Okay I am SO EXCITED to finally be sharing my red velvet cake recipe! This red velvet cake is so incredibly soft, full of flavor and is topped with the most delicious cream cheese buttercream. It has a super velvety texture and slightly tart, yet sweet and creamy frosting – making it the best red velvet cake recipe I’ve tried!
What exactly is a red velvet cake?!
A red velvet cake is a combination of a vanilla and chocolate cake, with a distinct tangy taste. This is due to the buttermilk and vinegar (which are common ingredients in a red velvet cake).
Traditionally, red velvet cakes didn’t have any red food coloring, and were a more brownish, reddy colour. This natural red colour was due to the chemical reaction between non-dutched cocoa powder and the acidic ingredients (white vinegar and buttermilk).
Red velvet cake is often paired with cream cheese frosting (which I have done for this cake) or ermine frosting.
How to make red velvet cake
This cake comes together really easily! Just be sure to follow the steps exactly as stated.
Begin by preheating your oven to 160°C fan forced, and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake pans (I like to use my homemade cake release). If your oven doesn’t have a fan option, then you will need to increase the baking temperature to 175°C/350°F.
For the cake batter, start off by sifting together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. By premixing our dry ingredients, it helps ensure that everything is mixed well, preventing us from overmixing our batter when we come to combining our wet ingredients with the dry, later on in the recipe.
Set your dry ingredients aside and in another bowl cream together butter, oil and sugar with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) for 2-3 minutes on a medium-high speed. This is going to incorporate air into our batter, which will give us a fluffier cake!
Next add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition. Eggs add structure and moisture to our cake.
Next add in vanilla extract or essence, white vinegar and red liquid food coloring and mix until well combined.
Now the last step is to fold in our dry ingredients while alternating with 3/4s of a cup buttermilk. So to do this, add in half of your flour mixture and fold it into the wet mixture until just combined. Then add in your buttermilk, and fold that through until just combined. Lastly, add in your remaining dry ingredients and fold through until just combined.
It’s important to do this step by hand as this will prevent us from overmixing our batter and developing too much gluten. Gluten is what gives bread great structure, and although we want SOME structure for cakes, we don’t want too much otherwise it’ll make our cake tough and dense.
Once the batter is done, evenly distribute it into the two 8 inch cake tins and cook for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the cake tins for 20 minutes, before turning them out onto a cooling rack. Allow to completely cool before frosting.
How to decorate your cake
There’s no particular way to decorate a red velvet cake, but here’s how I did mine using my cream cheese frosting recipe 🙂
Now usually I would trim (or torte) the tops of my cake layers with a serrated knife to make them flat, but these red velvet layers bake up really nice and flat so no trimming was required. So I went ahead and added a generous amount of frosting to my first cake layer and smoothed it out with my offset spatula. I then placed the next cake layer on top.
I then placed some frosting on my top cake layer and spread it out with my offset spatula. I then used the excess frosting on the sides to cover the entire cake. I only did a thin layer of frosting and didn’t worry about a crumb coat because I was piping rosettes all around the cake. If you also want to pipe rosettes, then you will need to make 1.5x my cream cheese frosting recipe to ensure you have enough frosting.
I then used a 1M piping tip to pipe rosettes all around the cake! If you’re new to piping check out my beginner’s piping tutorial or 1M piping tip tutorial.
Once your cake is decorated, pop it into the fridge to allow everything to firm up. This will make it easier to cut. We don’t want cold cake though, so bring it out of the fridge about an hour or so before it’s going to be cut. If it’s still cold when you cut through it, then let it come to room temperature before eating. Trust me, it is worth the wait 😀
Commonly Asked Questions
Can I use gel food coloring instead of liquid color for this recipe?
Yes, you can use gel food coloring in replacement of liquid coloring, however you will need to dilute the gel colour with just under 3 1/2 tablespoons of water or milk to make up for the liquid lost when using gel colors. This recipe requires 3 1/2 tablespoons of liquid colour, however if using gel colours you won’t need that much as gel colours are concentrated. Additional liquid helps to thin out the batter and results in a fluffier, more velvety texture in your final cake.
Can I use this recipe to make red velvet cupcakes?
For a cupcake version of this cake, check out my red velvet cupcake recipe. It’s basically a smaller quantity of this recipe – just enough to make 12 cupcakes!
Can I use a buttermilk substitute?
A buttermilk substitute will work fine for this recipe. Check out how to make your own buttermilk substitute here.
Soft Red Velvet Cake
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cake
- 2¼ cups (275 g) flour - regular all purpose (see note 3 if you want to use cake flour)
- 3 tbsp (18 g) cornflour - also known as cornstarch
- 3 tbsp (14 g) cocoa powder - unsweetened
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- 6 tbsp (86 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ¾ cup (141 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola
- 1¾ cups (344 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 tbsp (12 g) vanilla essence/extract
- 1½ tsp white vinegar
- 3½ tbsp (38 g) red liquid food colouring
- ¾ cup (158 g) buttermilk - room temperature
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 1 batch of my cream cheese buttercream frosting recipe - see note 4 if piping rosettes around the cake like I have
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 7 if you don't have a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
- In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornflour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine - see note 6), cream together for 2-3 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
- Add in your vanilla, vinegar and red liquid food colour, and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Finish off by adding in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in all of your buttermilk, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 1).
