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. 😉
What a great cake. I made it today for my countries independence day celebration. Our flag is red-white-red so it was perfect. Everybody loved it and it tasted great. Thank you so much! Happy birthday to Latvia!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LATVIA!!!!! 🇱🇻🇱🇻🇱🇻
I made this today and it was fantastic! Thanks for the recipe.
That’s terrific to hear Melissa! So glad you enjoyed this, thank you for letting me know! N x
Why has my cake sunk???!
I made it in one tin and covered with foil at 30mins… checked it at 47mins and nowhere near reafy and completley sunk! Help!
I’m sorry to hear that Rebecca. Does your oven run a bit cool? That can be the cause of a cake not rising. Or if you mismeasured the baking soda??
Is it possible to make one layer of red velvet cake using this recipe and the a separate vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream and then raspberries?
You mean mixing up the layers with different flavours??
How about making these into cupcakes? Any changes that would be needed? Looks amazing. I will make tomorrow, trails run, but thinking cupcakes for a polo match for this weekend. I have to bring dessert 🙂
It will work great Jami! I think another reader said it makes 14 🙂
Looks great! In the uk we can’t get blocks of cream cheese, is the tub ok? Thanks
Hi Emma – finally, a question that explains something I couldn’t understand!!!! People have commented the frosting looser than mine, and I could not understand but now I do. Your Philly is softer than ours. I just checked, and there’s a slightly lower fat content which means it is softer, and I read that it’s spreadable whereas ours is not. This means you need to use less in order for the frosting to have the right consistency. From what I have read, each tub is 180g so I would get two but start with 250g and if your frosting consistency is ok, you can add more. You’ll still have a similar flavour 🙂 It’s just about getting the ratios right. I’ll update the notes!
Hello, I can not wait to try your recipe! Looks Great! Question, is there a reason a lot of people use coffee in their red velvet cake?
Hi Melody! Honestly cannot think why – there is no hint of coffee flavour in Red Velvet Cake. It’s used in chocolate cakes to bring out the chocolate flavour, but there is not enough chocolate in this to warrant doing that. 🙂
How long in advance can this cake be made? Thank you
2 days is ideal 🙂
Hi Nagi! Greetings from Denmark 🙂
I’m planning on making this BEAUTIFUL cake for my birthday on Sunday. But can I make the whole thing on Saturday (assembling and everything) and save it in the fridge for Sunday? Or should I wait to assemble, and keep the cake and frosting separate overnight?
Hi Emilie! Absolutely you can assemble the whole thing on Saturday! If it’s really warm then refrigerate, otherwise just leave it in an airtight container 🙂 N x
Looks very, very similar to this one. Also notes are almost identical https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2015/02/09/red-velvet-layer-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/
Hi Edith! You’ll find that most red velvet cakes have common ingredients, albeit some only use butter, some only use vegetable oil etc. I have never made her Red Velvet but two key differences that I’ve already noted from scanning her recipe are that she uses double the amount of eggs and more sugar. Both these things affect the moistness of the cake i.e. more eggs = less moist, same with white sugar. I know Sally but I can hand on heart say I have never made one of her recipes (yet!) 🙂
Hi Nagi
I’ve been wanting to make a red velvet cake for along time and your receipe gives the confidence to do so..I’m a new baker but really want to give it a go..my only problem is its really hard to get hold of halal red gel could I use liquid or powder in stead?
Thanks
Hi Mev! Yep you sure can – I would go by eye, make your batter the same colour as what you see in the video 🙂 N x
I’m a regular baker and I made this for a friend’s birthday – I followed the recipe exactly and cooked it in one tin, it took about 1hour 15mins to cook but it still came out perfect. My icing was a bit more complicated as the cream cheese was very wet and I didn’t have enough icing sugar to make it thicker (and the shops had closed!), so I ended up icing it whilst it was still in the fridge to stop it from melting! But after chilling it overnight it managed to hold it’s shape well and set nicely, and it turned out absolutely perfect!
