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.
It was all going so well until I added my dry ingredients. The red colour went brown, I figured this was due to the brown cocoa powder. I also found out after that my food colouring wasn’t baking stable. Next time, if I use a bake stable food colouring, with it stop the batter going brown before I bake it? Or perhaps it’s the cocoa powder I’m using??
Hi, Elaine! It may have just been your food coloring. I use McCormick red food coloring and it still stays red like the picture in the post.
Danielle, I just baked this cake for my sisters birthday, and it was absolutely divine! Not only was it perfectly moist from inside, but the cream cheese frosting was just the right balance of sweet. As a very amateur baker, I followed your recipe to the tee (baked the red velvet cakes for 32 minutes) and it turned out just amazing. Thank you for your baking tips! Will be trying out your other recipes now 🙂
This came out so good and tasty. But i used regular cocoa podwer for hot choclate – (Ovaltine) and it worked.
Thanks Danielle
how many cups does this recipe make?
I’m really not sure how many cups it makes, sorry!
Hi!
I can’t find any cake flour so if I use your cake flour substitute, do I need to add any baking powder or bicarbonate of soda to the red velvet cake recipe? If so, how much?
I also only have two 8 inch round baking tins. Will that be ok?
Thanks
If you use my cake flour substitute, you still need to add the same amount of baking soda that’s in the recipe. You can bake it in two 8-inch rounds as long as they’re deep enough, you’ll need to increase the baking time some too.
Hi Danielle,
I’m planning to bake this red velvet cake for my mom’s birthday this weekend. I’ve only made cheesecakes before and a carrot cake so I’m a beginner to making actual cakes. My question is, if I am going to bake the cake on the same day that we are cutting it.. what should be the timeline?
– Do I bake the cake layers and let them sit at room temperature then put the frosting in the fridge and frost the cake a few hours before serving? Or….
– I’ve read on Google that you give to put the cake into the fridge as well as the frosting before frosting it.
-Make it all in one go and let it sit at room temperature until serving time.
Please let me know as soon as you can if possible. I’m also sorry this is last minute. Thank you 🙂
Hi, Cherry! You can really make it however you prefer and whatever is easiest for you. I like to bake the cake layers, let them cool, and then chill them so they’re firmer and easier to frost. Then I make the frosting, frost the cake, and refrigerate it. I usually set it out a little ahead of time so that it can come to room temperature some before serving.
Hello!
This cake looks beautiful! I have made cream cheese frosting before and it was very runny – do you have any idea why this was?
Did you happen to use cream cheese spread in a tub? If so, it has ingredients added to it that thin it out which can make the frosting runny. I recommend blocks/bricks of cream cheese.
Hi Danielle, i would like to bake this red velvet cake. But, I only have Bob’s Red Hill Gluten free 1 to 1 baking flour. Just wondering how this will turn out? Thank you.
Hi, Maria! I honestly haven’t tested this with a gluten-free flour, so I’m not quite sure.
The recipes says I need buttermilk do I need whole buttermilk or can I just use low fat buttermilk low fat was the only one I could find. I’m new to baking and I tried to look online for the difference or if whole buttermilk even existed. Thanks in advance!
I’ve used low-fat buttermilk for this cake and it works just fine!
I’m planning to try this recipe this week sometime but I’m not much of a baker. The instructions seem clear and simple so I’m excited to give it a go. Just one question though….when you say 9″ pan, its 9″ high I assume, but what will the pan length and depth have to be? Thanks Danielle.
I mean two 9-inch round pans, the ones I use are about 2-inches deep 🙂
Hi! I would love to make this red velvet cake but I don’t have cake flour. Can I use wheat flour instead?
I wouldn’t recommend whole wheat flour, it would make the cake too dense. I have a cake flour substitute in the recipe notes that you can use.
Hi.. may i ask for the measurement of the red coloring.. u wrote 1 bottle, how many tbs or tsp is that ?
Thankyou
It’s 2 tablespoons of red liquid food coloring.
I have been baking for quite some time. The person that had their cake not come out of the pan(s) even though they greased and floured the pan, may have let the cake cool too much.
I made this for my grandsons birthday. It was dry, not really sweet enough. No one ate it!! I followed the recipe as written. Very sad…..
Sorry to hear that, Tara. Did you double check the ingredients, specifically the sugar, to make sure everything was correct? There’s 1 and 3/4 cups of sugar in this cake, so it’s plenty sweet.
What size of baking pan did you use for this recipe?
Two 9-inch cake pans, it’s listed in the recipe 🙂
Hello! Eager to try out this recipe, but have a quick question first. A friend has requested this as a birthday cake, but she follows a pretty strict Keto diet. Would this recipe still be possible using almond flour? And if so would the measurements need to be adjusted at all?
Hi, Kathryn! I haven’t personally baked with almond flour or tested it in this cake, so I’m not quite sure.
This cake really is the best. I made it for some friends and rhey went crazy for it.
Made this recipe for a few friends the cakes turned out great super moist and delicious. Although I did decrease the amount of cocoa in the recipe on my first attempt the cocoa was a little too overpowering gave me more of a chocolate cake. Overall great recipe
My 16 year-old daughter just made this cake and it turned out superb! The instructions are wonderfully clear. She piped rosettes on the top with the cream cheese icing like you did, and then sprinkled them with crushed freeze-dried raspberries – YUM!
