Red Velvet Cake Recipe

Hey We're making a luscious melt-in-your-mouth red velvet cake. So let's get started.

First off, set your oven to 350, so it's nice and hot. And we're gonna combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl, starting with two and a half cups or 300 grams of all-purpose flour. I'm using a scale because that'll give me the most melt-in-your-mouth cake.

If you're using measuring cups, do not scoop. You'll want to fluff the flour up, sprinkle it into your measuring cup. Your goal is to not compact it. So you don't want to push it down. And then level it off. That'll give you approximately the correct amount.

If you just scooped it up, I guarantee your cake will be dense and bready. Perfect. To buff things up, I'm using a teaspoon of baking soda. Baking soda needs an acid to react to it. And we will be adding some acids for a really fluffy, delicious cake. And for contrast, a teaspoon of salt. If you're using superfiner table salt, I would decrease that down to about three quarters of a teaspoon or even half.

Let's grab a whisk. Scale's done for a bit. Whisk, whisk, whisk this all together so everything's nicely distributed. If you have any lumps in your flour, you could totally sift this out too. Nicely whisked. Set that aside and grab a stand mixer or a large bowl in your hand mixer.

To the bowl of your mixer, we're adding half a cup or 113 grams of softened butter. It shouldn't be too firm. And to make sure it's not, we're gonna give it a quick cream. Pop your paddle attachment on and just mix this up for a few seconds on medium. Maybe like 30 seconds. We just wanna make sure there's no hidden clumps of hard butter hanging out in the middle of your stick.

Chances are your cake's gonna live in the fridge. If you wanna make it ahead of time, but you want it to be super soft and melt in your mouth, you can substitute the delicious butter for some veggie oil. You'll use the same amount and do all the same steps, but when your cake comes out of the fridge, it'll be super soft. If you plan on making and serving your cake immediately, you don't need to make the substitution.

Once your butter is nicely creamed, we can add one and a half cups or 300 grams of granulated sugar. I love red velvet cake in part because I love cream cheese frosting. It's like my favorite flavor. I have a lot of favorites, this is true. Cream cheese is right up there, though. It is so delicious, and the flavor of this cake is a bit controversial.

Once your sugar's added, we're gonna go to medium for about three minutes until this is light and fluffy, and you can definitely scrape the bowl down.

Red velvet cake started off as velvet cake in the Victorian times. This has changed, and now it's red velvet cake, heavy on the food coloring. It used to get a really delicate, light pink color from a tiny bit of cocoa powder.

So we have a cake that's flavored with vanilla and chocolate for the lightest of chocolate flavors, paired with a luscious cream cheese frosting. In the 1950s, food coloring became more readily available, and people started adding a ton of red food coloring just to amp up that light pink color all the way to crimson.

So you don't have to add food coloring. It could be a red velvet cake that's not red. Today, we're gonna use food coloring and make this more of the traditional red velvet cake that we all know and love.

I am gonna scrape the bowl down here. And by the way, if you like my videos, hit that subscribe button. There's two new delicious recipes every week.

Back to mixing.

While our butter's mixing up, we can prep the pans. For this recipe, you could use three six-inch layers for a cute, tall cake, or two eight- or nine-inch layers. The baking time will be adjusted, and I'll tell you about that later. But any of those cake sizes will work well.

You can use butter and flour, or you can use baking spray. Both will work. To make sure these don't stick, I'm adding a little round of parchment paper right in the center.

You can use a heaping tablespoon of flour and just divide that among the pans.

Once your butter's nice and creamed up, we're gonna add two room-temperature eggs in. Large, please.

I shouldn't be doing that. You should be cracking this into a small bowl, checking for shells, and then adding that in.

Mix on medium, and we want the first egg to incorporate before adding the next in.

No shell.

Definitely scrape the bowl down. Two teaspoons of vanilla for some lovely flavor. We're gonna mix this all together.

I'm kicking this up to high just for a few seconds. Now I have a lovely, fluffy, delicious mixture. It is, however, missing a few things. Some acid and some cocoa powder, so we're gonna add both of those in.

