I’ve always been smitten with Red Velvet Cake. It’s quite the looker with that deep red crumb, and the subtle chocolate cake and cream cheese frosting combination is absolutely divine. Red Velvet is versatile too – it can be a fancy cake or completely hilarious (remember the armadillo cake in Steel Magnolias?), a total party hit or a cozy weekend bake, delicious all year round. It’s been on my list for awhile now, and with Valentine’s Day right around the corner I thought now is the perfect time. Well, any time is really the perfect time.
This Red Velvet Cake is wonderfully soft and moist, has the perfect touch of chocolate flavor, and is extremely addicting when paired with cream cheese buttercream. I always thought Red Velvet Cake was just a chocolate cake with red food coloring mixed in but I was wrong. There’s actually only a few Tablespoons of cocoa powder added, but it tastes just perfect that way – just like a traditional Red Velvet Cake ought to taste. I was so thrilled when I cut into these beautiful layers!
What Gives Red Velvet Cake Its Color?
To get the red color in a red velvet cake, you have to add a little food coloring. In the past I’ve used AmeriColor Super Red for this task, but with the ban on RED 3 taking effect in the United States, I thought I’d look for a more natural alternative. I did find this red food color gel that’s made with all-natural ingredients and gave it a try in this recipe. I was a little worried that it would add unwanted flavor to the cake (it’s made with beetroot) but it worked wonderfully and didn’t affect the overall flavor at all!
I do anticipate AmeriColor to reformulate their red food color gel recipe in the future, but for now I am sticking with Enco Natural Red food color gel for this recipe.
Cream Cheese Buttercream is the Perfect Pairing
Red Velvet Cake and Cream Cheese Buttercream are made for each other. It feels against the rules to top this cake with anything else (except probably the traditional Ermine frosting). I could sing the praises of this Cream Cheese Buttercream all day long because it’s oh so tasty and just the right consistency for not only filling and frosting the cake, but piping the decorations on top as well. I love it so much that it should probably have it’s own recipe post (next on my list!).
How to Decorate a Red Velvet Cake
If you Google Red Velvet Cakes, you’ll see a lot of similar designs: plain white frosting and cake crumbs. It’s classic that way. You can decorate a Red Velvet Cake any way you want, but I chose to play off of the traditional design by adding a textured finish with a cake comb, some simple piping on top, and of course, those pretty cake crumbs. I will confess that I tried to top this cake with some more elaborate white chocolate decorations speckled with cake crumbs but they ended up looking like blood splattered glass shards. Maybe a better idea to stick in my back pocket for Halloween.
If you want to replicate this cake design though, here’s how I did it: after filling and crumb coating the cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream, I placed it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to let the crumb coat firm up. This makes a stable foundation for the final layer (and pretty necessary since Cream Cheese Buttercream is always so much softer than other types of buttercream). Then, I frosted the cake with a final layer of Cream Cheese Buttercream and used a cake comb from this set to create the textured finish. I stuck cake crumbs to the side of the cake using this technique, piped a crescent of rosettes and stars on top with Wilton Tips 1M and 4B, and finished it all off by sprinkling cake crumbs over the top. Voila!
I made a quick video to show you how I baked and decorated this red velvet cake:
If you love recipe videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube channel! I’ve got a growing collection of cake recipes, decorating tutorials, and Cake Basics over there. Hit the subscribe button on my page so you never miss a new video.
Red Velvet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cake
- 2 Cups (212g) sifted cake flour
- 3 Tbsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 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
- 2 tsp red food coloring* gel or liquid
- 1 Cup (240ml) buttermilk, room temperature** DIY recipe in notes
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 16 Oz cream cheese, room temperature brick-style, not the spreadable kind
- 8 Cups (960g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
Instructions
Make the Red 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 red 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 Cream Cheese Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese on high until light, fluffy, and uniform (no lumps), about five minutes. Turn the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla and salt, mixing on low for another 30 seconds.
Assembly
- Once the Red Velvet Cakes are cooled throughout, level and torte the layers to your desired height. Reserve the cake tops for crumbles. Fill and stack the cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream. Crumb coat the cake and place it into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the crumb coat firm up before frosting with a final layer of Cream Cheese Buttercream.
- To create the look pictured, frost the cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream. Don't worry too much about getting perfectly smooth sides, but do run an icing smoother over them to get them level and straight. Then, use a cake comb to create texture. Crumble up the cake tops and add them to the bottom third of the cake using this technique. Pipe a crescent formation of rosettes and stars with Wilton Tips 1M and 4B on the top of the cake, then sprinkle more cake crumbs on top.
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 Cream Cheese 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.
Did you make this cake recipe? I want to know how it went! Leave me a comment below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me. I love to see what you create!
Hi Whitney,
I just found your page in September when I was searching for a recipe to make a smash cake/cupcakes for my son’s first birthday, and have since followed you on Instagram and bought your book. I’ve tried a few of your recipes (including this one) and everything has been absolutely wonderful – you haven’t steered me wrong once!
I was hoping for some advice though – I LOVED this red velvet recipe, so I want to make it again for Christmas, but my father-in-law is diabetic. Do you have any recommendations on how to make this cake with sugar-free without ruining its taste?