So happy to hear that the cake turned out great, Heather!
Hi life saver. I couldn’t order a cake for my daughter’s 13 th birthday, I made this red velvet cake and believe me it was the simplest recipe to follow and the results were lip smacking. Thank you so much.
So glad you enjoyed the cake, Sonal!
Do you know what cocoa powder to use ??
I use Nestle Toll House Baking Cocoa.
I am waiting to try this recipe tomorrow for my husband’s birthday, but we live at 10,500 feet above sea level. I was wondering if I need to make any changes with the flour. I’m so excited to try this!
Hi, Cassandra! I’m not familiar with high altitude baking, but King Arthur Flour has a great guide on their website for how to adjust recipes at high altitude. I hope that helps!
Hello, I’m planning on make this cake for my Girlfriends 50th birthday tomorrow. I don’t have Mach experience baking and I’m unsure of your instructions on adding the dry ingredients starting with the dry ingredients and ending with the dry ingredients and adding the buttermilk with it. Would you terribly mind a little more detail? Thx you.
Darren
Hi, Darren! It simply means to mix in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, then another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, the last 1/2 of the buttermilk, and then the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients. You want to mix in each addition until just combined too.
How can I substitute the buttermilk and coacoa powder?Can I use a powdered chocolate to make chocolate milk instead of coacoa powder? I have also made your lemon cookies but,they turned out more like biscuits.I also made the carrot cake and the cream cheese frosting was a success! Although I am not a top-hat chef I believe that 9 years old is enough when it comes to baking!❤️
You’ll need unsweetened cocoa powder for the cake for it to rise and taste right. I do have a buttermilk substitution in the recipe card though. For the lemon cookies, did you make sure to spoon and level your flour? Too much flour could cause that to happen. Glad you liked the carrot cake too, Andrea!
Hi Danielle,
I want to try this recipe today but don’t have any cocoa powder at home. Can I leave it out?
I wouldn’t recommend it, it may affect how the cake rises and it will change the flavor too.
can i use caster sugar instead? x
Yes, that’s fine.
Do you have any tips on creaming the butter and sugar? I’ve done this 3 times and once I add more than a cup of sugar it just becomes clumpy instead of stuffy. I’ve never had that happen before!
Are you gradually adding the sugar? I just add the butter and sugar to the mixing bowl and then mix it for a few minutes.
I was gradually adding it. I’ll try it with adding everything in together!
Tried this a day ago and it was a huge hit! Thank you so much 😀
Hello! Haven’t tried this yet but can I use gel food coloring instead of the liquid one? Thanks 🙂
That would be fine. You may need to adjust the amount slightly to make sure it turns out the correct color.
Hi Danielle,
I baked this cake for my dinner party dessert. Everyone loved it. Thanks for helping my party be a success.
Charlene
So glad everyone enjoyed the cake, Charlene!
Hi, I just made your recipe for Valentine’s Day it’s my husband’s favorite and I’ve never made it before. I followed your recipe and it was fairly easy. I forgot to take my eggs out to room temperature but I don’t think it made a difference. I made my own buttermilk with vinegar, super easy. I made a 9 by 13 cake and it turned out perfect and the frosting was delicious. Thanks so much for your recipe.
Hi, I am making this for my son’s birthday, but I only have 12 inch pans. I plan on just making it a one layer cake. My question is how long should I bake it for? Should I still bake at 350°? I don’t have much experience with baking. Thanks 🙂
Hi, Nicole! I haven’t tried it in that size pan, so I’m not sure about the baking time. I would just watch it closely, you’ll know it’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If you have any leftover batter you can use it to make cupcakes too.
I just made it with 12 inch pans and it took my oven the full 32 minutes to bake through at 350 degrees. Stayed moist and flavorful.
Hi Danielle! I’m planning on making a 9 inch heart shaped double layered red velvet cake :-). If I only have all purpose flour on hand, how much would I use in this recipe? Also, if I decide to bake each layer separately, how would that affect the baking time?
Do you have any cornstarch? If so, you can make your own cake flour with my homemade cake flour substitute. If you’re baking two layers in 9-inch heart-shaped pans, then the baking time should be pretty similar.
Wow!! I really enjoyed this recipe, my cake came out super moist and delicious. I did cut back quite a bit on the cocoa it was giving me to much of a chocolate cake flavor on my first attempt. But other than that didn’t change a thing delicious thanks for sharing your recipe.
Latesha
I like the way your recipe is laid out. I tried to make this and as far flavor it came out great but I didn’t have any parchment paper so I sprayed my pans with pan cooking spray. I let it cool for 30 mins when I tried to take it out the pans it fall apart. ? I dont know what happened.
Hi, Maria! I really recommend using parchment paper because the cake can be kind of sticky. It’s likely that it was just stuck to the bottom and fell apart when you tried to take it out.
Can I use all purpose flour instead of cake flour??????
Do you have cornstarch? If so, I have a cake flour substitute in the recipe that uses all-purpose flour and cornstarch.