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, want to make this cake into a toadstool cake with an 8”x4” half sphere pan. Should I double the recipe and the cooking time?
Thanks
Made this cake for a birthday celebration on the weekend. Measured everything out before starting, and it was quite easy to make. Worked out really well and got great comments from everyone! I used a slightly smaller tin size as it’s the one I had two of, and the rest of the batter made quite a few cupcakes. Plenty frosting for the cake and cupakes!
I made these as cupcakes. Result was 12 standard and 6 large. Cooking time for me 20 minutes. Reduced sugar to 3/4 cup.
Really really delicious with Nagi icing recipe – My SECRET LESS-SWEET LEMON FROSTING:
I have a special needs child. Developing type 2 diabetes is high. He is on a low carb small portion spread over 6 – 8 snack size meals a day. Any ideas of a cup cake ( not muffin or Texas) recipe I can use for a class party. Only diet restrictions are coeliac.
Vietnamese meatballs were our last contribution for cake substitute with lots of veg :- Enoki mushrooms bean shoots snowpea sprouts julienned cucumber shredded cos lettuce red + yellow cherry tomatoes rice noodles Daikin radish + carrot pickle. Fresh chopped basil + mint
As always very detailed instructions, the effort you put into your recipes is evident. The cake was amazing and you allow me to feel like a professional cook at home 😄. Thanks!
Red velvet cake has always been one of my favorites, but this recipe takes it to the next level! I’ve tried so many versions, and this one by Nagi is simply perfect. It’s even inspired me to create some new twists on this classic cake. Thanks for another amazing recipe!
Red velvet cake has always been one of my favorites, but this recipe takes it to the next level! I’ve tried so many versions, and this one by Nagi is simply perfect. It’s even inspired me to create some new twists on this classic cake. Thanks for another amazing recipe!
Hi Nagi, Coles only had self raising cake flour – can I use this if I don’t use the bicarb?
Can you make the red velvet cake into cupcakes ?
Looks delicious! Planning to make for my son’s 5th birthday. We’re in the UK and I could only find self raising sponge flour. Do I need to reduce the amount of bicarbonate soda as a result? Or should I just switch to plain (non sponge) flour? Thanks so much!
Worked perfectly. Really tasty! Never made a red velvet cake before but instructions were easy to follow. Thanks Nagi for another hit!
Another winning cake recipe! It was my first attempt at a red velvet cake ever! I made this in Singapore so the frosting was melting at a much faster pace with the heat which means little fingers were also licking the drippy cream 😂
This was my first ever attempt at a red velvet cake and your recipe is amazing!!
It came out absolutely perfect and the notes you’ve written are so helpful, ya can’t go wrong. Thanks Nagi!! From Sam in Porirua, Wellington, NZ!!
Is this cake suitable for freezing? I’m hoping to make it a few days before a party. Thank you!
How many calorie per slice?
Any idea??
This was such a lovely cake. So light and not too sweet. I accidentally forgot to add the vinegar and it was even better than any other red velvet cake I have had. By leaving out the vinegar, I felt like it reduced the sour tang you can sometimes taste too much of in red velvet cake. Absolute winner with everyone that ate that cake tonight!
Started to whisk the butter 115gm with 350gm sugar…..had to scrap it….way too much sugar, would not cream up 😕
Followed every part of the recipe exactly, and didn’t have a particularly satisfactory result. My cake is quite dense and very oily. I have never had this issue before and have made several Red velvets. Disappointing.
This cake was absolutely delicious. I only used 1T of red food colouring and the cake still turned out a beautiful red colour, A winner of a recipe!
I recently made this cake for the middle tier of a 3 tier wedding cake and it was perfect. It stayed in place for the whole ceremony and reception and was a huge hit with guests. Thank you for sharing your recipe, it’s now my go-to (as is your website!)
Hi there, thank you very much for this recipie – curious to know if light olive oil could be substituted for the vegetable oil please.