Red Velvet Cake!
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A delicious & light and moreish red velvet cake smothered in cream cheese frosting – hello cake heaven!
THANK YOU!
HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TO MY BLOG – Jane’s Patisserie! Just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone that supports my blog, likes my posts, comments on my posts, and especially to those who bake & share my recipes – I love you all!!
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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This Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe is absolutely stunning, The vibrant red color of the cake paired with the smooth, tangy cream cheese frosting is a classic combination that never fails to impress. I appreciate the detailed instructions and tips, making it easier to achieve that perfect velvety texture. The cake looks incredibly moist and decadent—perfect for any special occasion. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful and timeless recipe.
I am not a baker! I am all over savoury food but have never been a successful ‘cake’ maker. My son recently came home for the weekend with his girlfriend and a couple of their friends and I wanted to bake something for them. My son’s absolute favourite cake is Red Velvet so I thought I would give it a go. I found your recipe, bought the proper red food colouring and followed each step to the letter. It turned out to be the best cake I have ever made and absolutely everyone loved it so much. It was the best red velvet they had ever tasted which include the Harrod’s one that used to be my son’s favourite! Thank you for the brilliantly easy to follow, perfect recipe that made me look like I can actually bake! I was enormously happy to be able to offer up such a delicious, show stopper.
I made this cake for my daughter’s fourth bday party (it’s her favourite). I did a trial run first and took it into work – it was inhaled! On the day, the cake served 15 or so people and was perfect. It’s such an incredible recipe, thank you!!!
Hi Jane! Do you think this sponge would work as a base for red vervet cheesecake? something similar to your lemon drizzle and carrot cake cheesecakes? Thanks x
Hi,
My niece wants a tall red velvet cake for her 18th birthday. Is this sturdy enough with dowels? Also will the cream cheese icing give a smooth finish like a buttercream for the sides? Thanks, love your recipes.
Please can you advise me what measurements I would need for 3 x 8 inch tins?
Hey I’ve just done this and it’s 1.5 times the recipe 👍🏻☺️
Hey. When using a stand mixer, what attachment should I use to ‘beat’ the mix and frosting?
Thanks! X
Use the paddle attachment 🙂
Will the cream cheese frosting hold a drip style form cake? And can the buttercream be coloured or will it loosen/soften it and make the cake dip? It’s only a 3 layered 8”
Hi Jane,
Can you advise what quanties I should use for a 6 & 10inch 3 layered cake please?
So you have this recipe for a 10inch tin?
Amazing recipe! I require to do a 3 tier red velvet cake for a wedding soon – 8″, 10″ and 12″ round. Is there a calculator that I could use to adjust the ingredients required for 10″ and 12″ or could you recommend how much I need to increase by for both? I just want it to look perfect. Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes!
Jane is my go to, proper measurements, none of this US nonsense! ❤️
Works perfectly for cupcakes, use 12 tulip cases, about 3 heaped dessert spoons per. 30m bake time is what I ended up with. Perfection, as always.
I was going to make this but was going to make it with normal butter cream instead, what would the measurements be for that? Thanks
Hi my daughters don’t like the traditional frosting, so I always use vanilla buttercream.
I want to use this to recipe in a giant cupcake tin . What quantities would I use? For a wedding cake Many thanks Danielle
I need to bake the cake for Sunday. How far in advance can I bake the cake in ?
Hiya! As this cake needs to be stored in the fridge it’s best to bake as close to the day as possible to prevent too dry a sponge x
I have to make this cake for Monday was going to bake it today. Do you think the only reason it needs to be stored in fridge is due to the cream cheese frosting? If I baked but used just normal buttercream do you think it still needs to be in fridge?