Whether you need a St. Patrick’s Day dessert or simply want to make something fun, this green velvet cake with rainbow frosting is a true showstopper! It has a light chocolate flavor profile just like a red velvet cake, only tinted green. The rainbow frosting effect is made with vanilla buttercream and is super easy to recreate with the tutorial below. You can also make green velvet cupcakes with this recipe! See the notes section of the recipe card for instructions.
I’ve been making this red velvet cake recipe for years and love everything about it. I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to realize that you can swap out the red food color gel with different colors to create so many velvet cake hues! Since the cake does involve a little bit of cocoa powder, not every color is possible, but I found that green works perfectly. And with St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, it was perfect timing.
What Does a Green Velvet Cake Taste Like?
Since this recipe uses my red velvet cake as a base, it has the exact same flavor profile. In other words the cake is super soft and moist with a hint of chocolate flavor. I filled these green velvet cake layers with vanilla buttercream and rainbow sprinkles to keep it simple and St. Patrick’s Day inspired. It would also taste amazing with cream cheese buttercream, which is what I usually pair with red velvet.
Green Velvet Cake Ingredients & Substitutions
There are a few key ingredients that give this green velvet cake the perfect texture and flavor. I’ve included some substitutions in case you need to make any.
- Cake flour. Since it has the lowest protein content of any flour, cake flour gives this cake an extra fine and soft texture. You should be able to find it in the baking aisle of your local grocery store or here online, but if you can’t easily find it you can make a homemade version using all-purpose (or plain) flour with a little cornstarch. I have instructions in the notes section of the recipe card.
- Cocoa powder. A hint of cocoa powder gives this cake a subtle chocolate flavor that is oh so delicious. I recommend using natural unsweetened cocoa powder instead of Dutch-processed in this recipe. This is because Dutch-processed cocoa powder yields a much darker brown cake in the baking process, and to get the green color just right you’ll want to start with a lighter brown colored batter.
- Vegetable oil. A little bit of vegetable oil adds a beautiful amount of moisture to the cake crumb. I love using plain vegetable oil because it doesn’t add any flavor, but you can substitute this for any kind of cooking oil you prefer. Just keep the flavor of the oil in mind.
- Distilled white vinegar. This ingredient is key to creating a super soft (velvety) texture. It reacts with the baking soda in the recipe to create carbon dioxide bubbles that expand in the baking process, which ultimately creates a soft and airy crumb. If you can’t find white vinegar you can use apple cider vinegar as a substitute.
- Green food coloring. I used AmeriColor Leaf Green to tint the batter green, but you can use any green food color gel of your choice.
- Buttermilk. Adds even more moisture to this green velvet cake. You can create a homemade version of buttermilk if you can’t find it at your local grocery store – the instructions are in the notes section of the recipe card below!
Rainbow Frosting Tutorial
Before I created the rainbow frosting on the exterior of the cake, I filled the cake layers with vanilla buttercream topped with rainbow sprinkles. Then, I crumb coated the cake with more vanilla buttercream. While the crumb coated cake was chilling in the refrigerator, I reserved about 1 1/2 Cups of vanilla buttercream for the shell borders, then divided the rest of the buttercream evenly between 6 different bowls. I tinted each bowl a different color of the rainbow: pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
Once the crumb coated cake was nice and chilled, I marked out 6 equally-sized sections on the cake (one for each rainbow color), then piped each color onto the cake in rainbow order before creating a smooth buttercream finish.
To finish the look, I added the uncolored buttercream into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 4B and piped shell borders around the bottom and top of the cake. Then I added rainbow sprinkles onto both shell borders. I went back and forth about adding those sprinkles but I am so glad I did!
How to Make Green Velvet Cupcakes
If you’d rather make cupcakes, this recipe is easy to adapt and will yield 24-30 cupcakes! All you have to do is replace the cake flour with 2 cups (265g) of all-purpose flour. Note that the gram measurement is different from the recipe card – this is because all-purpose flour weighs more than cake flour, so even though the volume is the same, the weight will be different.
