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. 😉
Hi Nagi,
Thank you for the recipe! Looks delicious!! Can I use butter cream frosting if I need to cover this cake with fondant?
Pls let me know your suggestions.
Thanks,
Ashini
This is the best red velvet recipe I have tried I have tried endless recipes but they always flop- i never gave up on this cake. I used a different cream cheese recipe but the cake using this recipe was delicious!
Oh wow! I’m so happy to hear that Amina, thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
Yes! Frost this with whatever you want! N x
Years ago I made a red velvet cake and it turned out, lets just say not good. So I was reluctant to make another mistake. But, when I came across your recipe with the simple easy directions I decided to make this cake for my son-in-laws 40th birthday a few days ago. It was wonderful. My husband said it beat the bakery here in town.( New Iberia, Louisiana, USA ) The flavor and texture were just amazing. I will continue making this recipe. I am looking forward to making it for every holiday and also church functions. A BIG THANKS to you.
WOAH! High praise! I’m so pleased you enjoyed this, thank you very much for coming back to let me know! N xx
Hello! Do you know what the cooking time for cupcakes would be?
Hi Bridget! 20 minutes would be a safe starting point at 180C/350F. 🙂 Stick a skewer into the centre and if it comes out clean then it’s good!
This is an excellent recipe
Made for my daughters birthday
Just follow the instructions including use of 2 pans
Also, the cake is slightly too much for 12-13, maybe better for 15 ppl but no one is complaining eating the next day
Thanks
That’s SO GREAT to hear Rajeev! Thanks for letting me know! N xx
I’m making this cake now for a birthday and it smells delicious! I’m in Australia and was wondering what brand of red food colouring your using to achieve this colour as mine is no where near as bright. Thanks! x
Hi Sarah! I’m in Australia too. I just used the red food colouring from Woolworths! Did you definitely use 2.5 TABLESPOONS and not teaspoons??
Please can u give measurements in grams am in nigeria we measure in kilos and grams
Hi Tolu, I have gram measurements in the recipe, can you see them???
I made this for my daughter’s 13th and i was told that it was, hands down, the Best Cake Ever. So I’ve got to make another for my son’s 11th on Sunday lol! It is a delicious cake and it was beautiful. I followed the advice about getting the best quality ingredients and I’m convinced that made all the difference.
I’m so pleased to hear that Amy! Especially because it was for your daughter’s birthday 🙂 Happy birthday to her – and in advance for your son! N x
Just wanted to let you know that this was the best red velvet cake recipe bar none, thank you for sharing. My question is do you think this would/could be a good basic yellow cake recipe by omitting the cocoa powder, white vinegar and food coloring? thanking you in advance for your response.
High praise! So pleased to hear that 🙂 I’m sorry it’s not that easy to convert into a yellow cake but I’ll share one soon! N xx
Hi!
I’m wanting to make this for my sisters birthday, but I’m wondering how the recipe would differ if I used square tins and did a 3 tier cake?
Can you help?
Thanks 😊
Hi Renee! I would increase the recipe by 50% (use the scaler by hovering over servings, it will scale up all ingredients) then split the batter across 3 tins. 🙂
Thankyou 😁
Just another question, will a chocolate buttercream work as icing for this cake? I’m wanting to make the icing black with some americolour food colouring. Thanks 🙂
Gosh YES! YUM!
Do you have any tips on making the cream cheese frosting red?
I would like the whole inside of the cake to be red. And is it okay to make the frosting the night before serving the cake?
I Renee! I find it’s always better to make the frosting just before frosting the cake to ensure it’s at its fluffiest. If you make it ahead, beat it just before spreading to soften / make it fluffy again. Just use food colouring to make it red – do one drop at a time until it’s the perfect match! N x
Can you use canola instead of vegetable oil? Thanks. Debbie.
Yep for sure! 🙂
After reading through comments, I found the difference as Australian cups are different then US. I’ll just keep to the US measurements :-). Thanks for posting both measurements I’ll let you know how it turns out
And you answered my question! 🙂 Hope you love it! N x
I’m baking this right now. I have a scale and 400g of cake flour is MUCH more then 2 2/3 cup.
