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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J x
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Hi Jane
What icing nozzles and piping bags do you use?
Maeve x
Hi Jane, I’ve noticed that your recipes and instructions for the cream cheese frosting are different for this cake and for the red velvet cupcakes – I was wondering why this was? Is one of them easier to pipe? Thank you – I absolutely love your recipes!!
It’s just two different examples is all!
I’ve made this cake about six or seven times and it always goes down a storm.. I’ve had a little girl tell me its the best cake she’s ever tasted! It really is seriously good. Thank you for this fab recipe. I use cream cheese frosting as I’m not a fan of buttercream.. It really is a perfect red velvet cake.
Hi Jane when you say use a third of the frosting then layer it up from the picture it looks like it’s piped so I am confused sorry to sound silly but what do you mean by a third of the frosting?
Hi, do you have a print version of this recipe please. Thanks
Any recipe can be printed, using your computer print function.
Could this red velvet cake ever work as a drip cake? I’m really keen to try it with a white chocolate drip?
Yes it could! However I would use a vanilla buttercream to cover it, as cream cheese frosting won’t hold up enough!
What vanilla do you use? I’ve tried a few with varying success, would love your opinion! Thanks!
I only use Nielsen Massey!!
Hi, i’m going to be using 12’ square cake tins, do you recommend I alter the recipe and by how much?
Thank you
That would typically be 3x the recipe, so lots and lots of cake mix – You would want to lower the temp to make sure it bakes evenly as it will take ages!
Hi Jane loving your blog, wanted to ask if making this red velvet cake for cake pops, would cream cheese frosting be okay to mix the cake with in to little balls or cakesicles?
Hi Jane,
I’ll be making this recipe tomorrow (first time making red velvet). My pans a 6” though, how should I adapt the recipe amounts to accommodate a smaller tin please?
Thanks
Danielle
YUMMY!! This recipe is DE-LICIOUS!! It was honestly so easy to follow, thanks to your amazing instructions Jane. I am loving the red velvet now! The colour was perfect, just as you imagine it to be, I used the extra red as recommended.
A big thank you for sharing Jane
Hi Jane, I love your blog and Instagram page, I always enjoy a read to see what delicious bakes you’ve made.
Your recipes are amazing and you cover everything step by step with such helpful information, thank you so much for sharing. I’ve always avoided the red velvet as it worries me for some reason, but am going to give it a go this week for my friends birthday – yikes! The plan is to make a two tier, the red velvet being on the bottom with 4 layers of sponge. Using all the usual dowels and everything for support do you foresee any problems with this? It will be covered with buttercream so can be kept in the fridge. Much appreciated
Red velvet has always been a weird one for bakers, I wouldn’t worry!! As long as you have the correct type of food colouring, and weigh everything well, it should be dandy!
And yes as long as it’s dowelled correctly then it should be absolutely fine!
Hi Jane!
I want to make this cake tomorrow but as three tiers rather than 2. Would you please advise me with regards to the increased quantities of the ingredients and also how long to bake it for please xx
Add on another 1/2 of the recipe, and bake into three tins! Should be the same baking time then!
Made this recipe yesterday, absolutely delicious and turned out beautifully! I’m making this recipe again but will divide into two 11 inch pans. Should I just double the recipe, or add another half of each ingredient? I complicate things too much in my brain haha.
I would double the recipe! x
Hi Jane! I was just wondering, if I wanted to double the recipe to make a 4 layered cake what would be the best way to bake them? In two pans and then cut through the middle or bake in four separate tins?
I would personally bake in four tins x
Hi Jane, amazing recipe! Family were huge fans when I made this. Have you ever tried to make red velvet brownies/cookies? I’ve had a look for a recipe online but it’s all cup/American measurements which never seem to work for me! Thanks!!