This is what a TRUE authentic classic red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting tastes like. Soft, moist, buttery, and far better than any grocery store cake! This recipe is a true Southern classic perfect for weddings, birthdays, holidays, or for that red velvet-obsessed person in your life.
What's In This Blog Post
Why This Is The Best Red Velvet Cake Recipe
I spent a lot of time researching the history of American red velvet cake and how it was originally made. I also tested many different mixing styles until I perfected the best red velvet cake recipe that was super moist, soft, and had that perfect red velvet cake flavor.
Red velvet cake does NOT taste like chocolate cake. Although it does have some hints of chocolate, it's really a mixture of chocolate, vanilla, and buttermilk. It should taste a little tangy and is most often times paired with cream cheese frosting or ermine frosting.
- Velvet texture that is soft and moist
- True red velvet flavor from a combination of buttermilk and cocoa powder
- Beautiful red color without using too much due to the concentrated nature of super red gel
- An easy homemade cream cheese frosting that is the perfect compliment to this cake or you can make a classic ermine frosting which is also a traditional frosting combo.
- One bowl method! Anyone can make this cake.
Red Velvet Cake Ingredients
Authentic red velvet cake ingredients include vinegar, a small amount of cocoa powder, and food coloring which creates a true Southen red velvet cake flavor.
My favorite aspect of this perfect red velvet cake recipe is its simple mixing method. Scale the dry ingredients, scale the wet ingredients, and then mix them together! You have to work hard to mess up this cake. There are so many versions of red velvet cake, but to get to make the best version I referred back to these authentic ingredients that always make this classic cake a success.
Buttermilk: This is a key ingredient to achieving the tender “velvety” texture of this cake. The lactic acid (which is milder than lemon juice or vinegar) breaks down the long strands of gluten, and it thickens the buttermilk, giving it a creamy quality. I recommend using real cultured buttermilk for this cake to give it that distinct “red velvet” flavor. If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, learn how to make it with my buttermilk substitute recipe.
White Vinegar: It sounds like a strange ingredient in a cake, but it is essential in a red velvet cake. This recipe calls for baking soda to leaven the cake (make the cake rise). The small amount of added vinegar allows the soda to do its best work.
Food Coloring: Originally Red Velvet cake was colored with beet juice for a reddish color. Additionally, the chemical reaction between natural cocoa powder and the vinegar would also make a reddish tinge. However nowadays a small amount of red food coloring is typically used and a lot easier to get. If you don't want to use food coloring you can definitely still use beet juice or look for natural food coloring available in most grocery stores.
Cocoa Powder: The purpose of cocoa powder in this recipe might not be what you think it is! The natural cocoa powder works alongside the buttermilk and vinegar to tenderize the flour and create a softer, finer, velvety crumb with just a touch of flavor.
How To Make Red Velvet Cake
- Preheat your oven to 335ºF (168ºC) and prepare two 8" x 2” cake pans with cake goop or your preferred pan release.
- In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, vinegar, butter, vanilla, and red food coloring and set it aside. I like using food coloring gel instead of liquid food coloring for a more vibrant color. My favorite brand is Americolor Super Red.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Mix this on low speed for a few seconds to combine.
- While mixing on low speed, add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix on medium speed until the batter is fully incorporated and smooth. Don't forget to scrape the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are evenly mixed. This should take about 30 seconds.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake the cakes for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center cleanly and the dome bounces back when it is lightly touched.
- Let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes on a cooling rack until you can handle the pan with your bare hands, then flip the cakes out onto the rack to finish cooling.
- If you are going to layer and frost the same day, pop the cake layers into the freezer for about an hour, no need to wrap them. Otherwise, wrap the layers in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for up to a week.
Pro-Tip: Wrapping the cakes while they’re still warm seals in all of the moisture.
How To Make Cream Cheese Frosting
- Place the softened butter in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Mix on low until it is smooth and lump-free.