For the cocoa powder, you have a choice. I'll say both will work, but for best results, use a natural cocoa powder. Dutch processed cocoa powder is dark. That's also called special dark cocoa powder. The natural cocoa powder is lighter, and this is gonna be more acidic, so the acid will react with our baking soda and the buttermilk, and you'll get that signature light pink color as well as a beautiful texture for the cake.

Whenever you add a weak acid into a batter, it's gonna prevent the gluten from connecting and forming, and you're gonna get a melt-in-your-mouth cake.

Two tablespoons of cocoa powder. I'm gonna sift this in because cocoa powder is notorious for having lumps.

Lots of lumps in there. Look at that. You can just use your finger or a spoon to push them through.

Okay, we're gonna mix the cocoa powder in now.

Adding more cocoa powder gives you more chocolate flavor, but it also makes the batter much darker, and if you're super concerned about having a perfect red color, you can go down to one tablespoon and just add more food coloring in. I don't care about the color as much as the flavor.

One more scrape down, because you can see it's a light chocolate color on the inside, and no chocolate at all on the outside of the bowl.

Today, I'm pairing red velvet with a cream cheese frosting. I've told you it's one of my favorite flavors, and it's also what is now traditional. However, originally, we did not use cream cheese frosting. We would have used ermine frosting, and I have a recipe for ermine frosting on the channel. You can click up here for the video. It is super easy to make, really easy to handle, and has a lovely texture and flavor. It's much different from a regular frosting, because you're using flour and less butter. So if you wanna be a purist, you could definitely make a batch of ermine frosting for this cake recipe.

We're almost ready to combine the dry and the wet ingredients but we have some buttermilk to add. The buttermilk, also lightly acidic, will give us a better texture in our cake, but we're gonna add a little bit more acid in the form of one tablespoon of white vinegar. Add that into your buttermilk, and here you're also gonna add the food coloring.

I could mix the wet ingredients for a long time. I could whisk the dry ingredients for a long time. But once I combine the two, you just mix them until they're just combined. If you overmix them, your cake's gonna be gummy, not melt in your mouth, dense, not fluffy, and it'll even taste different. You don't wanna do that.

My point is that you don't wanna like start adding food coloring at the very end and keep adding it while mixing it in because you'll overmix your cake. I'm gonna mix it in to my buttermilk instead.

The amount of food coloring depends on the type of food coloring. This is gel food coloring, which is super concentrated. I'm gonna add in like one and a half drops. There we go. Let's whisk this in and see what it's like.

Gel food coloring is super concentrated but it's also very thick and you have to really mix it in.

For the sake of YouTube, I want this to be a really like rich red color so I'm adding a lot of food coloring in, but it's totally up to you if you wanna add none or a ton or just a drop. I'm not gonna lie and say one drop of regular food coloring is gonna give you a red color though. That's not gonna happen.

Shockingly though, for the decorations, I'm gonna use a little bit of crumbs and I'm gonna make a tiny like half cupcake with some batter that I reserve that has even more food coloring in it. So this is good for the cake, for the decorations. If you're using crumbs, you want more.

It's time to combine. We're gonna add half of our flour in while mixing on the lowest setting.

Half of my buttermilk vinegar mixture, the remaining flour and the remaining buttermilk mixture.

I'm not gonna finish mixing this. I'm gonna do it all by hand. Well, I'm gonna finish it off by hand while also getting all this buttermilk out.

Because we have a lot of acid in here with our baking soda, this is gonna start frothing up really quickly and from experience, I think it's best to get this like into the cake pans as quickly as possible. It's not a batter you can like leave in the fridge and hang out for a few hours and get the best results.

Use your spatula and just scrape this down and fold it together. Looking for an even distribution of color and no remaining flour.

All that food coloring and I have essentially like a light red color. This will change a bit as we bake it though.

Nicely folded, no streaks. We're gonna pop this into our pans, distributing the batter evenly. Into your three six inch cake pans, your two eight or nine inch cake pans, whatever you're choosing.

Eyeball this to start and then use a scale just to double check that everything is the same and nice and even. It's okay if they're slightly different, but that'll affect the bake times.

