The BEST Red Velvet Cake
This recipe for classic red velvet cake is made completely from scratch and features a tangy cream cheese frosting. Make this cake for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and birthdays!
If you’ve been making red velvet cake from a box until now, wait until you try the from scratch version. Only then will you understand why “velvet” is in the recipe name!
You see, it’s called “red velvet” both because of the cake’s signature crimson color, but also because of its velvety texture. The combination of natural cocoa powder, vinegar, and buttermilk in the batter creates a unique texture that no other cake has.
This crowd favorite cake might be bolder in appearance than your average layer cake, but it’s incredibly easy to prepare and requires no special ingredients or complicated prep work.
Enjoy this homemade red velvet cake any time of year — Valentine’s Day is the obvious choice, but this also makes a wonderful Christmas, birthday, or “just because” cake!
What Flavor Is Red Velvet Cake?
Red velvet cake isn’t just a prettier version of chocolate cake. Yes, there’s cocoa powder in the batter, but the overall flavor profile isn’t chocolatey.
If a cake is labeled as “red velvet,” that means it will have a mild cocoa flavor, but will also taste buttery and have vanilla undertones. The cake itself is also lightly tangy, which is complemented nicely by the cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients for This Recipe
The trick to achieving the signature color and texture of a red velvet cake is to use the right ingredients. A detailed ingredient list can be found in the recipe card below, but let’s quickly review the main things you’ll need to make this recipe:
- Cake Flour: I suggest using cake flour because it has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour, which creates a softer, lighter cake. When it comes to cake flour, two of my favorite brands are Pillsbury Softasilk and Swans Down. If you don’t have any on hand, you can use my cake flour substitute.
- Cocoa Powder: There’s 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder in this cake. The cake isn’t super chocolatey, but it has a hint of chocolate that you expect in a red velvet cake.
- Butter & Oil: The oil helps to keep the cake incredibly moist while the butter adds a rich, buttery flavor.
- Buttermilk: The buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to create a soft, tender crumb. If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can make your own using my homemade buttermilk substitute.
- Vinegar: You’ll need 1 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar.
- Red Food Coloring: You’ll need one 1-ounce bottle of liquid red food coloring to make this recipe. I typically use McCormick red food coloring.
How to Make Red Velvet Cake
Despite its bold color, red velvet is one of the easiest layer cakes to prepare. Here’s an overview of the baking process:
- Prep the cake pans: Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Sift together the dry ingredients: Whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Then, sift the ingredients to ensure there are no clumps.
- Mix together the wet ingredients: I suggest creaming the butter and sugar together in a separate bowl for about 4 to 5 minutes. Creaming the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy incorporates more air into your cake batter, creating a softer and lighter cake. Once the butter and sugar are ready, mix in the eggs one at a time. Then, stir in the oil, red food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar. Don’t add the buttermilk just yet!
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the buttermilk: To the wet ingredients, you’ll need to add the dry ingredients in three increments, alternating with the buttermilk. Make sure to start and end with the dry ingredients and mix in each addition just until combined.
- Bake: Divide the cake batter between the two prepared cake pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pans for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire cooling rack.
- Make the cream cheese frosting: I like to use a stand mixer to do this, but a hand mixer works just fine too! Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then add the butter and mix for an additional minute. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- Assemble the layer cake: I recommend leveling the tops of each cake layer using a cake leveler or a knife. From there, it’s just a matter of spreading frosting over the first layer, placing the second layer on top, and then frosting the top and sides of the cake. An offset spatula makes easy work of this!
Additional Frosting Options
I used my favorite cream cheese frosting for this cake and increased the amount to have enough to frost it. If you want to try another frosting, my vanilla buttercream frosting or ermine frosting would be delicious too.
Can This Recipe Be Used to Make Cupcakes?
Yes! This recipe will make about 30 to 32 cupcakes and take 15 to 18 minutes to bake. If you prefer less cupcakes, you can try my red velvet cupcake recipe instead. It’s very similar to this recipe, but scaled down to make 16 cupcakes.
Baking Tips
- Be sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature before getting started.
- Make sure to sift the dry ingredients to remove any lumps of cocoa powder. This will also help to keep the cake soft and light!
- If you want to make it easier to get the cake layers out of your pans I suggest using parchment paper. I use these parchment liners from Wilton and LOVE them.
- Alternate mixing the dry ingredients in three additions with the buttermilk, this will help to prevent over mixing the cake batter.
More Red Velvet Desserts You’ll Love!
Recipe Video
Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
For the red velvet cake:
- 2 ⅔ cups cake flour (spooned & leveled) (295 grams)
- ¼ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (22 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (115 grams)
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar (350 grams)
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil (120 ml)
- 1 (1-ounce) bottle liquid red food color
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
- 1 ⅓ cups buttermilk at room temperature (320 ml)
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 12 ounces brick-style cream cheese softened (340 grams)
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened (175 grams)
- 3 cups powdered sugar (360 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- To make the red velvet cake layers: Preheat the 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 a handheld mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs and mix until fully combined, then mix in the oil, red food coloring, 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 in 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 to 3 times to remove any air bubbles from the cakes.
- Bake for 28 to 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 to 20 minutes. Then, carefully remove the cakes from the cake pans and place on the wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the cream cheese frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and mix for about 30 seconds to 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.
- To assemble the cake: 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.
