This is how I doctor a red velvet box mix to make it taste more like it's made from scratch. The added ingredients give the cake a better texture, more flavor, and more stability for stacking. Doctoring a box mix is a great way to make your cake taste better if you're not a confident baker yet or you just need a shortcut.
The doctored version is the shortcut, and the scratch red velvet cake recipe is the full from-scratch version for when you want maximum flavor and texture control.
Doctored Red Velvet Cake Ingredients
This recipe is based on my WASC cake recipe and my chocolate WASC. The reason why we add more ingredients to a box mix is that on its own, a box mix is pretty fluffy and soft. Nothing wrong with that really but most of my readers are professional cake decorators or passionate hobby bakers and like a firmer cake for stacking. 
The funny thing is, red velvet from scratch is really really easy to make too. Probably one of the easiest cakes to bake from scratch so if you're interested in taking that leap, check out my authentic red velvet cake recipe.
If you don't have buttermilk, you can make a buttermilk substitute or use milk instead.
Doctored Red Velvet Cake Step-By-Step
Step 1 - Preheat your oven to 335ºF and prepare three 8"x2" cake pans with cake goop or your preferred type of pan release.
Step 2 - Bring your eggs, sour cream, and buttermilk to room temperature.
Step 3 - Combine the cake mix and all your ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment attached.
Step 4 - Mix on low for 30 seconds to combine the ingredients then scrape the bowl.
Step 5 - Increase the speed to medium and mix for two minutes.
Step 6 - Divide the batter between the three pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center cleanly.
Step 7 - Let your cakes cool in the pan until the pan is barely warm (about 10 minutes) then flip them out onto a wire rack to cool fully.
If you want to decorate your cake right away, I suggest placing the cakes into the freezer for 60 minutes to flash cool them and then you can frost them. Or you can wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them overnight if you want to decorate the next day.
Pro-tip: Freezing your cakes warm locks in moisture and prevents them from drying out.
Step 8 - After your cakes are cool you can decorate your cake however you want or check out the video to see how I decorated mine with this cute ombre look!
How To Decorate The Cake
I colored ⅓ of my buttercream dark pink with super red food coloring from Americolor and then ⅓ a light pink with the same food coloring and left the last bit white.
If you need to learn more about how to decorate cakes you can check out my how to make your first cake tutorial.
To smooth the outside of my cake, I'm using the crown jewel cake comb from Ester Cakes.
Related Recipes
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
Select an option below to calculate how much batter or frosting you need. Adjust the servings slider on the recipe card to change the amounts the recipe makes.
Choose a pan type
Choose a cake pan size
(based on 2" tall cake pan)
Choose a cake pan size
(based on 2" tall cake pan)
Cupcake Tin Size
Choose number of pans
Cups of Batter Needed
8 cups
Cups of Frosting Needed
5 cups
Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
Recipe
Equipment
- Three, 8"x2" cake pans
- Stand mixer, hand mixer or even a bowl with a whisk
- For decorating: 8" cake board, bench scraper, offset spatula, rustic scallop cake comb, piping bag and Wilton 2D piping tip.
Ingredients
Doctored Red Velvet Cake
- 1 box red velvet cake mix I like Betty Crocker Delights super moist red velvet cake mix, or Duncan Hines.
- 5 ounces all purpose flour 1 cup spooned in and leveled
- 7 ounces granulated sugar 1 cup
- 6 ounces sour cream, room temperature or plain greek yogurt - ¾ cup
- 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ounces vegetable oil ¼ cup
- 4 ounces unsalted butter, melted ½ cup
- 12 ounces buttermilk, room temperature or regular milk + 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. 1 ½ cups
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon Super Red Food Coloring
Easy Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 6 ounces pasteurized egg whites
- 24 ounces sifted powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 24 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- ⅛ teaspoon yellow food coloring
- 1 teaspoon electric pink food coloring
- 2 Tablespoons super red food coloring
Instructions
Before you Begin
- Preheat the oven to 335º F and prepare your cake pans. Bring eggs, sour cream, and buttermilk to room temperature before mixing. Cold ingredients can cause the batter to look lumpy. If short on time, warm eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
For The Cake
- Preheat oven to 335º F. Prepare three 8-inch round cake pans with cake goop or preferred pan release.
- Add all cake ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low for 30 seconds, then scrape the bowl.
- Increase to medium speed and mix for 2 minutes until smooth.
- Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Check at 25 minutes.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack. Wrap warm layers in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour before frosting for best moisture and handling.
Easy Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Place egg whites and sifted powdered sugar in the stand mixer bowl with the whisk attachment. Mix on low to combine, then whip on high for 1 minute to dissolve the powdered sugar.
- Add in your salt and vanilla extract
- Add butter in chunks and whip to combine. The buttercream will look curdled at first. Keep whipping.
- If it looks curdled, remove ⅓ cup, melt it in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds until barely melted, and pour it back into the mixer to bring it together.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for 15 to 20 minutes until smooth and free of air bubbles.
- Divide and color as desired.
Video
Notes
- Unfrosted layers: wrap and freeze up to 3 months.
- SMB-frosted cake: room temperature under a dome, up to 3 days.
- Cream cheese-frosted cake: refrigerator in an airtight container, up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Cheryl says
hello Liz just just want to take this moment to thank you for your recipe. My oldest grandson and his fiance have chosen red velvet cake for their wedding cake and I hadn't begun to know where to start and this recipe is absolutely wonderful I did a test run on it and it's perfect! Thank you so much for the time that you've taken to create and share this recipe.
Liz Marek says
Congratulations to your grandson! I'm so glad the test run was perfect.
Barbara says
I watched the video for this recipe, and it looks like it used 4 eggs, but the recipe calls for only 3 eggs. Could you clarify how many eggs are used? Thank you
Liz Marek says
Follow the written recipe, which uses 3 eggs. The recipe can be updated but the video can't. If you have more questions, come ask me in the Sugar Geeks community: https://community.raptive.com/sugargeeks
Brittany Griffin says
I plan on making this after all of the wonderful reviews; however, I have a question.
5 ounces all purpose flour 1 cup spooned in and leveled
▢ 7 ounces granulated sugar 1 cup
▢ 6 ounces sour cream, room temperature or plain greek yogurt - ¾ cup
Am I to use 5 ounces of flour or 1 cup; 7 ounces of sugar or 1 cup; 6 ounces of sour cream or 3/4 cup?
I really want this cake to shine, but I do not want to make a mistake with the ingredient amounts.
Thank you!
Liz Marek says
Use either! The ounces are weights and the cups are the volume equivalents, so go with whichever you're measuring with. If you have more questions, come ask me in the Sugar Geeks community: https://community.raptive.com/sugargeeks
K M Cormack says
I just made this and baked in 9x13 pyrex...very deep cake and needed to bake it about 45 minutes checking every three minutes. Next time I'll take out batter for 6 cupcakes. I used greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and since I only had 8 oz of buttermilk I added 4 oz of strong coffee.
Liz Marek says
Coffee and Greek yogurt sound like delicious swaps! Thanks for sharing your bake time.
Momster says
love this recipe. Mine always seems to be really crumbly though, and hard to get buttercream on without tearing the cake apart. any ideas?
Liz Marek says
Thank you! Wrap the layers while they're still warm and freeze them for at least an hour before frosting. Cold layers are much easier to frost without tearing. If you have more questions, come ask me in the Sugar Geeks community: https://community.raptive.com/sugargeeks