- Add in the softened cream cheese and combine on low until smooth and completely homogeneous. Scrape the bowl to make sure it is all incorporated.
- Add in the sifted powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low to avoid throwing powdered sugar out of the bowl.
- Add the vanilla extract and salt. Mix until smooth. Do not over-mix.
- Mix until just combined, over-mixing could cause the frosting to curdle and separate.
Tips For Success
Is this your first time decorating a cake? Watch my free video tutorial on how to decorate a cake for the first time.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients for the best results. Baking is a science!
- I used a stand mixer to make my cakes but you can also use a hand-held electric mixer. If you use a hand-mixer then you may need to mix for longer to achieve the same batter consistency.
- Room temperature ingredients are important. Make sure your buttermilk and eggs are slightly warm and your butter is soft but not melted so that your ingredients mix together properly.
FAQ
Yes you can but the cake will not be very red on the inside.
I don't recommend it, of course, it will still make a red cake, but it will not have the flavor and texture of a classic red velvet cake.
Classic Red Velvet Cake is far more complex than a chocolate cake with red food coloring. The tenderizing buttermilk and vinegar create a texture that's soft, velvety, and full of tangy-rich flavor. The small amount of cocoa allows the other flavors to come through and not be masked with the deep richness that is in a traditional chocolate cake.
You can replace buttermilk with regular milk 1:1 plus 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice per cup.
Do you need more cake inspiration? Check out my other tried-and-true cake recipes
Related Recipes
If you love this red velvet recipe, try my other velvet cakes next!
Recipe
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cake Ingredients
- 14 ounces all-purpose flour
- 14 ounces granulated Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 4 ounces vegetable oil
- 8 ounces buttermilk room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
- 6 ounces unsalted butter melted but not hot
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon red food coloring gel food coloring
Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- 12 ounces cream cheese softened
- 8 ounces unsalted butter softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or orange extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 26 ounces powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
Red Velvet Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare two 8" x 2” cake pans with cake goop or your preferred pan release.
- Combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, vinegar, butter, vanilla, and red food coloring in a medium bowl and set it aside.
- Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix this on low speed for a few seconds to combine.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix on medium speed until the batter is fully incorporated and smooth (about 1 minute). Don't forget to scrape the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are evenly mixed.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake the cakes for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops bounce back when lightly touched.
- Cool the cakes in the pans for about 10 minutes, then flip them out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- If you are going to layer and frost the same day, pop the cake layers into the freezer for about an hour, no need to wrap them. Otherwise, wrap the layers in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to a week. Pro-Tip: Wrapping the cakes while they’re still warm seals in all of the moisture, making them safe to freeze.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Place the softened butter in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Mix on low until it is smooth and lump-free.
- Add in the softened cream cheese and combine on low until smooth and completely homogeneous. Scrape the bowl to make sure it is all incorporated.
- Add in the sifted powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low to avoid throwing powdered sugar out of the bowl.
- Add the vanilla extract and salt and mix until just combined and smooth. Do not over-mix.
- After your cakes are fully cooled, decorate as desired.
Yami says
Love this recipe, my second time making it, but I did notice that when you convert the recipe to grams, the oil (4oz) and the butter (6oz) both convert to 170g. I measured my ingredients on grams because thats what im used to so I noticed my cakes coming out very oily, so kept thinking I was not multiplying right since I made bigger batches. The flavor doesnt change much but the oily ness is a bit too much. Other than great recipe, now I know for next time I make this delicious cake
The Sugar Geek Show says
Hmmm looks like the recipe card automatically changed the amounts. I changed it back.
Mary says
If I need to make 3 9 inch cakes, do you think I should double the batter recipe?
The Sugar Geek Show says
1 1/2 batches will be enough
Judi Burgess says
Hi This recipe sounds awesome and will be trying this tomorrow but what is AP flour please??
