Red Velvet Cake

Deliciously soft Red Velvet Cake covered in classic cream cheese frosting. This buttery cake is light and tender with a seriously velvety texture. It’s so much easier to make than you’d think. And it’s a stunning cake for special occasions.

She’s here, she’s here! ❤️

My beautiful Red Velvet Cake featuring a soft, buttery crumb and a slathering of rich cream cheese frosting. This cake not only looks stunning with its stark red interior, but it tastes amazing too. Expect a stick-to-your-fork crumb and a tangy frosting that’ll make you weak at the knees.

She’s a classic for a reason! And she’s now one of my firm favourites.

Why you will love this cake

• It’s easy to make and tastes amazing
• It has a deliciously soft and tender crumb
• And a luscious cream cheese frosting
• It’s a beautiful celebration cake, perfect for special occasions

What is red velvet cake?

I first tried Red Velvet Cake from Sprinkles Bakery in Los Angeles. One bite and I was smitten! This unusual cake is recognisable by its striking red colour, achieved by food colouring. But what does it taste like? I describe the flavour of this cake as part vanilla, part chocolate, and using my recipe, super buttery too.

It has a little cocoa powder and plenty of vanilla extract, but perhaps it’s most famous feature is it soft, velvety crumb – thanks to vinegar and buttermilk. Paired with a thick and creamy cream cheese frosting, it really is a beautiful cake.

Recipe testing

What I wanted: A buttery layer cake with a soft and tender crumb. I wanted a true Red Velvet Cake that has a hint of cocoa and velvety texture, all paired with tangy cream cheese frosting.

I’ve been baking cake after cake for the past two weeks, and I’ve finally found THE one. One that has a lovely moist crumb and is bursting with flavour – and has just the right amount of chocolate and vanilla.

I tried making this cake using butter and oil, then just oil, and just butter. While oil is known for making a lovely moist cake (like my favourite Apple Cake), sometimes nothing can beat the flavour that butter brings to cake batter.

And in this cake, butter helps makes the perfect Red Velvet Cake. I attempted making this cake with melted butter (like I do in my fave Red Velvet Cupcake recipe) and also creaming the butter. And just like I discovered when testing my Pound Cake recipe, I found creaming the butter and sugar properly helped create a truly soft and tender cake. Using real buttermilk (not a substitute) was also a gamechanger.

A word on food colouring

Just like my favourite Red Velvet Cookies, it’s the vibrant colour that makes this cake a showstopper. Over the years, I’ve found that using an oil based food colouring or a gel based food colouring is what will give you the best results.

Regular food colouring that you buy from the supermarket is generally very watery. You will need to use multiple tablespoons of it to get the same result that only 1 teaspoon of an oil based food gel will provide. And I find it’s never as vibrant. So forget faffing about with watery food colouring and buy a good quality food gel in red. You’ll use it.

I tested this recipe using Colour Mill food colouring.

How to make red velvet cake

1. We begin by creaming the butter and sugar together. This is perhaps the most important step, so take your time and do it right. Make sure your butter is softened (very soft) and then take the time to beat it with an electric mixer, along with your sugar, until it’s pale, creamy and a little fluffy.
2. Next, add room temperature eggs, one at a time. Continue to mix on low speed just to combine. Sometimes the mixture can look a little curdled here – that’s ok! Take a second to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. And in another bowl, add buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and food colouring. Give it a stir until it’s a vibrant red.
4. Add half of the flour mixture and all the buttermilk mixture to your butter and start to beat on a low speed. Add the remaining flour mix and beat just until you have a lovely thick, creamy and red cake batter.
5. Divide the cake batter between two cake pans and then bake until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool completely before frosting.
   

Lets talk Cream cheese frosting

The perfect cream cheese frosting is tangy but sweet, thick but spreadable. It pairs beautifully with Banana Cake, Carrot Cake and, of course, Red Velvet Cake. Here are my three tips for perfect cream cheese frosting.

1. Make sure you buy the right cream cheese
   The best cream cheese for frostings is a block of full fat cream cheese (I usually use Philadelphia brand). Don’t use light or spreadable cream cheese if you can or your frosting may not have that thick, full-bodied texture we know and love. I know this cream cheese is hard (or impossible) to find in the UK so use what you think is next best. If your frosting seems runny, try refrigerating the frosting for 30 minutes before using.
2. Make sure your butter AND cream cheese are at room temperature
   This will ensure your frosting is lovely and smooth without little lumps of cream cheese.
3. Sift your icing or powdered sugar
   Don’t skip this step. It makes ALL the difference. It will help you achieve a truly smooth frosting.
   

Frequently asked questions

More cake recipes to love

• Raspberry Ripple Cake
• Chocolate Orange Cake
• Easy Vanilla Cake
• Peanut Butter Cake
• Lemon Blueberry Cake

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