I bake cakes but I rarely eat them, but I have to say that the taste of this one really is amazing. Thank you for sharing a great recipe!
That’s great to hear Esther! Thanks for sharing your feedback! N x ❤️
Burnt! 🙁
kept two 7″ pans together in small rotating oven at 160•C(convention mode) kept for 50 mins. Was little underdone. Kept 6 more mins.burnt!
Superb recipe. Stil soft and moist in the inside!
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work for you, the problem is the oven you used. I use a normal kitchen oven – 30 minutes at most!!
Thanks for a great recipe. Made it last night and it worked really well. I used about a teaspoon and a half of gel colouring. I also used equal quantities of cream cheese and butter for the icing (my family doesn’t like it too cream cheesy). Everyone enjoyed it.
That’s so wonderful to hear!! Thanks for letting me know Kate – N x ❤️
Hi Nagi, the cake looks perfect but I have a question, I want to use the recipe to make two large cakes for a 3D skull cake I’m making for Halloween. I wanted to check, do you think the cake is strong enough to be take a fondant icing ? I will be using a special tin so no sculpting will be necessary but I will need to sandwich the two cakes together and then cover in fondant. Would be so grateful if you could let me know!
Thankyou!
Hi ive just made this recipe and its sunk in the middle 🙁 any idea what i might have done wrong please?
Hi Nagi,
• How do figure out what size pan to use (20cm or 26cm)?
• Can you explain how you choose which pan (round/retangular) to use?
• I’m the only who eats cake here. How do I adapt the measurements for cakes for 2 person (cake for 2 days)
Hello Nagi,
First, I would like to say that I have searched (for many weeks now) for a red velvet cake recipe that suits my particular needs. Most of the ones I came across were either too simplistic (box cake mix and add an extra ingredient or two), or unnecessarily complicated (leavening dough and/or boiling flour for icing). Yours seems to hit that sweet spot right in the middle, as far as level-of-effort is concerned. Plus, your enthusiasm and passion for your creation has won me over, and made me feel like you likely have a winner on your hands.
Having said that, I have not made the cake yet. I plan on going to the store to get the ingredients so that I may try it tomorrow afternoon. I am writing about possible modification.
Although I do love red velvet cake, I don’t love an overpoweringly-strong taste of cream cheese. I like the cream cheese taste, but I’d rather have just a hint of the flavor in my icing, as opposed to cream cheese being the main flavor. so that brings me to the ‘icing’ part of your recipe. I am concerned about the cream cheese-to-butter ratio (400g to 115g). That’s something like a 3.5 to 1 ratio. In prior recipes I’ve used, I’ve found that my taste preferences fall more in line with a 1-to-1 ratio, or maybe even something where there’s slightly more butter than cream cheese (maybe 60/40 in favor of butter). I know that you did a lot of experimenting before you published your ‘final’ recipe on this site. Did any of your previous iterations include icing that has a different ratio of butter to cream cheese? If so, I would appreciate your findings. If NOT, then I would consider doing a 50-50 split myself. So then the question becomes… do you think the different ratio will have an effect on the amount of powdered sugar needed to achieve the right consistency?
Hi Nagi, recipe looks good and with the comments I’m going to try it BUT I need to make a bigger cake for around 49 people. What would you suggest? Should I double the recipe because I’m going to use a 12″ pan and bake twice ? Please let me know as I need to bake this for next week!
Hi Rifat! It’s best to make multiple cakes, I would make 4 of these 🙂 N xx
Hi Nagi, I’m from India. I tried this recipe and it turned out to be just about perfect & irresistible 😃 Thanks for sharing this recipe. Infact, the manner in which you have explained every step carefully is quite commendable. It reflects your passion for baking. Love your website..all the best!! 😊👍
That’s so terrific Monica! I’m so pleased to hear that, thanks for sharing your feedback! N x ❤️