I however the butter measured out perfectly. 1 stick equals 115g.
I would think if I did the 400 g the cake would belle way too dry versus doing just the 2 2/3 cups
Do you know why this is?
Thanks!
Hi Crista! Which country are you in? 🙂
This is the first time I made a red velvet cake. It turned out perfect. I used half the frosting and lt was good.
Thank you for the recipe.
Pleased to hear you enjoyed it Sherin, thanks for letting me know! N xx
I made one tonight I used baking powder instead of baking soda it came out horrible it was running all out the pans I’m try it again tomorrow but with the baking soda
Hi Kia! Baking soda is 3 times the strength of baking powder 🙂 So unfortunately no, it would not work with baking powder. N x
Hi Nagi,
If you are putting a Cream Cheese Frosting on your Red Velvet Cake, it is not an authentic Red Velvet Cake. The original, authentic frosting is an Ermine Buttercream Frosting.
Try it sometime to taste the original cake.
Gosh that’s so interesting Bunny! I will look it up, thank you for the tip! N xx
Hi Nagi,
How do I keep the cake from falling apart when I stack them?
Gosh sorry to hear it fell apart! It sounds like maybe it was over baked so it was a bit dry?? Do you mean when you put the top layer on??
Hi Nagi!
I will try to make this cake tomorrow for my daughter’s birthday party.
I’m afraid I might have a tough time finding buttermilk. What can I use instead if milk+lemons since it is not recommended for this recipe? Also, I am thinking of using blended raspberries instead of artificial colourings for health problems. Will the acidity of raspberries work instead of lemmons?
Thank you in advance
To make buttermik, measure 1 scant cup of milk. Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes.
You can also purchase a powdered buttermilk in the baking aisle. This is great to keep on hand since many of us need buttermilk for a specific recipe, and then it sits in the fridge until it spoils.
I’m a Pastry Chef so this never happens to me. I used tons of buttermik, especially in my Tropical Carrot Cakes.
Quite a few readers have tried the milk and lemon substitute and said it worked brilliantly! I haven’t tried raspberries, what an interesting idea, I must try it one day! N xx
My cake was too oily.
I’m sorry to hear that Fefi. At step 5, did you beat until it was a smooth batter and the oil was well incorporated??
Hi
I made this cake this evening. I’ve yet to try it as it’s a Birthday cake for my sister.
My problem was the frosting was very very runny. 400g Philadelphia and 450g of icing sugar is a very wet consistency. I’ve added a lot more icing sugar but still it’s funny!
I’ve called it the red velvet drizzle cake!
Any suggestions on what may have gone wrong?
Thanks!
Hi,
I find when I over beat cream cheese frosting it gets runny. Unlike over beating butter cream icing which just gets lighter and fluffier the longer you leave it. It might get better if refrigerated then beaten shortly again…but I haven’t been bothered too much yet to try that. I’ve made alot of CCF in the past and have had runny batches when I haven’t changed anything except think I’ve gotten side tracked and over beaten it…so that may have been the problem?
Goodluck next time!
Thank you for helping Debbie! I’ve honestly never come across that problem before! N x
Hi Debbie – it sounds to me like either your cream cheese or butter was melted instead of just softened? Both cream cheese and butter when softened have a soft spreadable consistency and are definitely not runny, so the frosting is fluffy like what you see in the photos, not drizzling consistency. Sorry to hear about your problem!
Hi! I will be making this cake tomorrow, I love how detailed you have written the recipe and the notes and conversions! Not many recipes offer that, and it’s very good help. Thank you! I will let you know now it goes ☺
I hope you love it Catarina! N xx
Hi Marion, I’m sorry you had trouble with this recipe. I have checked and my conversions ARE correct. I live in Australia and cups here are different to US cups and 1 cup of flour = 150g here so 2 2/3 cups is 400g. I have tested this recipe using US cups, Australia cups and weight measures and it worked out exactly the same each time. I’m sorry to hear you had problems – did you follow the recipe as it is without substitutions? I’ve had quite a number of readers from Europe who have made this and reported that it came out beautifully. N x