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Red Velvet Cake

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Last updated on March 28th, 2019 at 03:48 pm

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – this super moist and tender red velvet cake makes for a divine and dramatic cake topped with an easy cream cheese frosting.

We all have cake that we crave and is our favorite for all occasions. For me, red velvet cake is that cake. Whether I’m ordering dessert at a restaurant or I have to make it for a special occasion, I always turn to this classic. This really is my go-to cake!

What takes this cake over the top is really that cream cheese frosting, which I think is just to die for. This is coming from someone who doesn’t like cake frosting. I don’t really like buttercream frosting because well they’re too buttery, I feel like I’m eating butter. But cream cheese icing is my kryptonite.

red velvet cake on a white platter with a slice taken out of it

What Is Red Velvet Cake

It is traditionally a red, red-brown, or scarlet coloured chocolate layer cake topped with cream cheese icing. Usually red velvet cakes are made with buttermilk, butter, cocoa, vinegar and flour.

Red velvet cakes have been around since the Victorian Era and they used to be served as a fancy dessert.

Why Is It Called Red Velvet Cake

The “red” comes from the red dye that is used to make the cake red, without the red food coloring, it’s simply a chocolate cake. The term “velvet” was a description of the cake because of its soft and velvety texture.

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting on a cake platter and a slice of red velvet cake in the background

How to Make Red Velvet Cake

This red velvet cake recipe is basically an adaptation of my chocolate cake which I’ve been making for years. It’s a tried and true recipe, which I consider fool proof. This recipe has been perfected over the years, so I know it will work. My secret ingredient in this cake is the coffee which just enriches the chocolate flavor in the cake. You will not taste coffee at all.

This cake is quite simple to make. I have made this cake before as a 3 layer cake or a 4 layer cake. If you make it a 4 layer cake, you’ll need only 2 cake pans. After you bake the cake, you’ll need to cut them in half so you can have your 4 layers. If you’re making a 3 layer cake, it’s easier to use 3 cake pans, 1 for each layer.

While the cake is baking, it’s the best time to make the cream cheese frosting. This cream cheese frosting is a totally different story, at least in my eyes. There’s no butter at all in this frosting, just cream cheese, icing sugar and whipping cream, which when mixed together creates the perfect cake frosting for such a gorgeous red velvet cake.

All that’s left to do is assemble the cake which is pretty simple. Cake, frosting, cake, frosting and so on. Whatever frosting is left over use for spreading over the top of the cake.

slice of red velvet cake on a white plate

Tips for Making Red Velvet Cake

While many recipes will call for using cake flour for red velvet cake, I do not find that it makes a huge difference. While cake flour usually results in a softer more velvety cake, all purpose flour works just as well and this cake is still as soft.

I used a red food coloring gel that I bought at Michael’s. It gives me the perfect red color, or at least what I consider the perfect red color for a red velvet cake. A lot of people don’t want to use artificial food coloring, so you always have the option of using natural food coloring such as beets. I have used beets before to make red velvet cupcakes for a bake sale at work and they turned out great, although you don’t get quite the rich red color as you do by using red food coloring gel.

I love to add a cup of strong coffee to chocolate cakes because coffee enhances the flavor of the chocolate. However, don’t worry, the coffee will not overpower the taste, you won’t even know it’s there.

For another gorgeous red velvet cake give my Red Velour Cake a try!

Red Velvet Cake on a white cake platter

Looking for More Cake Recipes? Try These:

Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - this super moist and tender red velvet cake makes for a divine and dramatic cake topped with an easy cream cheese frosting.
4.75 from 8 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cake recipes, red velvet cake
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 10
Calories: 721kcal
Author: Joanna Cismaru

Ingredients

Cake

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
  • 16 oz cream cheese
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups icing sugar same as powdered sugar or confectioner's sugar
US Customary - Metric
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Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
  • Prepare the baking pans: Prepare 2 8 inch cake pans. Cut out 2 parchment paper circles that will fit inside each pan and spray them with some cooking spray. Make sure to spray some cooking spray up the sides of the pans too.
  • Make the cake batter: In the bowl of your mixer, add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda and using the paddle attachment mix everything together until well combined, on low speed.
  • In a large bowl mix together the buttermilk, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk in the coffee and food coloring.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the mixer bowl and mix everything over medium speed for about 2 minutes, until everything is well combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl with a spatula and mix as needed. Add more red food coloring as needed to get to the desired color. Pour the batter into the 2 prepared pans, equally.
  • Bake: Place the cake pans in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. To test if the cake is done, insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean, it's done. Let the cake cool in the pans for about 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack or a cutting board and cool completely.
  • Prepare the cream cheese frosting: In the bowl of your mixer whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Remove from mixer bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
  • In the bowl of your mixer, beat the cream cheese together with the vanilla extract and icing sugar, until smooth. Fold in the whipping cream gradually until well combined.
  • Assemble the cake: Cut the top part of the cake first and crumbled it up in a bowl, we'll use this for decoration after.
  • Cut each cake into 2 pieces. Start by placing 1 cake layer onto your serving cake platter, then spread some of the cream cheese frosting, about 1/4, evenly over the cake layer. Repeat with remaining cake layers. Using a spatula, spread the cream cheese frosting evenly over the top of the cake and up the sides. Decorate the cake with the remaining cake crumbs if desired.
  • Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Watch How To Make It

