Perfect Red Velvet Cake Recipes

RED VELVET CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Oil and line the base and sides of two 20cm cake tins with baking parchment - if your cake tins are quite shallow, line the sides to a depth of at least 5cm.
• Put half each of the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarb, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well. If there are any lumps in the sugar, squeeze these through your fingers to break them up.
• Mix half each of the buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract, food colouring and 100ml water in a jug. Add 2 eggs and whisk until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until well combined. The cake mixture should be bright red, it will get a little darker as it cooks. If it's not as vivid as you'd like, add a touch more colouring. Pour the cake mixture evenly into the two tins, and bake for 25-30 mins, or until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack, peel off the baking parchment and leave to cool.
• Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the remaining ingredients, so you have four sponge cakes in total. Can be made up to three days ahead and will stay moist if wrapped in cling film, or you can wrap well and freeze for up to two months.
• To make the icing, put the butter in a large bowl and sieve in half the icing sugar. Roughly mash together with a spatula, then whizz with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the soft cheese and vanilla, sieve in the remaining icing sugar, mash together again, then blend once more with the hand mixer.
• To assemble the cake, stick one of the sponges to a cake stand or board with a little of the soft cheese icing. Use roughly half the icing to stack the remaining cakes on top, spreading a generous amount between each layer. Pile the remaining icing on top of the assembled cake, and use a palette knife to ease it over the edges, covering the entire surface of the cake. Tidy the plate with a piece of kitchen paper. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days, but bring back to room temperature for an hour or so before eating.This recipe was refreshed in July 2018 based on user feedback. For the original recipe, see our beetroot cake.

SOUTHERN RED VELVET CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour three 9 by 1 1/2-inch round cake pans.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.
• Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.
• Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. One at a time, invert the cakes onto a plate and then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely.
• Frost the cake. Place 1 layer, rounded-side down, in the middle of a rotating cake stand. Using a palette knife or offset spatula spread some of the Cream Cheese Frosting over the top of the cake. (Spread enough frosting to make a 1/4 to 1/2-inch layer.) Carefully set another layer on top, rounded-side down, and repeat. Top with the remaining layer and cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top with the pecans.
• In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.)
• Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy (scrape down the bowl occasionally). Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.

RED VELVET CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F (all oven types). Butter 2 x 21cm / 8" round cake pans (sides and base) and dust with cocoa powder.
• Sift the Dry Ingredients and whisk to combine in a bowl.
• Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with electric beater or in stand mixer until smooth and well combined (use paddle attachment if using stand mixer).
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between to combine. At first it will look curdle - keep beating until it's smooth.
• Add vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla, buttermilk and red food colouring. Beat until combined and smooth (Note 5).
• Add Dry Ingredients. Beat until just combined - some small lumps is ok, that's better than over mixing.
• Divide batter between cake pans. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes on the same shelf, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. (Note 6)
• Rest for 10 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool.

RED VELVET CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350˚F with racks in the center of the oven. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with butter and dust with flour, tapping out the excess.
• Stir then sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 Tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt.
• In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar for a few minutes until sugar is moistened and the mixture looks powdery like snow.
• Mix in two eggs, adding them one a time, and beating well to incorporate between each addition. Beat in 2 tsp vanilla extract until blended.
• With the mixer on, gradually add 3/4 cup oil and mix on medium speed until well incorporated.
• Stir 1 tsp vinegar into your buttermilk then mix it into the batter on medium speed until incorporated.
• Add flour mixture all at once and mix on medium speed just until well blended and no streaks of flour remain, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• Add 1/2 tsp gel red food coloring or add it to reach desired color and mix just until blended, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• Divide evenly between prepared pans and bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes. Let rest in cake pans for 20 minutes then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely to room temp before assembling with Cream Cheese Frosting.

PERFECT RED VELVET BUNDT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour bundt pan.
• In stand mixer combine oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla. mix well. In a separate bowl sift together dry ingredients. Gradually add to wet ingredients (slowly at first). Beat until smooth.
• Pour into prepared pan. Bake 50 minutes or untill toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack for 30 mins, then turn out onto cake plate to finish cooling.
• Combine room temp butter and cream cheese in stand mixer, the add vanilla and mix ti fully combine. Gradually add sugar at low speed to combine, then whisk at high speed for three minutes. Apply to cake in preferred method (I like to drizzle it from a plastic bag with the corner snipped off).

SAVANNAH'S PERFECTLY RAVISHING RED VELVET CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 9-inch cake pans.
• Pour red food coloring into a small bowl, and mix with cocoa powder to make a paste. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup of butter, sugar, and eggs with an electric mixer until smooth and thoroughly combined; mix in the red color mixture, salt and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Gradually mix in the buttermilk, alternating with flour, until the batter is smooth. Mix the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl, and stir into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing cakes to finish cooling on racks.
• In a bowl, mash cream cheese with 1/2 cup softened butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract until smooth and creamy; stir in the confectioners' sugar, about half a cup at a time, until the frosting is thick and spreadable. Frost fully-cooled layers.

RED VELVET POKE CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×13-inch pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
• Make cake according to package directions (likely adding 3 eggs, water, and oil) and bake as directed (likely about 25 to 28 minutes).
• Remove cake from the oven when it's done, allow it to cool for about 5 minutes, and then using the blunt end of a wooden spoon, poke holes over the surface of the cake. I didn't count but I estimate I poked about 60 holes, evenly spaced over the surface.
• Slowly pour the sweetened condensed milk mixture over the holes, taking your time to evenly distribute it so that all the holes receive some.
• Place cake in fridge to cool for at least 10 minutes while you make the frosting or before adding canned frosting so it doesn't melt.
• To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and handheld electric mixer) add the cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, salt, and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add additional confectioners' sugar if necessary for consistency.
• Turn frosting out onto cake and spread into a smooth, even, flat layer using a spatula or knife.
• Evenly sprinkle with chocolate chips.
• Refrigerate cake for at least 4 hours, or overnight, before serving.

RED VELVET CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray two 9-inch cake pans well with nonstick cooking spray, line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper, and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Then sift the dry ingredients to remove any lumps of cocoa powder. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed for 4-5 minutes. Add the eggs and mix until fully combined, then mix in the oil, red food color, vanilla extract, and vinegar stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Make sure to mix each addition until just combined and be careful not to over mix the batter.
• Evenly distribute the cake batter between the two prepared cake pans and spread the batter around into one even layer. Tap the pans on the counter 2-3 times to remove any air bubbles from the cakes.
• Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Carefully remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool in the pans for 15-20 minutes. Then, carefully remove the cakes from the cake pans and place on the wire rack to cool completely.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and mix for about 30 seconds-1 minute until well combined and smooth.
• Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue mixing until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Level the tops of each cake with a knife or cake leveler. Place one of the cake layers on a cake stand or plate, top with a layer of frosting, and smooth it out into one even layer. Place the second layer on top, then use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake.

PERFECT RED VELVET CAKE

Steps:

• Cake:.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream together margarine and sugar.
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well each time.
• Mix cocoa and food color until cocoa is dissolved in food color. Then mix with above.
• Add flavoring and mix.
• Mix soda and buttermilk.
• Add flour and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Mix well but do not overbeat, as cake will be tough.
• Pour into two greased and floured 9-inch pans and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Cool and frost.
• For three layer cake, use three 8″ pans and cook for 20min.
• Frosting:.
• In a medium bowl, cream together the cold cream cheeses and butter until creamy.
• Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.