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. 😉
Made this yesterday and it was delicious! It took me 35 minutes for the center to cook through, and it domed even though I used cake strips. Despite that though, the texture was great and it wasn’t over-baked! Will definitely be making this again.
Hi Nagi
Thank you for this beautiful and easy to make red velvet cake. My daughter makes really sought after cakes but she inadvertently locked up her cookbooks with her stuff when she left for the US. After some reasearch, i tried your recipe, and it sure was a seller! My cakes are loved by my family but i am hopeless at icing. This time i made it for my niece’s 16th (cut and shaped it 16) and even though it didn’t look so professional, sold like “hot cakes”. Thank you for sharing it.
Shall definitely be making it again! 🙏
Hi Nagi,
Do you suggest this receipe for muffins/cupcakes?
Hi, I plan to cook this in my Bundt pan (10cup)
How long should I cook for?
Hi Nagi
I was looking for a cake to bake on Christmas day and I made this one. Its a winner, Ive made it thrice in 1 week. The last one was yesterday for my mom and sisters. Everyone loves it and thought I bought it from an expensive shop here in Cape Town South Africa. God bless you. Im keeping your recipe❤🤗 Happy new year🥳💐
The cake turned out to be very crumbly.. taste really great, soft but when I slice it with fork, it just fell off with crumbs (lots of them..) Any idea where I got it wrong? When I add my second egg (50 grams), the batter is not as runny as the one in the video. Should I add one more egg?
Delicious! However this is the second time I make it and both times had to keep the cakes in the oven for an extra 15-20 minutes. Should I set the oven at a higher temperature?
Infollowed this recipe but used x3 6″ round cake tins. The cakes have sinked in the middle. Please advise?
Hi, Nagi! I’ve got a quick question. I decided to follow ur recipe but I am not sure if 10 servings are good for 3 layers of 6 inch pan. I really need to make this today or tmr. I wish u respond soon. Oh, and I dont have a buttermilk. Would it be THAT bad if i substitute with milk+vinegar? Thanks ahead.
I’ve made this recipe multiple times. This recipe will yield too much batter for three 6 inch layers.
Haha yep I just made it and am waiting for it to bake. And yes it is too much so I am baking left over batters in the cupcake tin.
I relly eanted to make a 3-layer cake. Can i make 1.5 recipe of this cake?
I made this cake for my brother’s birthday and it was a huge hit! The frosting was delicious and the cake was so soft and moist.
Tried a red velvet cupcake once many moons ago and didn’t really like it. From that point I thought red velvet wasn’t for me. Then out of the blue I decided to make this recipe last year. This red velvet cake is my new favourite cake, so delicious. My family love it too. Thank you for this perfect recipe.
Hi Nagi,
a quick question, after frosting the cake, do I need to refrigirate, since it has philaderphia in it?
Hi Nagi…. love your recipes & he detail in your notes for substitutes & hints. My red velvet cake is just out of the oven. So haven’t tried it yet. I opened the oven door to check in the last 10 mins & it went flat, but think it might still be ok. Can I freeze it for a few days? Many thanks … Suna
After trawling the internet for a red velvet cake with the most positive reviews, I settled on this one for my very first attempt at Red Velvet. I was not disappointed. The recipe was true to its word. I followed all the notes regarding the UK and adjusted the flour and soft cheese as advised.
The cake was lovely and red, moist and everyone enjoyed it.
Thank you for adjusting your recipe for the UK. Definitely will be making again and again.
That’s great to hear Viv, thanks so much for the great feedback! N x
Made this for my mums birthday, it was absolutely delicious. The cake was so lovely and soft and the cream cheese frosting was perfect. (Especially since I’m not the biggest fan of cream cheese!) I’m from the UK and we don’t have cake flour or buttermilk so I used the substitutes and it turned out perfectly fine. Thank you for providing such a detailed and easy recipe.
All supermarkets have buttermilk here in the UK its right with the regular milk and cream
Hi you can find cake flour and buttermilk in Asda in polish/Asian section
can you help please, I am not a regular baker, I have a fan oven, and followed the recipe exactly, but the cake was raw on inside and approaching overcooked on outside. what temperature is best for fan ovens thanks
Hi Mo, sorry you had issues here – what temperature was your oven on? It sounds like it was too hot. N x
Hi Nagi! Where do you buy your buttermilk here in AU?I’ve tried woolies and coles but they don’t have it. thanks!
Woolies and Coles stock it! N x
Hi Nagi. Planning to make this recipe (Red velvet cupcakes) this Thursday for my colleagues at work as a treat for all the hard work we’ve all put in this year with the pandemic (we are health care workers, doctors and nurses at a primary health care clinic, I’m a physician/doctor).
Is cake flour the same as self rising flour? That’s the only one I found here in Stockholm. If not, I will use the cake flour substitute.
Regarding buttermilk, can I “make my own” by over whipping whipped cream till the butter and buttermilk separate? Can’t seem to find buttermilk in stores here. Otherwise I will use the substitute and hope for the best. Also can I double the recipe and use 2 muffin tins in the oven at the same time? Do cooking times/temp stay the same?
Thanks! Love ur recipes(specially Asian inspired ones) and cook at least one of ur recipes every week for dinner. Thanks for all!
Hi Dee, no it’s not – cake flour has a lower percent of protein making it perfect for baking as it results in softer cakes etc. It doesn’t have any raising agent in it like SR flour. N x
Hi Nagi. I made this for my daughters birthday. I didn’t have the red food colouring so we had a blue velvet cake :). It was delicious and she loved it, so thank you. Also your instructions are probably the best I have seen, the notes and qualifications on substitutes and differences between countries is very helpful and much appreciated. Kind Regards, Natalie
Hi Nagi, I made this yesterday but the cake was still slightly raw inside while outside was overcooked. I managed to save it with some trimmings at the end but it was a shame 😔. In your recipes is not specified, is the oven static or fan assisted? Mine was fan so perhaps I should have lowered the temperature to 160 for a slower and more even bake? Please let me know! 🙂