Follow the instructions for making the green velvet cake exactly, only use the batter to fill your cupcake tins no more than ⅔ full and bake at 350ºF for 14-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Regardless of whether you make this a layer cake or cupcakes, rainbow frosting or not, this cake is absolutely delicious and will delight all who get to enjoy it! I can’t wait for you to try it.
Green Velvet Cake with Rainbow Frosting
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cake
- 2 Cups (212g) sifted cake flour
- 3 Tbsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder NOT Dutch-processed
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 Cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups (300g) white granulated sugar
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp green food color gel*
- 1 Cup (240ml) buttermilk, room temperature** DIY recipe in notes
Vanilla Buttercream
- 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
- 4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
- Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple food color gel (optional)
Additional Filling & Garnish
- 1/2 Cup Rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
Make the Green Velvet Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and placing a wax or parchment paper circle into the bottom of each one. Measure the sifted cake flour by spooning into your measuring cup and leveling it, or simply sift the cake flour into a bowl on your kitchen scale to measure it. Place the cake flour into a medium sized bowl and add the cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- Cream the butter on high for two minutes, then add the vegetable oil and sugar. Cream together on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle. Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time. Once the eggs are incorporated, add the vanilla and white vinegar and mix on low for another 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and paddle once more.
- Mix the green food color gel into the buttermilk. With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until the ingredients start to come together, then whisk the batter by hand a few times to make sure there are no large lumps.
- Pour the batter into prepared cake pans (no more than 2/3 full) and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before carefully removing them and placing the cakes on a wire rack or cookie sheet. Allow the cakes to cool completely before assembling and frosting.
Make the Vanilla Buttercream
- With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, add the sifted powdered sugar one cup at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each cup is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
- Add vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on low for another minute until fully incorporated. Reserve the food coloring for step 2 of the assembly process.
Assembly
- Once the Green Velvet Cakes are cooled throughout, level and torte the layers to your desired height. Fill and stack the cake with vanilla buttercream topped with rainbow sprinkles. Crumb coat the cake and place it into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the crumb coat firm up.
- To create the look pictured, reserve about 1 1/2 Cups of vanilla buttercream for the shell borders, then divide the rest of the buttercream evenly between 6 different bowls. Tint each bowl a different color of the rainbow: pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Add each color into a piping bag and snip off 1/2 inch opening.
- Mark out 6 equally sized sections on the side of the chilled crumb coated cake, then pipe the rainbow colors in order onto the side of the cake, one color per section. Use an icing smoother to create a smooth buttercream finish.
- Add the uncolored buttercream into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 4B, then pipe shell borders on the top and bottom of the cake before sprinkling with rainbow sprinkles.
Notes
- The cake layers can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
- The vanilla buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency.
What brand of cocoa powered did you use? I used the exact same gel coloring and my cakes turned out way too dark. I used the rodelle cocoa powder. I would really like to try again and get the color right.
Thanks
Hi Luella! I’m so sorry the color turned out too dark! I used Hershey brand cocoa powder, which is not Dutch-processed. Rodelle is Dutch-processed, which yields a darker brown (sometimes almost black!) cake. Next time I would try it with natural unsweetened cocoa powder instead of Dutch-processed. I’ll make note of that in the blog post.
Thank you!
I will definitely get some and give it another try!
I gave it another try with the correct cocoa powder and it turned out great. I used your cream cheese buttercream frosting. Also everyone enjoyed the cake.
Unfortunately, after carefully following the recipe, my cake is not green and the chocolate flavour isn’t very rich for chocolate cake. Given it’s for St Paddy’s Day, I’ll have to try something else.
Hi Dorothy, I’m so sorry this cake didn’t work out for you. What kind of food coloring did you use? It sounds like there wasn’t enough added if the cake didn’t turn out green. And like a red velvet cake, this cake is meant to have only a light chocolate flavor.
After reading other comments, it may have been my cocoa. It still tasted wonderful!
Do you have white velvet recipe or could I just leave out the Coca for this one to be white?
Hi Tiffany! For a white cake I recommend this recipe: https://sugarandsparrow.com/white-cake-recipe/