Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
This red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting is so moist, fluffy, rich and velvety. It’s the perfect cake for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s day or any special occasion.
This red velvet cake recipe follows the tradition, with the right red velvet ingredients and decoration techniques: it has two layers of cake, a generous layer of cream cheese frosting in the middle, and it’s beautifully covered with frosting on top and sides. It’s then coated with cake crumbs, and decorated with hearts.
Video Recipe 📹
Watch the full video recipe to learn how to make the best red velvet cake. This step-by-step tutorial simplifies the process, offering tips and tricks to guarantee perfect results every time.
Prefer the written recipe? Scroll down to the recipe box 👇
Why You’ll Love This Red Velvet Cake
- 👨🏻🍳Popular and Loved: This Red Velvet Cake recipe has over 10 million views, over 3k comments, and 140k likes on YouTube! Check also my YouTube channel for more recipe videos.
- 🥚Simple Ingredients: This authentic recipe follows the tradition, with the right ingredients to make it perfect.
- 🙌Easy to Make: Making red velvet cake it’s easier than you may think!
- 🎂Showstopper: Red Velvet is the perfect cake for any celebration, whether you need a birthday cake, an anniversary cake, or Valentine’s day cake.
What is Red Velvet Cake?
Red Velvet Cake is a classic red-coloured sponge cake, traditionally frosted with cream cheese frosting. Some may think you only need red food coloring to make red velvet cake, but that’s not the only ingredient that makes this cake so special.
The combination of buttermilk, a bit of cocoa powder, and a splash of white vinegar, is what gives this delicious cake its fantastic texture and flavor.
Traditionally, the raw cocoa powder mixed with buttermilk is what would give the cake its iconic burgundy color, but with modern processed ingredients, red food coloring has been introduced in addition.
Why is Buttermilk Important in Red Velvet
Buttermilk, also called whey, is the thin liquid leftover after butter is made from whisking heavy cream. It can be drunk on its own, or used in a variety or recipes. It’s the key ingredient that differentiates red velvet from any other vanilla or chocolate cakes. It gives the cake a soft texture and slight tanginess that makes it so unique and loved by so many people.
Substitution Tip: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to regular milk. Mix it and let it stand for 5-10 minutes before using.
If you bought buttermilk, and don’t know what to do with leftovers, check out these delicious recipes for Triple Chocolate Muffins, and chocolate chip muffins or pancakes.
Tips and Tricks
- All cake ingredients should be in room temperature.
- You can use all-purpose flour or cake flour.
- Instead of buttermilk you can use milk+1 tablespoon vinegar (mix and let stand 5-10 minutes).
- Use gel food coloring for a brighter and more intense color.
- You can also use natural food colorings, but the end result may vary.
How to Adjust Pan Size
This recipe makes two 8-inch (20 cm) red velvet cake layers, which can serve 12–16 people. However, I know that many of you prefer different cake sizes, whether larger or smaller. So, I’ve prepared a cake pan size conversion chart to help you adjust the recipe to your preferred cake pan size. This way, you can scale your cake recipe perfectly to match your needs.
| Pan Size (inches) | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| 6-inch (15cm) | 0.56 |
| 7-inch (17-18cm) | 0.77 |
| 9-inch (23cm) | 1.27 |
| 10-inch (25cm) | 1.56 |
* Please note that baking time may vary depending on the pan size, so keep an eye on your cake while baking.
How to Decorate Red Velvet Cake
- Red Velvet Hearts – Use leftover cake scraps, usign a cookie cutter, cut out small heart shapes (as described in the recipe) and place them on top of the cake for a charming finish. This is an easy yet impressive idea for a red velvet birthday cake or a Valentine’s Day treat.
- Cake Crumb Edges – Crumble the leftover cake and gently press the crumbs onto the edges of the frosted cake for a beautiful, textured look. (For better understanding, watch the video recipe). This adds a unique touch to your red velvet cake decoration.
- Classic Piped Swirls – Use a piping bag with a star tip to create decorative swirls around the edges or on top of the cake with red velvet cake frosting. Add sprinkles or edible pearls for extra elegance.
- Chocolate Drizzle & Berries – Drizzle melted white or dark chocolate over the cake and decorate with fresh strawberries or raspberries for a striking contrast. This gives the cake a fancy and festive feel.
- Whipped Cream Rosettes & Chocolate Shavings – Pipe delicate whipped cream rosettes around the edges and sprinkle with dark chocolate shavings or curls for a simple yet sophisticated red velvet cake decoration.
Common Questions
Yes, you can use gluten-free 1:1 flour to make this cake. Make sure also all the other ingredients are certified gluten-free.
Gel food coloring such as Wilton’s are the best in quality to achieve a bright and intense color.
No. Red velvet cake has less cocoa powder than a regular chocolate cake, and the addition of buttermilk, and vinegar, gives it a unique tanginess.
Yes, you can divide the cake batter into muffins and decorate with the cream cheese frosting. You can also follow this Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe for a more accurate result.
Make Ahead and Storage
The cake can be baked a day ahead. Keep it covered at room temperature overnight. The frosting can be also prepared in advance and and kept refrigerated in an airtight container. Let the frosting sit at room temperature to soften for a few minutes before frosting the cake.
Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
More Recipes
If you enjoyed this red velvet cake recipe, you’ll love also these other red velvet treats:
Red Velvet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2½ cups (310 g) All-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (16 g) Cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1½ cups (300 g) Sugar
- 1 cup (240 ml) Buttermilk room temperature *read notes
- 1 cup – 1 tbsp (200 ml) Vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon white Vinegar
- 2 Eggs
- ½ cup (115 g) Butter room temperature
- 1-2 tablespoons Red food coloring
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 1¼ cups (300 ml) Heavy cream cold
- 2 cups (450 g) Cream cheese room temperature
- 1½ cups (190 g) Powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
- In a large bowl sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Stir and set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at the time, beating until combined after each addition. Add oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, buttermilk and beat until combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix after each addition until well combined. Add food coloring and mix.
- Pour the batter into two 8-inch (20cm) round baking pans greased with butter and dust with flour. or you can use one pan and bake twice. Also you can use springrorm pan lined with parchment.
- Bake 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Release from the pan, then let cool completely.
- Make the frosting: in a large bowl, beat cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl with heavy cream to stiff peaks. Then fold into the cream cheese mixture.
- Cut the top of the cakes. Cut 8-12 heart shapes from the top layer of the cakes. Make crumbs from the leftovers. Set aside.
- Place one cake layer with flat side down. Spread a layer of frosting, place the second layer of cake on top of the frosting, flat side up. Spread evenly the frosting on top and sides of the cake.
- Decorate red velvet cake with the crumbs and the hearts.
- Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours before serving.
Video
I have to say, this is the best red velvet cake. So simple and easy to understand. I rarely bake and always worried of how the cake will turn out, but honestly, this turned out perfect. Baked it for our marriage anniversary,. Wish I could share a pic. Thankyou so much, TheCookingFoodie! <3
Glad to heat that you liked it. happy anniversary!
you always can shape a pic on Instagram and tag me 🙂
I made this cake for my wife on valentine’s day and it was well appreciated she loved it (I didn’t get any) 😂
Hi! Lovely result! Can’t wait to try it. But I have one question: can I reduce the amount of vegetable oil? With 200g of it, won’t it become too oily? Thank you so much 🤗
I love it it’s like the best one I have ever made in my whole life 10/10 definitely recommend
Hi, I am making this cake this weekend. Could you please just confirm how much oil to use? 1 cup – 1 tbps in the recipe – what difference does it make using more or less? Thank you 🙂
1 cup minus 1 tablespoon (approximately 200ml)
What can i do if i put the hole cup? It looks very oily, can i fix it?
Are these ingredients for a 1 kg cake.
Hi
I love the recipe and the background music to this video. Could you kindly give me the title and the name of the artiste, please?
Thanks
Hi, you can find the info and link to the song in the description box of the video.
how many people can we serve with this cake??
This is the best red velvet recipe I’ve ever had. I made it and it’s very yummy
Glad you liked it 🙂
Hi can u plz tell me which red food colour have u used. The brand and shade
Can i bake this in a 7 inch cake? Pls reply!!
Just made first RV cake for a birthday
How far ahead can I decorate it
Where shall I store it to keep perfect
Thanks
Jackie
You can made the cake couple a days ahead and store it in the fridge.
This is literally the best red velvet receipe..how many pounds is this cake?
Why there is no baking powder?
Because they used baking soda instead
Hi! Can I use powdered buttermilk instead?
Hi Ian,
No, you can’t.
For a buttermilk, is it condensed milk plus 1 tbsp. of vinegar? Or A fresh milk?
Hi .. is this recipe for 1kg cake ?
Hi, I made this cake 3 times. The recipe is so great and simple. I can’t thank you enough for this.
Although it’s beautiful, the second time I didn’t use the cake crumbs for the outside because it became dry so fast in the fridge.
thank you so much, it was amazing and a huge hit!
especially loved the cream cheese frosting
Glad you liked it! Thank for trying and letting me know 🙂
Hi, question. Why is the measurement for 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) of sugar in the batter and 1 and 1/2 cups (190g) of powdered sugar in the frosting different in metrics system?
Thank you!
Powdered sugar is lighter. For example, a cup of feathers and a cup of steel is of the same volume, but a cup of steel is obviously heavier. They’re both 1 cup but they weigh different
How much is 1 teaspoon Baking soda and 1 teaspoon Salt in the grams?
For the frosting is it ok to beat everythkng together right away? Is ok to use it even after that? Or does it really need to be separated?
Can you use balsamic vinegar instead of white vinegar?
I could not print the recipe
Please advise
Thanks
Can I use this recipe on cupcake? How many cupcakes will it yield?
Can i use white wine vinegar?
Hello, I’m planning to bake this cake using your recipe but I would first like to know if it is possible to bake it in three 18 cm cake pans instead of the ones you used?
Thank you!
I made it for my daughters 15th birthday and loved the results <3
When putting in the oven do you put fan mode?
Thank you very much for the recipe. <3
Can I bake this cake in a nine inch springform tin? If so, how long should I bake it for?
Hands down, the best red velvet cake recipe out there. Made it for my husbands birthday and everybody loved it.