The Sugar Geek Show says
AP flour is standard all purpose baking flour
lilian says
hi Liz ,
how high would this cake be if it is a 6 inch wide cake?
I need to make it for a wedding cake .
can you give me a trick how to keep fondant covered cakes in the fridge please?
can cream cheese frosting stay out of for the fridge ?and for how long?
The Sugar Geek Show says
How tall the cake is depends on how tall your cake pans are and how much frosting you use in between the layers. You can use cream cheese frosting as a filling but not on the outside of your cake if you are covering it in fondant. Cream cheese can be out of the fridge for hours as long as the temperature is not over 80ºF. Fondant cakes can be refrigerated with no problems.
Sandra says
Good morning,
Can I use the Wilton Red No Taste for the coloring?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes you sure can
Katherine says
Hello, how long will the leftover cream cheese frosting last in the fridge?
The Sugar Geek Show says
If you're not going to use it within the week I would freeze it 🙂
Ushs says
Hi Liz
I wanted to know if I don’t have. Buttermilk what should I use instead please let me know thanks
The Sugar Geek Show says
One cup of milk plus two tablespoons of white vinegar
Jaymie says
The cake tasted amazing!! I’ve tried a bunch of your other recipes with great success! For some reason though this one didn’t rise very well and totally sunk in the middle. What did I do wrong? I read an earlier comment about needing to be at room temp and I totally did that. So I’m stumped ?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Try mixing for just a little bit longer next time and make sure you don't open the oven too soon and the cake is baked before pulling it out of the oven
Yasser says
Hi Liz, i talk with you from saudi arabia, i Admire your recipes and i admire more attempts to develop each recipe, I saw many recipes for red velvet cake to mix baking soda with vinegar in recipe end and add last step, What do you think, is that true?
Thank you.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Everybody's recipes are different 🙂 I don't see a need to do that since the baking soda reacts with the liquids within the batter
Nancy says
In the recipe for the icing it says cream cheese ame buttercream. Did you use both?
The Sugar Geek Show says
If I'm not covering the cake in fondant I just use cream cheese frosting but you can fill it with any kind of buttercream you want
Emily says
I have made this over and over again and it always falls. Always. What am I doing wrong?! I am a professional baker and this has me stumped.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Hmmm I'm not sure! It's hard to say unless I watched you make it. Try the traditional creaming method where you cream the butter/sugar then add in room temp eggs and then room temp liquids alternating with the dry ingredients.
Alex says
I do not have a mixer.
Can I still try to make or do you believe it will change texture too much?
Thx and great site!
The Sugar Geek Show says
You can make this by hand with a whisk or with a hand mixer
Andrea says
Awesome cake!!! This is the second night in a row I made this!!! Thank you for sharing 🙂 I doubled the recipe to make 3 8” cakes and had one very small 6” cake to crumble up and put on the sides.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Perfect! So glad you like it
Ayana M says
why no baking powder? is it because of the soda and vinegar? : ) {thanks}
The Sugar Geek Show says
You only need baking soda
Ayana M says
Gracias!
Ayana M says
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your help one these? I have some others.
1. I have cake flour (can I substitute using the 2 cups 2 tblsps for every 8 ounces of AP?
2. I used dark cocoa and liquid food coloring, and it came out really dark with little red. Can I substitute using 1 Tablsp and more red Food coloring?
3. also I have standard steel pans, my cakes seem a little dense; can I adjust the oven temp ? What would you recommend EAST Coast
Thanks : )
The Sugar Geek Show says
I tried using cake flour one time and the cake was too delicate for me because of the way it's mixed. If you switch to the creaming method (creaming butter/sugar then adding in eggs, then alternating dry ingredients and wet ingredients until mixed) you might be able to use cake flour. Dark red is normal, you can add a little more red but not too much or it will make the cake bitter. Yes you can reduce your oven temperature to 325 if you are using dark metal pans.