I'm gonna reserve like a couple tablespoons of this batter for my little cupcake. Little extra food coloring for that. This step is totally optional. It's just if you wanna have some crumbs for the outside of your cake, which is one of the more traditional ways of decorating them. You have like beautiful white frosting with a little crumble of red crumbs.

Grab an offset spatula and give your cake layers a quick smooth. They'll self level in the oven, but you wanna give them a nice headstart, especially because we're stacking them.

As you can see, I have some cake strips on the edge of my cakes. These are just damp fabric strips that you wrap around the edge and they give you a flat cake layer with a more tender edge because they're cooling the side down so it all bakes together. If you don't use cake strips, chances are that the center will keep baking because it takes the longest while the outside's done and that's why you get a domed cake with a kind of crispy edge.

This is nice and red, so we're gonna pop this into the oven with our cake layers. This little mini cupcake probably only needs about 10 minutes or so. I'll start checking it at 10 and then pull it out when the center is set.

If you're making a batch of red velvet cupcakes with this recipe, which you can totally do, they need 15 minutes. Our six inch cake layers need 30 to 35 before you check the center for doneness and if you're making a bigger eight or nine inch cake, I would take five minutes away from the bake time, so 25 to 30 and start checking them because the thinner layers bake quicker.

We're gonna pop these into the oven and while they bake, we'll make a dreamy cream cheese frosting.

In you go. All right.

While your cake layers are cooling, we can whip up the most delicious and luscious cream cheese frosting.

Into the bowl of my stand mixer, I'm adding one and a half cups or 340 grams of softened butter, so nice and soft. It's gonna mix really well. That's three sticks.

Like I said at the beginning of the video, you could try being very traditional and making an ermine frosting for this. The last time I made a red velvet video, I had a lot of ermine frosting requests, so I'm trying to mention it now so everyone knows that it's totally a delicious alternative.

I also want 16 ounces or two blocks of softened cream cheese.

One and two.

Pop your paddle attachment on and we're gonna cream this up.

Medium speed until it's nice and smooth, really well combined and fluffy. It's about three minutes.

While this is mixing, you might as well go ahead and measure and sift five and a half cups or one and a half pounds of powdered sugar. Sifting powdered sugar is a good idea because any lumps will clog your piping tip. If you're doing a more rustic, swoopy cake, you don't have to worry about it. It'll all work out.

Cleaning up as I go along.

Once this is nice and creamy, we can add a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla.

Decrease your speed to low and just add your powdered sugar in gradually.

You can scrape down a couple times. We just want this to be really homogenous so it's all equally sweet.

Cream cheese frosting is so delicious. It's one of my favorite flavors, but there is a trade-off. On the plus side, easy to make, super creamy, dreamy, luscious texture, and the taste is amazing. On the minus column, it's very soft. You can keep adding powdered sugar and eventually it'll firm up, but then it's too sweet. So anything you make with cream cheese frosting is either gonna be like a sheet cake, cupcakes, or if you're doing a layer cake, just factor in some chill time.

And if you made a two-layer cake, it'll be a bit more stable than this three-layer cake.

All right, it's time for a scrape down. This is looking really good already, though.

Once all the sugar is mixed in and you've scraped the bowl down, increase the speed to medium and mix it for a minute until it's like a little bit fluffier and nice and smooth.

This looks amazing.

I have one more bit of prep to do before we assemble the cake. Don't think I forgot about my little super red cupcake. Remove the paper, grab a cheese grater, and we're just gonna create crumbs that we can use to decorate the cake. So vibrant. Grate this up.

I'm gonna use the crumbs to create a beautiful skirt that'll just let everybody know, hey, this is a delicious red velvet cake and you want a piece.

Nicely crumbled. You can see it's a really beautiful, vibrant color. The main reason I used a cheese grater instead of my hands was that I have fluffy, beautiful crumbs here. And if you use your fingers, they can kind of get mushed together. Don't love that.

I love a six-inch cake because you don't have to make a massive amount of batter. Realistically, the piece sizes that you get, you could feed eight people from this and have a nice portion of cake that is satisfying but doesn't make you feel sick. And they are so tall and cute. It's a really good proportion.

If you wanna get that same proportion with an eight-inch cake, you are making massive amounts of batter, massive amounts of frosting. And for my family of four, this is perfect.

