Red Velvet Cake!
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A delicious & light and moreish red velvet cake smothered in cream cheese frosting – hello cake heaven!
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Red Velvet
Red velvet cake is one of those ‘in things’ that all coffee shops will sell at some point, and the recipe that everyone wants to have and use, but its one of the most inconsistent cakes to make at home that I have come across! I use this as a base for all things red velvet – red velvet NYC cookies, red velvet brownies, red velvet loaf cake and red velvet cupcakes… the list goes on!
After trying out a few recipes from other websites and such I decided that developing my own was best – as some recipes were so unreliable I just didn’t feel comfortable! It really is science when it comes to red velvet, and whilst the classic was really a beetroot cake, this is my more modern version of a red velvet cake.
Food colouring
I would definitely say the key to the recipe is good quality food colouring – using the little liquid bottles you can buy from the supermarket, will NOT work! You will end up having to use about 5 bottle to make it work, and it’ll just taste nasty.
I use Sugarflair food colouring for all of my baking, and this is no different! I use the Sugarflair Red Extra food colouring which you can buy, which comes in at about £5/£6 a pot, but it lasts for sooooo long that this doesn’t matter! Also, the key of using the buttermilk, bicarbonate of soda, and vinegar means that the red colouring will be brought out even more, and you will get the classic velvet cake texture!
I find the reason that peoples red velvet cakes can fail is because of using lower quality food colouring, not mixing it with the cocoa powder (which is the ingredient that makes the colouring not work sometimes!!) and then not taking their time with the making of the cake. Gradually adding in all of the ingredients in the order specified makes a deliciously moist cake, that comes out super super SUPER bright red!
Frosting
The cake has a delicious mix of the flavours of chocolate and vanilla, which is utter heaven to me!! The cream cheese frosting on top is sweet, delicious, and marries with the cake perfectly – but cream cheese frosting can always be a liiiittle bit runny in comparison to others, thats its nature, however – as long as you don’t over beat it too much – it’ll be lovely and delicious!
I love this cake so so so much, so I really hope you guys do too! For the cream cheese frosting, you have to make sure that your cream cheese has no extra excess liquid, and try not to over mix the mixture. Also, room temperature butter is important so there is no lumps. Take a look at this blog post for a whole post dedicated to cream cheese frosting.
Red Velvet Cake!
Ingredients
Cake
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 300 g caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs
- 30 g cocoa powder
- 1 heaped tsp Sugarflair Red Extra food colouring
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 ml buttermilk
- 300 g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 150 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 150 g icing sugar
- 300 g full fat cream cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat your oven to 170ºC/150ºC fan and line/grease two 8" cake tins - leave to the side for now.
- Beat together the unsalted butter and caster sugar in a stand mixer until smooth and fluffy like you would a normal cake, and then gradually beat in the egg so that it doesn't curdle (if it doesn't curdle, beat in a little flour to bring it back)
- In a small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, Sugarflair red extra food colouring, and vanilla extract to a thick dark paste (if it is struggling to become a paste, then add in a little milk to make it runnier and mix better - it needs to be smooth!) - it may take a couple of minutes but this will make it easier to add to the rest of the mixture if you do it this way - and the sponge will be more red!
- Add this mixture to the unsalted butter and caster sugar mixture and beat until combined and evenly coloured.
- Turn the speed down to slow, and pour in half of the buttermilk.
- Add in half of the plain flour and beat again, and then the other half of the buttermilk & beat, and then the other half of the flour & beat (I realise this is faffy, but it works!).
- Beat in the bicarbonate of soda and white wine vinegar.
- Beat again for a couple of minutes until everything is smooth and incorporated well.
- Separate into the two tins and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the middle of the cake comes out clean when poked with a skewer!
- Once the cakes are baked, leave to cool fully on a wire rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Make sure your unsalted butter is at room temperature. I leave mine out overnight when it's cold weather, but in the hotter months this can take as little as 30 minutes!
- Beat your butter on it's own for a few minutes to loosen it.
- Add in the icing sugar, and beat again - I beat this for about 5 minutes, to make it really smooth.
- Make sure your cream cheese doesn't have any excess water - I find it best to add it to a bowl first just to make sure.
- Add in the cream cheese, vanilla and beat. At first, it may look a little weird, but just keep on beating.
- I end up beating it for a few minutes - it can go through a lumpy stage first, but eventually the lumps beat out and it's smooth and thick!
- Once beaten - it should be lovely and thick.
- Pipe/spread 1/2 of the frosting onto the top of one sponge.
- Add the other sponge on top, then pipe/spread the other half of the frosting onto the top and decorate with sponge crumbs if you fancy!