This has been the recipe I have used for red velvet cake since I started making them. This has been dubbed the best RVC ever. It even overturned my fiance who hates RVC. I use whole kefir instead and some butter vanilla emulsion to top it off and increased the salt to 1 tsp. PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT! Make sure to whip with butter and sugar well together so your batter does not break and all your ingredients are room temp. It does not take long for it to overbake so watch it close and even if it is a little overbaked cut the layers in half and add buttercream. Let it sit overnight and its great. Love this recipe
Would this cream cheese frosting recipe hold up for piping?
Yes, it will! I used it to frost my red velvet cupcakes.
This is the best red velvet cake recipe! Mine came out perfect, so moist and flavorful. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you for sharing!
Gracias por compartir la receta. Adoro este pastel! Es la única receta que me resultó perfecta! La tengo guardada es mi tesoro! Y a todos encanta cuando hago este pastel. Lejos es el mejor red Velvet
Best Red Velvet cake ever!!! Simply delicious
This is the best cake recipe I’ve ever made (and ate) and every time it turns out delicious!
I’ve never made a red velvet cake before but have enjoyed eating them. We all found this to be quite dry, it tasted pretty good but not moist and velvety as expected. The frosting was the best part. Not sure why mine didn’t turn out amazing as other reviews described I did follow the recipe and was careful not to over mix. Don’t know. Probably would try a different recipe to see if I can get it right. Meh!
There are several reasons it could have turned out dry – not measuring the flour correctly, using too much cocoa powder, baking the cake layers too long, etc. Being careful not to over mix just prevents it from being too dense.
I like the recipe. It’s a good one! May you send me.
The best cake I ever mak used this recipe
Hi! I’m exited to try this recipe. Can I add instant pudding powder into the mix to make the cake more dense?
I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure. It would likely make the cake denser, but it will change the taste of the cake too (especially depending on what flavor you use).
Love this recipe! Thank you so much. I wanted to ask if I could use beetroot instead for the colouring and if so what measurement I would have to use, please?
You probably could, but I haven’t tested it out so I’m not sure how much you would need to use.
This cake was incredible! Thank you for an awesome easy to follow recipe! I did make small changes by adding a half cup black fresh brewed coffee to my mix at the end. I also cooked it to 32 mins and for the frosting I did 16oz cream cheese 1 and a half cups butter and 2.5 cups powdered sugar. I like my cream cheese a little tangier! The result was a delicate tender crumb and exceptional fluffy delicious frosting to pair. Yum!
What do you think about adding a little bit of lemon zest to the icing. I do that to my carrot cake icing and it is great. Would it work with the flavor profile of this cake?
I think it would probably be fine. Just keep in mind that the cake does have a slightly chocolate flavor, so if you’re not a fan of the two flavors together I would leave it out.
How many times do you sift flour
You just need to sift all the dry ingredients together once to remove any lumps.
Please send me your recipe for lemon pound cake thanks
Hi, Patricia! You can find my lemon pound cake recipe here.
Made it for my spouse’s birthday, and it was a hit! Thank you for such a great recipe.
Hi first time making red velvet cake not gone good it’s sunk in middle I did everything to your guide please can you help what I did wrong thank you
Are you sure you didn’t over mix the dry ingredients? Were the cake layers fully baked through when you removed them from the oven?
Hi, what do I do if I don’t have brick-style cream cheese for the frosting? Only the spreadable kind.
You can use spreadable cream cheese, but the frosting will be really soft and difficult to work with. I have quite a few other frosting recipes here, my ermine frosting would be a good option.
Took a little getting to grips with American names verses England’s versions of sugar,ounces etc. But bar far the best one yet! thank you kindly USA x
Hi, what’s the shelf life once frosted? Hoping to frost the night before and store in the fridge xx
Hi, Becky! You can store it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
Hi there, would it be plain flour or self-raising flour?
It’s different from plain flour and self-rising flour. I have a post that explains more about cake flour here.
Do i need the vinegar?
I do recommend using it in this recipe.
I adore this recipe. I’ve made it a bunch of times and everyone always raves about it. I share the recipe with everyone and it’s the only cake my younger daughter likes.
This year I need to make a much larger cake for her birthday as she is carving it into the shape of a whale shark. Amy tips on doubling the recipe?
How fun! It will be a lot of batter, so I would just be careful not to over mix the dry ingredients. You could make two separate batches of cake batter, just be to safe.
If I could give it 10 stars I would. I’ve made red velvet cakes before but they were dry. Everything about this cake is perfect. I printed it and uploaded the recipe to my app. Didn’t want to take the chance of losing it. THANK YOU!
Can I use medium eggs instead.
That would be fine, but you would need to adjust accordingly. One large egg (without the shell) weighs 50 grams.
Im going to make this for my birthday tomorrow. Im exited to see how this comes out
Can I use white chocolate chips in the batter?
I haven’t tried it, but I think that would be fine.
I have tried several red velvet recipes but this is the best recipe for me. I have made it a few times now and everyone loved it. My search is finished 🙂
For myself I did made adjustment in the amount of sugar but still tasted good.
And i am so happy with the metric measurements!
Bom noite,
Segui a risca o passo a passo, porém o meu bolo afundou no meio.
Desejo uma dica para que não aconteça mais. Mesmo assim vou aproveitar a massa, muito leve e fofa e principalmente uma delícia.
My son thinks I am the worlds best mom thanks to this cake!