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. 😉
looking forward to making this for my daughters birthday!
Oh man… this cake… if I could marry something, it would be this cake batter. I baked mine as cupcakes and they turned out DIVINE. What sort of red velvet have I been eating before this? I’ll tell you – trash. Nothing compares to this. I now know what a blend of vanilla and chocolate cake really is.
I did have a couple of things I did different: I only had about a tablespoon of red food colouring, so they are pink velvet cupcakes, and I only had a third-cup of oil in the house, so I used that. I’ve grown up on cakes that are “zara-zara” though, so I didn’t notice if it was dry at all.
Hi Nagi any tips on using this for cupcakes. How much shall I fill the cases? Thanks in advance.
Ok, so I have to admit, your blog is the last place I would expect to find a great cake recipe, mainly because I assume you are more of a savory cook. HOWEVER, I used your Red Velvet Cake for my niece;s birthday cake and it was without a doubt AMAZING!!! Easy and fabulous and enjoyed by all. Didn’t use the left over crumbs to decorate, used some wafer flowers, but apart from this followed your recipe to the letter. Thank you Nagi, I LOVE your recipes and am a devoted fan. Definitely recommend this recipe as a great cake to take anywhere.
Thank you Gen!!! And you are right, I definitely have more of a focus on savoury here, so the cakes that make it on here are my very favourite ones!! 🙂 N x
I made this cake all in one baking tin I did what you recommended left it in for a further fifteen mins but when I checked it the centre of the cake was raw it took an extra hour to cook. It’s not my oven I am doing a cake tasting and have baked six different cakes in the last week all perfect. Just to let you know it takes a lot longer than you stated. The end result was fantastic a great looking and tasting cake.
Hello I’m natalie, I was just going to ask if we could use milk instead of butter Milk , we have none in our country
Hello,
I tried making this cake and ran into some issues. Hoping you can tell me what I did wrong.
First it seems there are big air bubbles in the cake. Gaping ones like I’ve never mixed a cake before when I have. Is it the mixing time?
Also, I used the standard round cake pans but the outcomr is half the height of your cake.
Are you using 6″ pans? Did you double your recipe for a better outcome?
Thx for your insight!
Hi, I tried it the cake was so soft. I didn’t good color but the cake was so soft. Frosting was a flap as I have used only half of the given measurements. Thanks for great recipe. Made this cake for the first time and it was awesome.
That’s terrific to hear Sumalatha! Thanks for taking the time to let me know – N x
So, I love this recipe. I made it once for a friend’s birthday and everyone that tried it was so impressed! It turned out delicious! Thanks for doing all the testing and the work and giving us this recipe 🙂
I tried last night to make cupcakes from this same recipe, and they did not turn out well at all. I halved the recipe, which made 15 cupcakes. They didn’t seem to rise and are flat and spread out (no dome at all!). They are almost tasteless and crunchy on the outside and softer on the inside (but with a rough texture). Do you know why? I’m trying to google everything and do some troubleshooting – I have a few suspicions!
I used natural cocoa, not dutch process. What kind of cocoa did you use when you originally made this? (maybe it could have kept them from rising, I read about it here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/08/difference-dutch-process-natural-cocoa-powder-substitute.html). Also, I used frozen buttermilk (thawed, obviously) instead of fresh. I also used some paper cups and some aluminum cups for the cupcakes to see which worked better, and the cupcakes baked in aluminum cups were SO MUCH FLATTER than the ones baked in paper cups! Have you ever experienced this?
Anyway, if you have any tips or you know what might have gone wrong, please let me know! I want to make these for Valentine’s Day and hope to have the cupcakes down by then!
Again, thanks for your blog and for the great job you do! This is a lovely recipe with lovely pictures!!
Hi Teresa, I’ve used this same recipe for cupcakes and have not had any problems! I’ve used natural and dutch cocoa, and yes I’ve used aluminium cases too because I like them!
I’m so annoyed at myself. I bought Self Raising cake flour. What do you suggest I do? Use the flour and omit the bicarb soda? Or make it up using regular plain flour and add cornstarch?
Oh dear!! I would definitely use normal flour and cornstarch with bicarb rather than using self raising. 🙂 Don’t worry it will still work, the texture is just not quite as soft as using plain cake flour!
Hey the recipe looks awesome . I’m.planning to make this for my son’s first Birthday. I had one question though can I freeze the cake layers in advance ?
You sure can Diana! N x
Can i bake this in 7inch tin?
You sure can, it will just be a bit taller!
Hi Nagi!
Thank you for the recipe.
When you say 25 minutes baking time, you mean this time when baking
in convection (air circulation in the oven) or regural program?
What did you do?
Thank you!
Hi Nick! Either is fine – I’ve made in both and the difference is negligible so for this recipe, I use the same temp for both 🙂 N x
Thank you for your responce. My pans are 7,3 inches actually. When I baked the cakes, at 25 minutes they where raised OK but when I tried to take the cakes out and pulled them from the rack, they moved like there was water inside them. So I left them 15 more minutes. Was that a correct additional time (because of the smaller pans) or should I have checked them at 30 minutes with a toothpick. I mean shouldnt I be afraid of that watery movement, and check them?
Hi Nick, I’m afraid it sounds like you oven runs a little cool 🙁 It definitely should not take that long to bake, yes if they are wobbly like water when you pull them out then they are undercooked. Try turning the temp up slightly!
Hi Nagi,
I have a question for you, I want to make this cake for a baby shower, my tin is 10″ . Because there’s a lot of people to feed cake to, do you think I could use the whole recipe in the one tin and then make another so that I’ve got two of the 10″ cakes? I’m not sure myself if the frosting would hold up the weight of the cake if it was larger! I’d appreciate your thoughts, thank you!
Hi Kerri! I would scale up the recipe by 50% to use 2 x 10″ pans 🙂 Use the slider on Servings to scale the recipe! N x
I have a 25cm cake tin and want to use your recipe as the bottom layer of a two tier cake – hence the size of the tin. Could I cook all the batter in one tin then split in half and if so how long do you think.
Hi Isabell! You can definitely cook in one tin but if you use a 25cm tin then it will be very thin 🙂 N x
Hi!
I want to use this recipe as a middle layer in wedding cake! Do you think the recipe with be okay in a 10inch tin? Slightly bigger dimension but not sure if the quantities will fit! I have never made red velvet cake before. Any help is really appreciated because this looks fantastic!!
Hi Zoe! If you put this all in 1 x 10″ tin it will be a bit thick I think BUT it will be easy to trim to desired thickness and better to make it too thick and trim rather than not thick enough!
Hi,
Just wondering if it was 180C for a conventional or fan forced oven?
Thanks!!
Hi Tegan! All oven types 🙂 Bake time difference is negligible between conventional and fan so I just use the same for both!
Hello Nagi, thanks for the recipe, I want to bake this cake for my son’s birthday tomorrow. I can’t find buttercream and cream cheese please help me with a substitute for👆🏻. And I only have one cake pan, how long should I bake this????
Made this cake for New years and the whole family love it ! 10/10 best cake I have made =) Thank you for the Recipe !
I never made nor even tasted red velvet until I made this cake and I can’t believe I got so lucky on the first try to find such a good recipe! My co-worker is going to be ecstatic when she receives this cake!