My cake's gonna have a decorative topping. So about a cup of frosting will be reserved and I'm using a medium closed star tip. Set that aside.

On to my first layer, I'm adding about half a cup of frosting. Smooth that out.

Next layer goes on. Center it up.

If you're making this on a hot day and things are kind of like going sideways, just pop this into the fridge to chill out and the buttercream will firm up.

I actually much prefer a soft buttercream because it's so much more pleasant to eat, but it can be more wobbly.

Final layer on top. Nice and not tilted.

Spread the remaining frosting on top and on side of my cake and then just smooth things out.

If you're feeling very unsure about cake decorating, one, I have a cake decorating video you could watch, but two, you can crumb coat this cake which is just covering the whole cake in like half a cup of frosting that you smooth into a paper thin layer. Then chill the cake and finish covering it. You won't have any crumbs and everything will be really stable.

La la la.

You could also pipe the frosting onto the side and then just smooth it out.

Once you have some nice coverage, your cake might look like a disaster. That's fine, you'll fix it. Grab a bench scraper and just smooth it out. You can smooth it out and add more frosting to the places that need more.

Also, so important, when you're working with cream cheese frosting, you gotta let go of those Virgo tendencies. It's not gonna be perfect, just get it looking nice. It's not like you're using Swiss meringue buttercream and this is a cake that's for a wedding. This is not ever gonna be that. If you try to do it, you're gonna be sad.

I'm just jiggling it as I see it leaning. If it's really bad, just pop a skewer right into the center and pop it into the fridge to chill for a bit. The skewer can come out at the very end.

Taking my own advice, it's not gonna be perfect. It's just gonna look nice. Nice.

The last step is just to finish cleaning the edge by bringing it in. I'm using a turntable today. It is so much nicer decorating with it because it's really easy to turn. If you don't have one, you can actually try using your microwave turntable. Your microwave has a glass plate on rollers. Take both of those out and they work as a turntable.

I have a good amount of frosting left over so I'm gonna finish this off with a rope. You could use dollops if you're running out of frosting, which you use the least. You could do a shell pattern by going up and down or you can do a rope, which is making small circles as you turn.

Just keep turning right on the edge and it kind of fixes a lot of the problems that your cake might have.

I did it. Yay, it looks nice.

The last thing to do before we pop this into the fridge is grab some of our crumbs and very gently just place them onto the bottom part of our cake. This is called a skirt. And you just need to do this before the frosting dries out and isn't sticky anymore.

Last little bit going on. If you want to get a bit of a gradient, you kind of just gently toss some towards the top and a few will stick. And I'll finish cleaning this up once everything's set.

Once chilled, give your cake a slice and just like that, it's ready to enjoy.

The cake has a perfect melt in your mouth texture and the star is the cream cheese frosting. But the last thing you taste is that light chocolate flavor from the cake. It's delicious. I hope you get a chance to make the recipe.

Red velvet cake is one of the most recognizable and beloved desserts in the baking world, known for its striking red color, soft texture, and subtle cocoa flavor. Unlike traditional chocolate cakes, red velvet cake contains only a small amount of cocoa powder, which contributes a mild chocolate taste without overpowering the cake. The unique combination of ingredients creates a tender crumb and a balanced flavor profile that has made red velvet cake a favorite for birthdays, weddings, holidays, and special occasions around the world.

The primary ingredients of a classic red velvet cake include all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, vegetable oil or butter, buttermilk, vanilla extract, vinegar, and red food coloring. Flour provides the structure of the cake, while sugar adds sweetness and helps create a moist texture. Cocoa powder contributes the signature hint of chocolate flavor that distinguishes red velvet from vanilla cakes. Baking soda acts as a leavening agent, helping the cake rise and develop a light, airy texture during baking.

One of the most important ingredients in red velvet cake is buttermilk. Buttermilk adds moisture and tenderness while also providing a slight tanginess that complements the sweetness of the cake. The acidity in buttermilk reacts with baking soda, creating carbon dioxide bubbles that help the cake rise. This reaction contributes to the soft and fluffy texture that red velvet cake is known for. Vinegar is another key ingredient that enhances this chemical reaction and helps maintain the cake's delicate crumb structure.