Notes
- I really really really recommend in investing in good quality Sugarflair Red Extra food colouring for a red velvet cake - I use Sugarflair paste colours which you can buy online, or in cake decorating shops etc - but they don't have a funny taste to them, you use far less to make them work, and they last so much longer!!
- This cake will last in the fridge for up to 3 days, covered, or you can freeze it for up to 3 months!
- I use these 8" Cake Tins
- I use this red food colouring
- I use this Vanilla extract
- I use these piping bags
- I use this Medium 2D Closed Star Piping Tip
- If you would like the original cream cheese frosting recipe it is:
- 125g room temperature unsalted butter, 280g full fat cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 400-600g icing sugar.
- Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth, and add the vanilla extract.
- Gradually add the icing sugar until thick and delicious.
ENJOY!
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Hi jane would you be able to give me a recipe to make this red velvet cake as a 10 inch please
My son has asked me to make his wedding cake.. 10 inch red velvet and 8 inch lemon drizzle
I absolutely love your recipes they haven’t failed me yet thank you so much
Hi Phyllis, I made this recipe last week in a 10″ tin and the quantity above was more than enough for the tin. I am making it again tomorrow, so I will double the recipe for 2 cakes to be sandwiched together. I baked at 150 fan for an hour and it had a very slight crust to it. I usually bake a 10″ for 45mins, but this was definitely not ready at that time. I might check tomorrow after 55mins. Hope this helps. Good luck with the wedding cake!
I’ve been requested to do a 10” cake for a wedding also, so this would be great x
I made this at the weekend and brought it to work today. I can’t tell you how well it’s gone down. So easy to make, looks amazing, deliciously moist and the cream cheese frosting, which I’m not normally a fan of as I find it too sweet, is absolutely delicious – really hard to believe there is any sugar in it. So many compliments I will definitely make this again as soon as possible. I used the red food colouring you recommended and the colour is very vibrant.
This Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting looks stunning, The rich, vibrant color and smooth frosting make it a showstopper for any occasion. I love how the recipe balances the flavors perfectly—sweet, tangy, and utterly delicious. Can’t wait to try making it for my next celebration.
Hello, would I be able to substitute flour for gluten free? Many thanks.
Hi There. Did you ever find this out, as I’m think of making this cake using gluten free flour, but don’t want to mess it up, as it’s for my friends birthday. Thank you. Shirine
As with all of your recipies again this one is amazing.I made this for my Grandsons’ 7th Birthday as it’s his favourite and it was a big hit with everyone.Thank you.
I have been using this recipe for years and it has never failed me. It is so moist, so tasty and always a showstopper. I’ve been searching for the original, since I lost my recipe notebook – so happy to have found it. Thanks for blessing us with this recipe!
Hi could I just confirm that the recommended Sugarflair red extra is the paste? Thankyou.
Yes, Sugarflair Red extra is the paste you need. It’s very concentrated. Brilliant stuff 🙂
How can I turn this into a 6”?
Did you manage to find this out? I want to do the same 🙂
Hi Jane, made your carrot cake at the weekend, delicious !
It is my daughters 16th birthday in 2 weeks and I wanted to make her a two tier cake.
The carrot cake on the bottom and a red velvet on the top.
I have 8″ tins for the carrot cake and 6″ tins for the red velvet.
What quantities of the ingredients would I need for the red velvet – baking in 6″ tins – and how long do they bake for at what temperature.
And will I need to dowel the carrot cake – or will it be strong enough by itself to hold the red velvet ?
Thank you in advance, I have all of your books !
For those that have made it, how sweet is the cream
cheese frosting please? My daughter doesn’t like it to be too sweet, thanks.
Mine turned out very dense. Not had red velvet before so not sure if it’s supposed to be like that or what I did wrong but it wasn’t what I was expecting.
Dense cakes usually mean they are over mixed, or under baked! x
Hi,
I was asked to make a red velvet cake and wondered will it be ok for Saturday? (Today is Thursday)
It will be covered in fondant so will that lock moisture in?
Thank you,
Izzy
I have just made this for my daughter 16th birthday! The recipe is so easy to follow and was tastes as good as it looks! Thank you Jane
This is so perfect. My boyfriend’s favourite cake is red velvet, I wanted to make his birthday cake The Best cake he’d ever eaten. Confirmed by Conor “the best cake I’ve ever had”. He requests this every few months as a big treat, and I love it just as much. Thanks Jane:)
Does anyone have any recommendations of how I make this delicious cake but bigger? I want to use it for a 12 inch cake which I’ll then cut in two. It’s for a wedding
Hi! I’d love to make this cake, but I’ve bought Sugar Flair Blood Red paste concentrate. Will that still work ok?