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Be careful not to open the oven door too early otherwise this can cause the cake layers to sink (see note 2). Also avoid overbaking the cake layers otherwise they will dry out.
- Once baked, allow them to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with my cream cheese buttercream frosting. For tips on how to frost your cake, check out the blog post above where I walk you through how I decorated mine with pictures, or watch my YouTube video below 🙂
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
566 Comments
The recipe looks so yum! I was wondering if I could use the same recipe to bake in 9inch pans? Would the bake time change?
Thanks so much!!
Thanks Naomi! 🙂 Yes you can use 9 inch pans the layers will just be a little thinner and I would check them 5 mins earlier than the stated cooking time 🙂
I would like to know if there is any way to get the cakes baked just like yours ,I meant not raised but instead smooth and flat , because that’s more assembling friendly.I always ruin my cakes by removing a small raised portion from the top of a cake.
Hi Aleena! It really depends on the recipe although there are some other tricks you can use for flatter tops. I’ve done a video on this if you want to check it out 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSPLxB96V0w
Thanks for sharing your recipe! I only have 9 inch baking pans, can I use the same recipe for it? Would the baking time change? Thanks in advance!!
Hi Naomi! Yes you can use 9 inch pans but I would check the cakes about 5 minutes earlier than the stated cooking time and just keep in mind the layers will be slightly thinner 🙂
Simply AMAZING! Thank you MK for sharing this recipe! I’ve tried several but none taste as good, have such a great red colour or the wonderful texture that your recipe does!!
Aww yay! So so happy to hear LouLou 🙂
Hi, I came across your youtube channel whilst browsing for a perfect red velvet cake that I’m planning to bake for my mom’s birthday and I can’t wait to try it this evening. I have a question though, I only have one 8×3-inch pan, and as I’m a beginner, can I pour all the batter into one pan? and ss the baking time the same? Thank you so much!
Hi Kristina! How lovely of you to bake a cake for your mum 🙂 because the cake layers are quite soft I wouldn’t recommend baking all the batter in one tin. Alternatively you can half the recipe which will be just the right about for one 8×3 inch cake tin 🙂 hope that helps and all the best with the cake!
Hi..can u share exact amounts of ingredients you used in cream cheese frosting along with rosettes.
I didn’t understood 1.5x will be how much in total I have to make in one go.?
Hi. This looks so perfect… isn’t this recipe sweet? Can this recipe also be made into cupcakes? Thanks in advance
Hi Anna! The recipe isn’t overly sweet as I don’t like my cakes too sweet 🙂 although you can reduce the sugar slightly if you wish (this may change the texture a bit though). I do have a very similar red velvet cupcake recipe if you wanted to check that out 🙂 here is the link: https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/soft-red-velvet-cupcakes/
Hi, MK!
Many thanks for this fail-proof recipe! Made it twice already and got the same AWESOME result! Looking forward to trying out your other recipes. More power!
Best regards,
Clem
Awesome! So happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipe Clem! 😀
Hi
I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago and it is divine!
I did it as a trial for a Ruby Wedding Anniversary cake for my parents.
Do you think this would work as a 2 tier stacked cake with 8 & then 6” cakes, if I doweled the bottom tier?
It’s really soft so wasn’t sure whether it would work and what your thoughts were?
Thanks
Janine
Hi Janine! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe and congratulations to your parents for their Ruby anniversary! 😀 I think if the bottom tier is doweled and you have a good stable frosting then it should work fine 🙂
Hi!
Bless you thank you… can’t believe it’s their 40th…. Time flies!
Amazing thank you. I thought I’d do Swiss meringue buttercream in the middle but standard vanilla buttercream crumb and top coat… and will dowel it.
Thank you!
Janine
Hiya just a quick question, i dont hav a fan oven so what gas mark shall i put it on and also what shelf, thankyou.
Hi Saiqa! 🙂 I believe it should be around Gas mark 4 and middle shelf 🙂
Oh my goodness! This is the best recipe of red velvet, moist, toooo good and delicious and best thing of all.is it not that hard to make and follow the instructions. Thank you so much for sharing knowledge to us that is not professional in baking..God bless you and more power!
I made this recipe for my daughter’s birthday, also you taken time to reply back and greeted my daughter on your YouTube channel. Thank you so much. Can’t wait to try more of your recipe. Yum!!!!!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Bevelyn and found it easy to make 😀
Hi MK,
I love you all recipes and i tried some of you recipes which came out really well and very soft. In internet I can see many sponge cake recipes are prepared by beating the egg and sugar as first step and followed by all other steps.
Could you able to share me what is the difference in beating eggs and sugar 1st, rather than beating butter and sugar??
Hi Saranya! So happy to hear you’ve been enjoying the recipes 🙂 so the recipes where you beat the egg whites are what you would call a ‘sponge’ whereas when you beat the sugar/butter those recipes are typically referred to as butter, oil or pound cakes. I’m releasing a sponge cake recipe soon so keep an eye out for that 😀
Hi MK,
Thank you for the recipe. Can I substitute the sugar with part of sweetener?
Hi Kat! Hmmm I haven’t tried a sugar substitute for this recipe myself so I’m not too sure sorry! Hope it works out if you decide to give it a try 🙂
The best red velvet cake recipe!
This makes the most delicious moist red velvet cake I’ve ever had! It’s so worth it, this cake didn’t even last a whole day in my house.
Thank you so much Madeline! So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe 😀