perfect for your Mel!! I know what you mean, when I am searching for a recipe I always do lots of research before settling on one. Glad this met your expectations!!! 🙂 N x
Jaime T. says
Could I use sour cream instead of the oil ? Just curious
Nagi says
Hi Jaime, sorry, I recommend sticking to the recipe as written. 🙂 N x
Debronski Lim says
Hi! So I tried this recipe but I encountered some problems. I’m using a small oven, and I did the baking in one cake pan for 45 minutes at 180c. However, at the 20 minutes mark, the top of the cake started to burn and I quickly covered it with foil. But about 10 minutes later the burn smell gets stronger and I had to take it out to check. The top part was even more burned and cracked now but inside is still wet and gooey. At around 35 minutes mark, I lowered the temperature to 150c and switched the top heat off, and let it bake until the timer goes off. But again when it’s done, I took it out and the red gooey part inside is oozed out of the top of the cake. Any advice?
Nagi says
Hi Debronski! I’m sorry to hear you had problem, it sounds like your oven doesn’t distribute heat evenly if the top of the age was burning at 20 minutes. Smaller oven would mean the heated walls are closer to the cake which would explain why it was burning. When you say “small oven”, how small? one of those really small toaster ovens??
Debronski Lim says
Hey there, really appreciate your reply! It’s a 20L oven, not those toaster ones. Do have any recommendations on how to adjust the heat & time before I give it another try? I’m still planning to do it in one cake pan. Or do you think it’s better to seperate and bake twice? Fyi, I only have one cake pan that’s suitable for this so if I were to bake it twice, I’d need to wait for the first one to cool before baking the second one.
Nagi says
Hi there! Can you tell me a little more about the oven?? Is it a normal home oven? 20L sounds small to me. And a small oven will definitely cook this more unevenly. 🙂
Debronski Dominic says
Yes it’s a normal small home oven. You can see more details on it at this link :-
http://www.senheng.com.my/electric-oven/17592-pensonic-20l-electric-oven-pen-peo2000.html
This is exactly what I’m using. Hope you can help me to figure things out, thanks!
Rebecca says
Made this for a birthday, everyone loved it! One question, I bought and used Lighthouse plain cake flour, but I noticed on the SR flour it mentions sponges on the packet. Did I use the right one? Mine didn’t rise to speak of and I didn’t really need to cut any off, I just did so I could use it to decorate as it’s so pretty 🙂 thanks again!
Nagi says
Hi Rebecca! I use this Lighthouse one, did you use this one? https://www.woolworths.com.au/Shop/Search/Products?searchTerm=cake%20flour&name=lighthouse-biscuit-pastry-cake-plain-flour&productId=262660
Rebecca says
Yes that’s what I used thanks!
Gema says
Hi I love your recipe! It looks so yummy! ? I noticed there is cream cheese and buttermilk in this, if I leave it in room temperature for a couple days, will it go bad?
Nagi says
Hi Gema! It’s totally fine because it’s cooked! 🙂
Jewelwing says
Hi Nagi, Thank you for this fantastic recipe! My daughter’s favorite flavor is red velvet, so it was awesome to find this recipe for her birthday.
I just wanted to note, though, that although you said no nutrition information because this is a treat, some people need the information. My son has Type 1 Diabetes, so it is crucial that we know how many grams of carbohydrates are in everything he eats so he can dose with the correct amount of insulin. I can add up all the grams in all the ingredients to get the total for the cake, but it’s always easier for me if the nutrition information is already supplied.
For any other Type 1 Diabetics out there, I’ve done the calculation for you. Of course, the total grams of carbohydrate varies depending on what brand of cake flour you use, but a good estimate is about 1000 g in the entire frosted cake. So if you cut it into 10 pieces, each piece will have 100 g of carbohydrate.
Knowing this information will allow all those people with T1D to also enjoy this treat!
Nagi says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for letting me know! You are right, I said that in cheek but I should provide the nutritional info. I will add it shortly! – N xx
aaisha says
Its taste so good I use it for my first order for red velvet thank u so much
Nagi says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Aaisha! Thank you so much for letting me know! N x
Dria says
Hi Nagi,
I would like to try this but I am single so thinking I would like to do a smaller batch as I will not likely be sharing the cake. In that case would I just half the ingredients, or should some things remain the same?
