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.
Hi there!
Can I know if I can omit the oil in the recipe and just use butter? If yes what would be the measurement for the butter?
Yes, you can swap the oil with an equal amount of butter. Just keep in mind that the cake won’t stay quite as moist without the oil.
Wow! The BEST red velvet cake recipe I’ve ever made! And the cream cheese frosting was so delicious! This cake was made for my mom’s 85th birthday gathering, it was a huge hit! Thank you!
I just finished baking two 9” round cakes and I feel like the cakes are not very tall. They did not rise to the top of the pan. I’m feeling discouraged. I am not a new baker and wonder what I did that resulted in this.
Hi, Danielle! Have you checked your baking soda to make sure it’s still fresh? Some other reasons cake layers may not rise as tall is if you use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, don’t cream the butter and sugars together long enough, over mix the batter, or open your oven doors quite a bit. I hope that helps!
Made this cake for a birthday. Was the best red velvet cake we’ve had. Very moist and substantial – did not fall and was perfect in every way. Great recipe.
Can you check the gram conversion for the flour ? Is 2 2/3 is equivalent to 295 grams?
It’s correct. 1 cup of cake flour is usually between 110-112 grams. If you multiply that by 2 and 2/3 cups it’s 295 grams.
How thick the mixture should be? I feel it’s too thick
It will be thicker than boxed cake mix batter. There’s a picture of the finished cake batter in the post for reference.
Hi
If 1 cup flour is 120 grams, so 2+2/3 cups of flour should be 312 grams, but in the recipe is 295 grams.
Why is this gap?
Thanx
Cake flour is lighter than all purpose flour, so 1 cup is usually between 110-112 grams. If you multiply that by 2 and 2/3 cups it’s 295 grams.
I’m so excited to try this! And btw, I only have one 8 inch pan, so, is it a problem if I make the whole batch of the batter and bake each cake separately (as in, will there be any problem in the rising of the cake if I leave the batter room temperature or in the fridge while the first one bakes?) or should I divide the batter in two batches and mix them separately as I bake each cake?
It depends on how long you let the batter sit, but if you do let it sit for too long the second one won’t rise as tall. To be safe, it may be best to cut the recipe in half and bake one at a time. You could bake the cake in a 9×13 pan or if you have a very deep 9-inch pan you could bake all of the batter at once and cut it.
We live at 6500 feet. What alterations should I make?
I’m not familiar with high altitude baking, but some readers have found this guide helpful.
Over all this recipe was amazing and I can’t wait to add it to my own recipe book! In the future I would probably reduce the food coloring by half because I could taste the dye and the colour ended up very dark.
Could I use a 45 cm x 36 cm (~ 18 in x 14 in) sheet pan and divide cake into two after baking without adjusting the recipe?
For a pan that size, you’d likely need to multiply the cake batter by 1.5.
If I use gel food coloring do I need to use as much? I don’t like the bitterness of artificial dyes, plus I already have red gel coloring.
I would start with 1/2 tablespoon of gel food coloring, then add more as needed.
Do I add the buttermilk with the butter and egg mixture?
You alternate it with the dry ingredients, this is in step 4 of the recipe.
Would apple cider vinegar be an ok substitute for the white vinegar in your recipe?
Yes, that would be fine.
Hello! I am thinking of making a 4-inch cake using this recipe. How should I convert the measurements? Thank you so much xx
It really depends on how many layers you’re making. Are you doing more than three?
Hi there, just made the cake and it’s looking great although needed to cook for 40 mins. I’m in Uk and cook on fan which is 20 degrees lover than normal degrees c. Also when you say 1 ounce of red colouring, do you mean fluid oz? I weighed 1 oz and I just don’t have the red colour at all. It’s just a rich chocolate colour. This was just a trial run so if you can give me a tip or 2 that would be great. Many thanks Christine
Yes, 1 ounce means fluid ounces. It could be the type of food coloring that you used too, I really like McCormick liquid food coloring. You could try using gel food coloring and see if that helps give you a better red color.
Hi Danielle
How long should i bake if i am using the whole batter in a 9 inch pan instead of dividing it into two?Should i reduce the baking temp?
I’m not sure that it will all fit in one, but it may as long as it’s a deeper pan. You would need to increase the baking time.
Hi! Thank you for this recipe, it sounds amazing! One question, if I need to make this cake “very less sweet”, how much sugar can I reduce this recipe by in both cake and frosting to not affect the final texture? Thanks so much!
You can reduce the powdered sugar in the frosting to 1 and 1/2 cups. I wouldn’t reduce the sugar in the cake more than 1/4 cup though, otherwise it will change the taste and texture of the cake.
Thank you for your reply! The cake turned out to be amazing, moist and light. Now if I need to make this cake eggless, do you know what I should replace the eggs with? Thanks again for this wonderful recipe!
You may be able to use flax eggs, but I haven’t tried it.
Hi i ordered a stand mixer but if I don’t have it right now what else can I use to mix the butter and sugar with
You can whisk them together, it may take a bit longer though.
How long should I bake if I use two 8″ rounds? Thanks!
I would guess you would need to increase the baking time by 5 to 10 minutes. If you have any extra batter leftover you can use it to make cupcakes.
Can I use white wine vinegar instead of distilled white vinegar?
Yes, that’s fine.
Can I use Caster Sugar instead of Granulated sugar? If so does the weight need to change?
Yes, that’s fine! I would use 350 grams of caster sugar in place of the granulated sugar.
Easy to make and delicious. 5 plus stars
I have made many cakes over the years and have tried several different red velvet cakes but this by far is the best in both flavor and texture. I made a frosting that was a cross between ermine and cream cheese frosting and it was perfect! Will definitely make this again.
Hey how much batter would I need to make a double layer square 10 in with double layer square 8 on top?
I haven’t tried it so it’s hard to say, but you may need to double the recipe.
Hi, Thank you for sharing the recipe. Just wondering if I can use this recipe to make 3 layers in 7 inch cake pan? thanks
Yes, that would be fine! You will probably have a little bit of batter leftover, but you can use any extra batter to make cupcakes.
Can i use flour instead of cake flour
You can make a cake flour substitute with all-purpose flour, I have a post for how to do that here.
This turned out awesome . I did substitute the vegetable oil for Coconut oil . Unbelievably moist and the cream cheese icing amazing.
Are you able to bake this in a bundt pan?
Yes! Baking time should be 50 to 65 minutes.
This is an awesome cake! Thank you for sharing your recipe! I didn’t have red food colouring and was too lazy to go to the store so I’ve made a blue velvet instead ?