Ashley Calhoun says
Can you use this recipe for a Bundt cake? if so are there any modifications?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I have not tried this recipe for a bundt cake but that sounds delicious! I would use the creaming method to convert to a bundt cake.
Ashley says
What is the creaming method?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Where you cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, then the dry ingredients alternating with the liquid ingredients. This mixing method is used in the white cake recipe if you want to check it out.
Chita says
Hi when I researched converting the flour and sugar measurements to cups, I came up with over 2.5 cups flour and 2 cups sugar. Does that sound correct? These measurements sound high, especially the flour.
The Sugar Geek Show says
I would not recommend converting to cups because they are not accurate and can cause the cake to fail. Check out my blog post on why I use a scale, how I use a scale and my personal conversion chart for my own recipes. But even with the chart, there is no guarantee that you will properly measure the correct amount of flour without using a scale. https://sugargeekshow.com/news/digital-kitchen-scale/
Sarah says
Wow is all i can say.I tired this recipe for a 3 tiered wedding cake and everyone loved it.
I used LorAnn Red Velvet Emulsion instead of red coloring it was so nice.
I also added half cup of hot coffee to it, it was very moist and delicious.
Thanks so much.
linda says
Hi,
Is this cake very sweet? would I be able to reduce the sugar?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Sorry, most cakes are very sweet. You can't just reduce the sugar or the ratio of flour/sugar will be off and the recipe will not work right
Heather says
Hello,
Would Wilton Red gel food coloring work?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes it will
GIANMARCO says
Will i get the same result if I substitute oil for butter?
The Sugar Geek Show says
It might not be as moist or tender 🙂
Barbara says
Your picture of your cake is 3 layers. Did you double your ingredients together or separate?
Thanks.
The Sugar Geek Show says
I divided the recipe into three 8" cake pans
Jennifer Janis says
Hi Liz,
I tried these cupcakes and adjusted for high altitude by reducing baking soda by half, filled the cups 2/3 and baked at 400 then 350. The sank soooo much. I tried again by reducing the baking soda by half and added 2T flour and leaving out the oil, filled 2/3 and baked 400 then 350 (total bake time 19 min). The still sank in the middle, though not nearly as much. How do I get these to dome at high altitude? I am at around 7,000 ft.
p.s. I love your site and recipes! I am a scientist turned baker weighing ingredients really makes the nerd in me so happy!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Try mixing the batter for about 15 seconds longer and baking at 350 instead of 400, you probably dont need the high temp at first
Tori says
I am going to make this on the 15th. I was wondering if this recipe would work for 2 9in round pans or to just stick with the two 8in pans?
The Sugar Geek Show says
You can use any size pan you like, you will just adjust either the amount of batter you make to more or less or you will bake the cakes for more or less time depending on the size of the pan
Tasha says
What am I doing wrong??
Iv tried making this THREE times already, and every single time they sink in the middle, caramelize and are extremely oily.. iv double checked everything and I dont understand it..
The Sugar Geek Show says
Hmmm I'm not sure, Are you at a high altitude by any chance?
Tasha says
My attitude is at 2411, I've made almost every single 1 of your cakes with no problem and this is the only 1 that wont work for me.. everything is room temp and I weigh everything, my oven is also at the proper temp.. at 1st I thought I forgot something, but it happened the second time, then I tried doing it with the reverse mixing method (that 1 was a little better, but still the same oily and sinking problem)
My dad does a lot if baking too and he was wondering if its necessary for 6oz butter and 4oz oil?
The Sugar Geek Show says
The butter and oil is what makes the cake so moist, I've made it many times with no problems as well as others so I'm not sure why it would be sinking for you. Try reducing the oil by 2 ounces and see if that works better for you 🙂
Sarah says
I measured using a scale that doesn’t have the option for fluid ounces. Only ounces. So I measured both wet and dry the same. I’m just trying to figure out why my cakes failed when I followed everything to a T.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Hi Sarah, nothing is measured in fluid ounces. It's all in regular ounces, by weight.