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 am planning to combine your Red Velvet Cake (for the red layers) and Black Velvet Cakes (for the vegan butter cream) for Halloween. I am a little lost on how to do make the Red Velvet vegan though. The buttermilk seems easy enough to replace with a milk alternative and vinegar. Do you have a recommendation on how to replace the 2 eggs?
And on another note: Is it possible to replace the cake flour and baking soda with plain flour and baking powder? If so, what are the correct ratios? Comparing the two recipes has led me down a rabbit hole, I suppose..
Thank you!
Hi Jessica! I have never tried making a vegan version of this red velvet cake recipe so I can’t say for sure how it will turn out with an egg replacement. Until I have thoroughly tested a recipe, I recommend finding a red velvet cake recipe that’s already vegan. This seems like a great one: https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-red-velvet-cake/
Thank you, I will certainly look into this one! I hope everything turns out as expected with my batch tomorrow.
Hi Whitney,
I just wanted to let you know: The cake turned out great, and my colleagues and I loved it! I recommended your recipes to everyone who asked. Thank you!
That makes me so happy, Jessica!!
i tried this recipe just now for a cake order & the cake fell apart as soon as i tried to take it out of the pans after 5 mins 🙁 & i never had this problem before.
Hi Nautica! I’m sorry the cake fell apart, I’ve never had that problem either unless my cake is stuck to the pan. How did you try to remove it from the pan? And did you line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray the sides with baking spray (or grease them)? I usually put a plate on top and flip the pan over to release the cake and since it’s lined on the bottom with parchment it should stay together easily. Let me know if it was an issue of the cake sticking to the pan or if it seemed like an issue with the actual cake structure.
Hi,
A quick question.
I’d like to know whether this recipe can be used for a two-tier cake and if it will be structurally stable?
BTW love your recipes.
Thank you
Hi Abby! I’m so happy you’ve been loving my recipes! Yes, this recipe will totally work as a two-tier cake. Just be sure to use dowels in between the tiers for extra structure. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much!