Notes

I don't have buttermilk, can I use milk instead: You can actually make your own buttermilk by adding a tbsp of lemon juice. You will notice it start to curdle, so you can use this instead, however, I recommend using buttermilk for best results.
Why are you adding coffee to the cake and will it taste like coffee: Coffee is added to enhance the flavor of the chocolate and no, you will not taste the coffee in the cake at all.
Can I use liquid food coloring instead of gel: I strongly recommend using red gel food coloring. You need a lot less gel to get the desired color, plus I always find when using liquid food color that it gives the cakes a weird taste.
This cake can be made as a 3 layer cake or 4 layer cake. If making a 3 layer cake as seen in some of the pictures, it's easier to use 3 cake pans for baking the cakes, this way there's no need to cut each cake in half.
Nutrition: Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

Nutrition

Calories: 721kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 27g | Cholesterol: 138mg | Sodium: 685mg | Potassium: 232mg | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 24.6% | Vitamin C: 0.3% | Calcium: 12.6% | Iron: 9.1%
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Comments

  3. Pamela says

    March 9, 2018 at 1:48 am

    OMG! I have got to try this cake out it looks so moist and frosting so creamy lol! Sorry I love cake. 🙂

    Reply

  4. Pat says

    January 31, 2018 at 9:42 pm

    Hi, Just bought all the ingredients will be baking on Saturday for my husbands birthday, do you mean 11/2 cups of whipping cream before whipping? Have you ever tried adding frozen raspberries, just thought I might give it a go but don’t want to ruin the cake?

    Reply

    • Joanna Cismaru says

      January 31, 2018 at 10:17 pm

      Yes, that’s correct, 1 1/2 cup whipping cream while it’s still liquid. I haven’t tried adding frozen raspberries, do you mean in the cream cheese layers? I might go with fresh raspberries instead.

      Reply

  7. Ruth says

    August 4, 2017 at 5:15 pm

    Gave this recipe a try and it came out super awesome although there were little glitches. I don’t know if the coffee affected the colour but I emptied my bottle of Wilton’s red food coloring gel and even added a little of mekang colouring yet it still wouldn’t give me that bright red colour it looks more like a chocolate cake tinted with a little but of food coloring, please help!!!!!

    Reply

    • Gabby says

      December 27, 2017 at 3:55 pm

      Hi Ruth,

      I’m guessing you’re in Nigeria, cause that’s where Mekang products are sold.
      The coffee in the recipe doesn’t affect the colour. I’m certain what happened to your cake is the choice of colouring.
      Most Wilton products sold in Nigeria are counterfeit. You could empty 3 bottles in this recipe and the colour wouldn’t change a bit. Mekang, on the other hand, doesn’t colour cake at all.
      I recommend you try the recipe with Rayner’s liquid food colouring. Most effective this side of the world. Two teaspoons should be sufficient.

      Hope this helps.

      Reply

    • Charlotte says

      June 1, 2018 at 8:01 pm

      I made this cake as well for a birthday, and the cake turned out light brown not red. I had the same problem. I used red food coloring gel as directed by the recipe and the cake was not red. Cake tasted great. I added a little more powdered sugar to the frosting since I thought it was too tangy.

      Reply

  9. Tiffany says

    February 26, 2017 at 7:14 am

    Hi jo! I used this recipe because your cream cheese frosting had the least amount of powdered sugar among the recipes I’ve seen on the net. I don’t like cakes that are too sweet. I made this for the first time last week and it turned out great! <3 My friends and family absolutely loved it. I actually have a friend who is willing to pay me to make this cake for her. Thanks for this great recipe!

    I have a question though. Is it ok if I use instant coffee dissolved in 1 cup water instead of using 1 cup of brewed coffee? Would it change the cake?

    Reply

  10. Rebecca says

    January 3, 2017 at 4:51 pm

    Hi, Jo! Have you ever tried this with gluten free flour? It sound delicious, but I’m allergic to wheat.? Does it raise much?

    Thanks!

    P. S. It would be VERY easy to make vegan!

    Reply

  12. Lori says

    August 31, 2016 at 8:19 pm

    Silly question…isn’t coconut oil a solid? Not familiar with it that much….Do you measure it melted or as a solid? And when adding to ingredients, add it melted or solid?

    Reply

  13. Mel says

    April 4, 2016 at 5:38 am

    Can you taste the coffee in this recipe? I am not a coffee fan. If so what can I substitute for the coffee.

    Reply

  14. Kacy says

    March 6, 2016 at 5:52 pm

    Wow! For the cocoa powder, should it be sweetened or unsweetened? And for the whipping cream, would you use heavy whipping cream that comes in a milk carton or something like cool whip?

    Reply

  15. Mary says

    February 23, 2016 at 2:19 pm

    Silly question, If I made this without the food coloring, what will be the color of the cake and will it affect the taste? I want to make this tonight and have all of the ingredients except food coloring. I don’t know if I can wait until the weekend to pick one up 🙁

    Reply

  16. SkinnyMe says

    February 16, 2016 at 6:04 am

    I just made this today for my son’s 10th birthday. OMG! He and some family members passed up a piece of mocha cake for this instead- and it was so worth it!!!

    Reply

  19. Adina says

    February 9, 2016 at 12:48 am

    It looks perfect! And I love cream cheese frosting too, way better than pure butter and sugar. And the whipping cream sounds great as well, I have to try this.

    Reply

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