Also, given the milk content, should leftovers be stored in the fridge or can it stay out?
Nagi says
Hi Dria! I would half the recipe and make cupcakes instead 🙂 It’s fantastic! Leftovers can stay out for a few days – the milk is cooked so it’s fine!
Dria says
Thank you for responding and the tip, Nagi!
Christine says
I made two four tier red velvet cakes using this recipe; for my daughters 21st birthday and they worked out really well.
Nagi says
I’m so thrilled to hear that Christine, thanks for letting me know! N x
Karla says
Hi Nagi! I don’t usually comment but I have made so many of your recipes now, and every single one of them is a massive hit!!! So thank you for that 🙂
I am hoping to make this on the weekend, but was wondering whether the food colouring measurement is for liquid or gel? I was going to use red gel food colouring but don’t want to stuff it up by using too much or too little! Thanks so much! X
Nagi says
Hi Karla, so glad you’re enjoying my recipes, thank you for letting me know!! I use liquid not gel. Gel is stronger so please use liquid because I don’t know how much gel to use!
Karla says
Nagi, I made it this weekend – it was absolutely delicious!!! I already can’t wait to make it again. Thank you so much xxx
Nagi says
YAY! So thrilled to hear Karla, thanks for letting me know! N x
Haleigh says
How many cupcakes do you imagine this recipe makes? Also how long and at what temp would I need to cook these if I was making cupcakes?! Thanks so much!!!!
Nagi says
Hi Haleigh! I am guessing 18 🙂 I think around 20 – 25 minutes will be fine – just stick a toothpick in, it’s done when it comes out clean!
Haleigh says
Yay, thank you! I’m planning on making these Friday for my dad and his fellow police officers, I can’t wait! I had no idea about Japanese bakeries that’s so awesome! Thanks so much again!
AiPing | Curious Nut says
Hi Nagi!!! My hubby had wanted me to make a red velvet cake since forever. Good thing I remembered seeing you post one before. This was my first time making a ‘large’ cake and I didn’t feel like failing so I followed your recipe since I trust yours more than others. 🙂
I only had two 9″ pans so I increased the flour for the batter by 1/3 cup. With that increase, I added another egg. Everything else stayed the same. For the frosting, I used 16 oz cream cheese instead because I wanted to finish both blocks. I also found that 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar to be perfect for our taste. I did seperate the eggs and fold in the whipped whites after.
Result: Hubby couldn’t wait to eat the cake as they came out of the oven smelling heavenly. After cooling and frosting, we both finally sat down to take a bite. OMG!!! Truly moist and velvety indeed. Super decadent and delicious. We both love it. Thank you for the recipe!!! He plans to finish the entire cake this week. :p
Christine says
Hi Nagi, another great recipe! Love your thoroughness – the cake was a hit with our friends! We reduced the icing sugar by half and the sugar in the cake by one-third as we prefer it less sweet and it was still delicious!
Nagi says
THANK YOU so much for trying my recipe Christine! I am so glad you enjoyed it so much – and thank you for sharing about reducing the sugar, glad to hear it still worked out! N x
Kerrie says
Oh my wow!!! I looked like a professional baker when I bought this baby into work for the bosses birthday!! A really easy winning recipe!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!
Nagi says
WOO HOO! So glad to hear that Kerrie, thanks so much for letting me know! N x
Cathy says
Is it okay to freeze the un iced cake?
Nagi says
yes! Just ensure you wrap it well and place it in an airtight container 🙂
Maxine says
Hi Nagi,
I am a novice baker but have decided that this Red Velvet cake is perfect for my mum’s 83rd Birthday cake 🙂 I have a question though, as I only have 1 x 21cm cake tin, can I bake these 1 at a time, ie. let the mix sit while 1 bakes and then bake the second?
I have made quite a few of your ‘savoury’ recipies with much success – thank you! And I’m really looking forward to presenting mum with this cake on her birthday 🙂
Maxine
Nagi says
Hi Maxine! Sorry for the late response! Just bake in in one tin then use a big knife to cut the cake in half 🙂 If you let the batter sit around for a while, it doesn’t produce the same result. I do hope you love this Maxine! I worked hard on it to make sure it was 100% right!! N x