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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can I use self raising flour instead ? thanks
Heya need some advice, If I was to make this recipe for a giant cupcake tin would these qualities work? Thank you
Hi.
I only have 1 cake tin. Would it be okay for me to bake 1 layer at a time, meaning I have to leave half the cake mixture in the bowl whilst the first cake bakes?
Thank you
Hiya! Ideally I don’t recommend leaving cake mixture sat – it may be best to mix half the batter at a time then bake! Hope this helps! x
Is the unsalted butter in cake batter just baking spread like stork? Would it work with the same amount in oil instead?
Hey! You can use block unsalted butter at room temp, or any baking spread in the sponge x
Tried a couple recipes before but have to say this was perfect 👌👌 I had to use a good bit more milk to make the paste but it was fine. I also made this into cupcakes and they were fabulous, light and fluffy. I work for the NHS and baked it for my colleagues for valentine’s day. To say the loved them is an understatement 😍
Hi Jane
Would it be possible to make this red velvet cake with “cake flour” instead. Love your new book by the way keeping it in box of goodies to give to my daughter when she’s off to Uni this September.
Hiya! The extra raising agent in the flour would result in a different textured cake. Hope this helps! Also, thank you so much! Hope she loves it! x
Hi Jane, how would you make this recipe gluten free please? I’ve seen your gluten free recipes and the flour you recommend as well as custard powder but I’m unsure on quantities? Thanks in advance x
Hiya! For this recipe it is best to use gluten free flour and add in xanthan gum! Hope this helps! x
Hi
Would I be able to use apple cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar?
Yes absolutely you can! x
Hi Jane, what can I substitute white wine vinegar for please as I can’t have any type of alcohol? X
Hiya! Try using lemon juice, however it won’t be quite the same! Hope this helps1 x
Hi Jane 🙂 Can you freeze the cake with cream cheese buttercream already applied? Or only without?
Thanks, B x
Hiya! Either way would be fine! Enjoy x
Advice please. I am upsizing the cake to 9″. How will this affect the cooking time, please? Don’t want to test with the skewer too early, and am using an oven I’m not familiar with, and on otp of that I think it is not completely accurate.
Thank you! Hope you see this in time for me to benefit from it!
Hi,
I want to make a red velvet drip cake for a Ruby anniversary. Was planning on using this sponge mix with a vanilla butter cream. I would like it to be 4 tier. Can I just double the quantity or do I need to make the mix in two batches? Thanks x
hi Jane i was wondering what the quantities would be to make a 3 tier red velvet rather than the 2 ?
How much quantities would I need for a rectangle pan 12in x 8in please
Hi Jane lovely this recipe but need to make a Swiss meringue cream cheese buttercream but not sure how can you help x
Hi Jane, I love your red velvet recipes along with the cream cheese frosting they taste so good, but I have to make a 3 tier red velvet birthday cake for a friend and would like to put buttercream on the outside to make it more stable to decorate with. What buttercream recipe would you recommend to go with the red velvet cake? Many thanks.
Hiya! I’d probably just go with vanilla if im honest! Enjoy x