Hi Natalie! I’m so happy you’ve been loving my recipes and book! That means the world to me 🙂 I also have a diabetic father-in-law and have made a cake for him before. It was definitely not an easy feat, as there were lots of ingredients I wasn’t used to working with like almond flour and monk fruit sweetener, etc. I ended up following a recipe from a different blogger instead of trying to alter my own recipes, so anything you try with my recipes would be an experiment. I did find a red velvet cake recipe from the same blogger I used before: https://thebigmansworld.com/keto-red-velvet-cake/ so that’s the best I can recommend so far! I hope that helps.
Where do you get the cake crumbs from? Even with leveling it doesn’t seem enough. I made your Black Velvet cake for a friend and she said it was so delicious I want to try your Red Velvet Cake for my husband’s birthday. I’d like to decorate it as shown.
Hi Kathleen! I had more than enough after leveling. Perhaps I cut the layers a little bit shorter than you. I use a Wilton cake leveler that makes them about 1.5 inches tall.
Hey, ive been looking for a red velvet cake recipe and this is the one i’m the most drawn to! Im in europe and i’m not very familiar with the taste of american cakes and their frosting types of combinations. I’m looking to make a themed cake which would be black on the outside and red on the inside and i feel like european cakes doesnt really fit. I am wondering if you’d think that this cake would go with your black buttercream frosting?
Hi Karin! You’re inspiring me to make a red velvet cake with black frosting!! Those flavors would be amazing together.
Hello Whitney and thank you for sharing the recipe. I was wondering if I can add Jell-O pudding and if so how much?
Hi Brenda! I’ve never tried adding Jell-O pudding in this recipe so it would definitely be an experiment. I would look for a similar recipe that does use Jell-O pudding to see how much is recommended to add. Hope that helps!
I’m trying to make and decorate this cake for a friends birthday. Is the frosting a good consistency to decorate with and not be too thin or too thick?
Hi Vespa! Yes, this frosting is a great consistency for decorating with as long as you use brick-style cream cheese.
Hello, I am planning to make this cake flavor for my anniversary but I only have an 11inch heart shaped pan. Will the quantity of the cake batter & buttercream still work?
Hi Melissa! How many cups of batter does your pan hold? This recipe yields about 7 cups of batter.
I tried this with 8 inch cake pans and it worked great! I’m hoping to use the recipe for an 11 by 14 inch cake. Will it work? And if so, how much batter should I make? Thanks!
Hi Chloee! So happy you loved this recipe! It should work with an 11 x 14 pan, but I’ve never baked it in that pan size so I’m not sure how much to scale the recipe. It makes about 6 Cups of batter. Your best bet is to research how much batter that pan size requires and then adjust the recipe from there. Hope that helps!
Hi. I’m going to try your crumb technique to decorate. I was planning to decorate the cake the day before eating though. Do the crumbs last overnight in the fridge or will they harden and become unpleasant?
Hi Ella! The best way to store the crumbs will be in an airtight container at room temperature. Hope that helps!
And also, for the unsalted butter, which brand of butter is best for baking cakes and frosting. From Uk
Thank you
Hi there! I use generic brand unsalted butter from my local (US) grocery store. I don’t find it makes a huge difference from brand to brand.
Hi Whitney,
I love this red velvet recipe but can I bake red velvet cake for fondant covering or is there any specific type of cake for fondant cakes.
Thanks
Hi there! This cake can totally be used for under fondant. All of my cake recipes are sturdy enough for that.
Hallo Whitney,
I was reading the receipe of this cake, and I would like to try it for my daughter’s birthday. Is it right, that there’s no baking powder, and that for the frosting there’s almost 1 kg of sugar ?
Thanks for the help!
Margherita from Germany
Hi Margherita! I’m so excited for you to try this recipe! Yes, there’s no baking powder in this cake, the baking soda does all the leavening when it reacts with the vinegar. And yes, there’s that much sugar. Cream cheese frosting is notoriously soft and unstable unless you use that much or sub in some corn starch for stability. I wrote this recipe for cream cheese frosting that uses a little less sugar and cornstarch, if you use this for the cake you’ll need to double it though: https://sugarandsparrow.com/cream-cheese-buttercream-recipe/ Hope that helps!
Hi! The recipe calls for 1 tbsp of food gel colouring. How do I add 1 tbsp? Currently I use the toothpick method but how would I know I’ve achieved 1tbsp worth of colouring? Thank you!
Hi there! I just add the color gel into a measuring spoon. My gels are squeeze top, so it’s a bit easier to measure that way. Hope that helps!
Hi I was wondering if it matters if we sift the flour and the flour I have comes with salt and baking powder already mixed in what should I do .
Hi Abena! I don’t recommend using flour that already has leavening agent like baking powder in it since there’s already baking powder in the recipe. You’ll end up adding too much leavening agent and risk a sunken cake in the end. You are welcome to experiment with it but I recommend using storebought cake flour (or this diy version: https://sugarandsparrow.com/homemade-cake-flour-recipe/), sifted before measuring.
I made this cake and was perfect. The frosting was great too.
Yay, Natasha! I’m so happy to hear this recipe was a hit!
Hi Whitney,
Looking at some of the recipes and they LOOK awesome, I would really like to try them. The layers look pretty thick, what size pan height do you use, is it 3 inches or 2 inches high. Thank you for your time and looking forward to trying some of them.
Yay, Mel! I hope you get a chance to try some of my recipes! I use 6-inch pans that are two inches tall, so my layers end up being about 1.5-1.75 inches tall. Hope that helps!