Eggs play a crucial role by binding the ingredients together and adding richness. Vegetable oil is often preferred over butter because it creates a moister cake that stays fresh longer. Vanilla extract enhances the overall flavor and balances the slight cocoa notes. The iconic red color is traditionally achieved using red food coloring, although some modern recipes use natural alternatives such as beetroot powder or concentrated fruit extracts.

The frosting is equally important to the overall experience of red velvet cake. Traditionally, red velvet cake was paired with ermine frosting, a cooked flour-based frosting that was popular before cream cheese frosting became widely available. Today, cream cheese frosting is the most common choice because its tangy flavor perfectly complements the cake's sweetness. Cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract are typically combined to create a smooth, creamy frosting that adds richness without being overly sweet.

Some bakers also include sour cream, yogurt, or additional butter to further enhance moisture and flavor. Variations may incorporate white chocolate, nuts, or decorative toppings, but the classic recipe remains relatively simple. The careful balance of acidic ingredients, mild cocoa, moisture-rich components, and vibrant coloring is what gives red velvet cake its distinctive identity. Each ingredient serves a specific purpose, contributing to the cake's flavor, texture, appearance, and overall appeal. When combined correctly, these ingredients create the signature soft, velvety crumb and rich taste that have made red velvet cake a timeless dessert enjoyed across generations.

The secret to red velvet cake lies not in a single ingredient but in the precise balance of flavors, textures, and chemical reactions that work together to create its signature characteristics. Many people assume that red velvet cake is simply a chocolate cake dyed red, but the truth is much more complex. The unique combination of ingredients and baking techniques is what gives red velvet cake its distinctive taste, soft crumb, and luxurious texture that sets it apart from other cakes.

One of the biggest secrets behind red velvet cake is the interaction between acidic ingredients and cocoa powder. Traditional red velvet recipes use buttermilk and vinegar, which react with baking soda to create a light and tender cake structure. This reaction not only helps the cake rise but also contributes to the smooth, velvety texture that inspired the cake's name. The acidity also enhances the subtle cocoa flavor, creating a delicate balance between chocolate, vanilla, and tangy notes that make red velvet cake unique.

Another important secret is the use of a small amount of cocoa powder. Unlike rich chocolate cakes that rely heavily on cocoa, red velvet cake uses just enough to add depth and complexity without dominating the flavor. This subtle chocolate presence allows other ingredients, such as vanilla and buttermilk, to shine. The result is a flavor profile that is difficult to categorize but instantly recognizable to anyone who has tasted authentic red velvet cake.

Moisture is another critical factor. Many successful red velvet cake recipes use vegetable oil instead of butter because oil remains liquid at room temperature, helping the cake retain moisture for a longer period. This creates the soft and tender crumb that people associate with high-quality red velvet cake. Some bakers also incorporate sour cream or yogurt to further increase moisture and richness while maintaining a delicate texture.

The vibrant red color is another hallmark of red velvet cake. Historically, the natural reaction between cocoa powder and acidic ingredients created a reddish hue, especially when less processed cocoa was used. Modern recipes often rely on food coloring to achieve the dramatic appearance that consumers expect. While the color is visually important, it is not the true secret behind the cake's success. The real magic lies in achieving the perfect balance of ingredients and techniques.

Cream cheese frosting also plays a major role in the overall experience. The tanginess of cream cheese frosting contrasts beautifully with the cake's mild sweetness, creating a harmonious flavor combination. A well-made frosting should be creamy, smooth, and slightly tangy without overwhelming the cake itself. This pairing is one of the reasons red velvet cake remains so popular.

Ultimately, the secret to red velvet cake is balance. It is the balance between sweetness and tanginess, moisture and structure, cocoa and vanilla, richness and lightness. Every ingredient contributes to the final product, and even small adjustments can significantly impact the result. When these elements come together correctly, they create a cake that is visually stunning, exceptionally moist, and wonderfully flavorful. This careful harmony is what transforms red velvet cake from an ordinary dessert into a timeless classic that continues to captivate cake lovers around the world.