Green Velvet Cake Recipe

This green velvet cake is so fun to make for St. Patrick's Day or any other holiday where you need a pretty green cake that also tastes amazing! Adapted from my very popular traditional red velvet cake recipe, you can swap out the green for any color!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Servings cups

Calories 1242kcal

Author Elizabeth Marek

Equipment

2 8" x 2" cake pans

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

14 ounces All purpose flour
14 ounces Granulated Sugar
2 teaspoons natural (not dutched) cocoa powder I like Hershey's Special Dark
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
4 ounces vegetable oil
8 ounces buttermilk
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
4 ounces unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 teaspoons yellow food coloring
1 teaspoon green food color

Easy Buttercream Frosting

6 ounces pasteurized egg whites
24 ounces powdered sugar
24 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt

Gold Drip

6 Tablespoons coconut oil melted
1 Tablespoon powdered sugar sifted
2 teaspoons metallic gold powder I'm using Angela Morrison non toxic metallic gold powder

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Making Green Velvet Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare two 8-inch cake pans with cake goop, parchment paper, or preferred pan spray. This recipe will also make three 6-inch cakes.
Whisk the eggs with the oil, buttermilk, vinegar, and melted butter until combined and set aside.
Place the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda into the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment for a few seconds to combine.
Add the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and mix on medium-high for about a minute until combined.
Add the food coloring and mix until combined.
Pour the cake batter evenly into the cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool cakes for 10 minutes and then flip them out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Place the cakes in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill quickly if you plan to frost them the same day. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze if you are baking ahead.

Making Easy Buttercream Frosting

Place the egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whip on high speed for 3-5 minutes.
Add the softened butter in small chunks then vanilla and salt. Whip on high until light and fluffy and white, about 8 to 10 minutes.
For the best results, switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for 15-20 minutes until all air bubbles are gone. This is optional but makes for really smooth buttercream.

Assembling the Cake

Trim the top dome off of the green velvet cake layers and place one layer onto an 8-inch cardboard cake round, top side down, this ensures an even surface. This is not necessary, but the layers look clean even when the cake is cut. I recommend using a cake turntable to make frosting easier.
Fill the center with the vanilla buttercream and spread evenly with an offset spatula. This cake would also pair well with homemade cream cheese frosting.
Place the remaining cake layer on top.
I like to begin by frosting the top of the cake and pushing the buttercream down the sides and then smoothing. Start with a thin layer of buttercream to create a smooth crumb coat around the whole cake and chill for 5 minutes for the buttercream to set up.
Continue to frost the final layer of frosting onto the cake and smooth it with a bench scraper.
Place the cake on the serving board and chill the cake while preparing the drip.

Decorating the Cake

Melt some coconut oil in the microwave, just until melted, not too hot. Then measure 6 tablespoons into a medium larger bowl to mix.
Add the powdered sugar and gold dust and whisk until smooth.
Transfer the gold drip to a piping bag and cut a small hole in the tip.
Slowly pipe the gold drip around the top edges of the cake and then fill the center.
Pipe dollops around the top edge of the cake, and a scalloped border around the bottom edge.
Finish the layer cake by filling the center with rainbow sprinkles.

Notes

The best investment you can make when you’re getting started with baking is a digital kitchen scale! Weighing your ingredients will help you avoid cake failure. Using a kitchen scale for baking is super easy and gives you the best results every single time.
Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
Need more help with making your first cake? Check out my how to decorate your first cake blog post.
Make sure all of your cold ingredients (e.g. butter, eggs, milk) are at room temperature or a little warm. Why? Because we want to create an emulsion and allow the ingredients to fully mix together.
Make your own pan release (cake goop!) The best pan release ever!
Chill your cakes before frosting and filling. You can cover a frosted and chilled cake in fondant if you wish. This cake is also great for stacking!
If you are using pasteurized egg whites from the fridge then you might notice this rim of cold butter forming. This is normal and can easily be fixed. Simply stop your mixer and remove about ⅓ cup of the buttercream. Melt this in the microwave for about 20 seconds or until it’s just barely melted. You don’t want it hot! Pour the mixture back into your whipping buttercream and the warmth from the melted buttercream will cause it all to come together and get creamy. This is honestly easier than taking out the egg whites ahead of time and trying to bring them to room temperature.

Nutrition