Red Velvet Cake Icing Recipes

RED VELVET CAKE ICING

Steps:

• Softly whip cream by hand, in electric mixer or in food processor. Cover in bowl and refrigerate.
• Blend cream cheese and mascarpone in food processor or electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla, pulse briefly, and add confectioners' sugar. Blend well.
• Transfer cream cheese mixture to bowl; fold in whipped cream. Refrigerate until needed.

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.

RED VELVET SHEET CAKE WITH CLASSIC RED VELVET FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly spray a large (18-by-12-inch) sheet cake pan (or you can use a slightly smaller jelly roll pan) with nonstick baking spray. Be sure to get in all the corners of the pan.
• Sift together the cake flour and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, stir together the buttermilk, vanilla, baking soda and eggs. Add the vinegar and stir. Set aside.
• In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa and red food coloring. Set aside. Cream together the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk/egg mixture until all combined. Pour in the red mixture and beat until combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared sheet cake pan. Use a large offset spatula or knife to even out the surface. Bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes.
• Place a large cutting board on top of the cake pan, then invert the cake, allowing it to turn out onto the cutting board. Allow the cake to cool completely before icing.
• Combine the milk and flour in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk constantly until thick. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Add the vanilla once cooled.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cooled milk mixture and beat very well. It may look separated, which means you have to keep beating until fully combined. It should be fluffy and light, similar to whipped cream.
• Ice the cake and top with raspberries.

RED VELVET CAKE WITH BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 9-inch cake pans. In a bowl, sift together the cake flour, chocolate pudding mix, cocoa powder, and salt.
• In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup of butter with 1 1/2 cup of sugar with an electric mixer until creamy; beat the eggs in, one at a time, and beat until the mixture is fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, in several additions. Mix in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and the red food color until the batter is uniformly colored. In a bowl, stir the baking soda with vinegar, and gently fold the foamy mixture gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean or with moist crumbs, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
• For frosting, place all-purpose flour in a saucepan, and gradually whisk milk into the flour, about 2 tablespoons at a time, until smoothly combined. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until thickened and smooth; allow to cool completely. Beat 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of butter in a bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 1 minute, and gradually beat in the cooled milk mixture; add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat the frosting until fluffy and spreadable, 1 to 2 more minutes.

HESTER'S RED VELVET CAKE ICING

Steps:

• Cook the milk and flour in the top of a double boiler over just-barely simmering water, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula until thickened, about 5 minutes. Place the mixture in the refrigerator until chilled.
• Combine the vegetable shortening, sugar, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until well blended. Beat the chilled milk mixture into the shortening mixture until fluffy.

RED VELVET CAKE WITH ERMINE FROSTING

Steps:

• For the red velvet cake: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper, then grease with cooking spray and dust with flour.
• Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the buttermilk, vanilla and food coloring in a liquid measuring cup and set aside.
• Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until the butter lightens in color. Add the eggs and beat until well combined, 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients to the batter while mixing.
• Dissolve the baking soda in the vinegar in a small bowl, then fold into the batter.
• Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the cakes reads 195 to 200 degrees F, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cover lightly with a linen towel. Cool completely.
• For the ermine frosting: Meanwhile, heat the milk, sugar and flour in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture becomes thick like pudding, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely to room temperature.
• Cream the butter, vanilla and salt together in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the cooled milk mixture and beat until the frosting lightens in color and becomes fluffy, at least 1 minute.
• Place one cake layer on a cake board. Using a spoon or offset spatula, spread frosting generously over the top of the cake in a smooth layer. Invert the second cake layer onto the first so that the flat side is facing up, then spread the remaining frosting over the top of the cake, creating swirls in the frosting with the spoon or spatula. Transfer the cake to a cake stand and decorate the top of the cake and the stand with edible flowers and flower petals.

RED VELVET CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• For the Red Velvet Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 3 (9-inch) round cake pans then line bottom of each with a round of parchment paper and butter parchment, set aside.
• Add flour, baking soda and salt to a large mixing bowl. Sift in cocoa powder then whisk mixture 20 seconds, set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together sugar and butter until pale and fluffy (this will take several minutes whipping on high speed). Mix in vegetable oil. Scrape down bowl.
• Blend in eggs one at a time, mixing just until combined after each addition. Mix in egg yolks then red food coloring. Scrape down bowl.
• In a liquid measuring cup, measure out buttermilk then whisk in vanilla extract and vinegar. Working in three separate, beginning and ending with flour mixture, add 1/3 of the flour mixture alternating with 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture and mixing just until combined after each addition.
• Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl and gently fold batter just to ensure it's evenly incorporated.
• Divide mixture evenly among three prepared baking pans. Spread into an even layer and bake in preheated oven 26 - 30 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
• Cool in cake pan 10 minutes then run knife around edges of cake to loosen and invert onto wire racks to cool completely. Once cool, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. Store cake in an airtight container in refrigerator.
• For the Cream Cheese Frosting: Mix cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer until smooth and fluffy (or alternately use stand mixer).
• Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar and whip until light and fluffy*. Spread over cooled cake.

HOMEMADE RED VELVET CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour two 9x2-inch cake pans.
• Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
• Whisk eggs in a large mixing bowl until yolks are broken. Add oil, buttermilk, sour cream, red food coloring, vanilla extract, and vinegar; mix to combine. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing by hand as little as possible so as not to overbeat. If mixing with an electric mixer, add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing cakes from pans to cool completely on a wire rack, 20 to 30 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, whip cream cheese in a bowl using an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape into a different bowl.
• Sift sugar, flour, and salt together in a medium saucepan. Turn heat to medium-high and whisk in milk and vanilla extract slowly until there are no lumps. Cook until it starts to bubble and becomes thick and pudding-like, 7 to 8 minutes. Pour into a mixing bowl and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
• Whisk chilled mixture using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment for 5 minutes. Add whipped cream cheese slowly, whisking until you have a smooth frosting, about 5 minutes more. Use to frost cooled cake.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING FOR RED VELVET CAKE

Steps:

• Combine the cream cheese and butter on medium speed, just until blended, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and salt and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the powdered sugar in 4 batches, beating until smooth between each addition. Refrigerate for 5 to 10 minutes before using.

VERY RED VELVET CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING AND PECANS

Steps:

• To make the cake: Set the oven to 350°F and adjust the rack positions to the middle and top third. Spray three 8-inch round cake pans well with baking spray.
• Sift the flour with the baking soda.
• In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs well, then beat in the sugar, oil, and vinegar. On low speed, slowly add the flour and beat in well. Add the buttermilk slowly, then the vanilla, and then the food coloring.
• Pour the batter evenly into the pans and rap them on the countertop several times to eliminate any air bubbles. Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate the pans from shelf to shelf so they bake evenly and bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 25 minutes altogether. Let the cakes cool in the pans on racks for 15 minutes.
• Run a knife around the sides of the pans and invert the cakes onto the racks to cool completely. Once they're cool, refrigerate the cakes for 20 to 30 minutes to make icing them easier.
• To make the icing: Combine everything in a medium bowl and mix well until very smooth. It's best to use the icing right away, when it's soft and spreadable.
• Put one cake layer upside down on a cake plate or cake stand and cover the top evenly with frosting. Add a second layer, right side up, and spread with more frosting. Top with the third layer, right side up, and spread the frosting evenly around the sides of the cake and on top; check for any places where you can see through to the cake. Finally, sprinkle the pecans evenly all over the top of the cake.
• Once the frosting sets, cut into slices to serve. This cake keeps for up to 2 weeks in a cake keeper, but once it's ready, people want to dive right in.