Red Velvet Cake With Ermine Frosting
Print Pin VideoAfter sharing my first red velvet cake recipe (which now has over 100 five star reviews!), I've since had many readers asking for a traditional red velvet cake recipe that uses an ermine frosting. This recipe uses the same base cake layers as my original red velvet cake, however the cream cheese frosting is replaced with a silky smooth, light, and not too sweet ermine frosting!
IMPORTANT: 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 flour
- 3 tbsp (18 g) cornstarch
- 3 tbsp (14 g) natural cocoa powder - unsweetened, best not to use Dutch processed (see note 8)
- 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 red liquid food colouring
- ¾ cup (158 g) buttermilk - room temperature
Ermine Frosting
- 1½ cups (300 g) white granulated sugar
- ½ cup (68 g) flour - regular, all purpose flour
- 1½ cups (360 g) milk - full fat
- 1½ cups (340 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 1½ tsps vanilla extract/essence
- ⅛ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) (see note 7 for convection oven) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
- In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornstarch, 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 30-35 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. 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 :)
Ermine Frosting
- Place a saucepan over a medium heat and add in sugar and flour. Using a whisk or spatula, continuously mix for 2 minutes to gently toast the flour. Be careful not to burn the flour - the color shouldn't visibly change.
- Next add in 3/4s of a cup of milk (180g) and mix until the mixture is smooth. Once smooth, add in the remaining 3/4s of a cup (180g) of milk and again mix until the mixture is smooth. In total you're using 1 and 1/2 cups of milk (360g).
- Keep gently stirring until the mixture begins to bubble. Once bubbling, continue to stir for another minute until the mixture is thick in consistency. It should have a thick paste/pudding like texture.
- Allow to cool to room temperature. I like to pour the mixture onto a plate, cover the top with cling wrap so that the cling wrap is touching the flour mixture (to prevent a skin from forming) and freeze for 30 minutes.
- Next in a large bowl add in butter, and using a hand or stand mixer on a medium-high speed, whip for 5 minutes until it's light and fluffy.
- Next add in flour/milk mixture a tablespoon at a time while continously mixing. Ensure the mixture is at room temperature (not hot or cold) otherwise it may curdle (see note 9).
- Once done, add in vanilla and salt. Mix until well combined. The frosting is now ready to use!
Video
Notes
Note 1. By gently folding in the ingredients, it prevents too much gluten from forming, thus giving us a softer cake. Only mix until the strands of flour have disappeared and the batter is uniform.
Note 2. Opening the oven door too early and allowing cold air to rush into the oven can cause cakes to collapse if the structure hasn't set yet. If your oven runs hot and you want to check your cake layers earlier than the stated cooking time, then allow at least 3/4s of the cooking time to pass before checking the cake layers.
Note 3. You can use cake flour in replacement of the all purpose flour and cornstarch in this recipe (293g total required).
Note 4. If you're doing a lot of additional piping like I did with my red velvet cake, then make 1.5x my cream cheese frosting recipe to ensure you have enough frosting. Otherwise, 1 batch will be enough.
Note 5. 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 you cut into the cake and it's cold, just let it come to room temperature for about half an hour before eating.
Note 6. If using a stand mixer, then use the paddle attachment for the initial mixing, but continue to do the last step by hand as stated in the recipe.
Note 7. If using a convection oven (an oven with a fan) then decrease baking temperature to 160C or 320F.
Note 8. If you use Dutch processed cocoa powder, it will make your red velvet cake darker. If you want a vibrant red color to your cake, it's best to use natural cocoa powder.
Note 9. If the mixture curdles, gently heat it in the microwave for 5 second bursts at a time, mixing inbetween each burst until the frosting is smooth again. You can also gently heat it over a double boiler. Just be careful though as overheating will cause the buttercream to become soupy!
Nutrition
Calories: 786kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 132mg | Sodium: 257mg | Potassium: 151mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 1073IU | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 2mg
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.
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