Red Velvet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
A red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting is great for any occasion! This vanilla cake has a few tablespoons of cocoa powder and buttermilk, which makes its moist with a velvety texture. Pair with cream cheese frosting for the perfect tangy and tender flavor.
What Is Red Velvet Cake?
Red velvet cake is a southern staple that has a velvety texture thanks to buttermilk. Baking soda is added to activate buttermilk to give it its rise and tender crumb. Red velvet cake has a mild chocolate flavor with a slight tang.
The base of a red velvet cake is a vanilla cake recipe with a few tablespoons of cocoa powder. It’s also sometimes described as a light chocolate cake (but it’s not considered a chocolate cake, it’s in its own category). When paired with cream cheese icing, you get both the sweetness and tanginess!
Why You’ll Love This Red Velvet Cake
- Tender crumb
- Velvety texture
- Tangy and sweet
- Moist and light
Key Ingredients
Buttermilk: This is going to give the cake it’s texture! You can substitute for whole milk but the texture will be different. The good thing is that if you don’t have any on hand, you can make it! Here’s my homemade buttermilk recipe.
Baking Soda: The addition of baking soda with interact with the acidity in buttermilk to give the cake its rise.
Cocoa Powder: While not a chocolate cake, adding cocoa powder adds a slight taste and helps to create it’s tender crumb.
Red Gel Food Dye: To make red velvet cake red, use a gel dye. Gels are more concentrated than liquid which means you don’t have to add as much color. AmeriColor gel coloring is my favorite because it’s so vibrant! If you’re looking for natural dyes, try beet powder or pomegranate powder but be careful as these can change the cake flavor.
Overview: How to Bake a Red Velvet Cake
This recipe is quick to make! Even quicker when you gather all of your ingredients beforehand and measure them out with a digital scale. A scale has really improved my baking because it’s much more accurate!
- Preparation: Preheat your oven to 350℉ or 177°C. To get your cakes to come out of the pans easily, I prep the pans with parchment paper rounds. If you don’t have precut rounds, flip a pan onto parchment paper, trace, and cut out two 9-inch rounds. Place the parchment rounds on the bottom of the pans and spray the sides with cooking spray. The cakes will come out every time!
- Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and set aside.
- Cream: In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, you want to beat the butter for 1 minute on high speed. Then add the sugar and cream together on high speed for 2 minutes.
- Add: Add vanilla and the eggs, one egg at a time while the mixer is on medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Wet and Dry Ingredients: Turn the speed to low and add half of the buttermilk. Then add half of the dry ingredients. When the batter is just incorporated, add the rest of the buttermilk and dry ingredients and mix until you see smooth batter.
- Red Gel Dye: Add a few squirts of red food gel dye and mix until fully incorporated.
- Baking: Pour the batter equally into the 2 prepared cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. ? Once done, allow cakes to cool for 5 minutes on a wire cooling rack.
- Releasing the Cakes: Run a knife around the cake edges to help release cakes from the pans (as shown above). We want to release the cakes before the pans cool but be careful as the pans will be hot. Use oven mitts to turn the pans upside down onto a wire cooling rack. Lift the pans to release the cake. If you used parchment paper, peel it off and discard. Finally, flip the cakes back over and let them cool completely before frosting.
Overview: How to Make Cream Cheese Icing
Cream cheese icing is both tangy and sweet and helps to balance the flavor of a red velvet cake. This recipe uses a 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup or 113g) and one 8-oz cream cheese block. If you want an even tangier icing, add an additional 4 oz of cream cheese.
Make sure both the cream cheese and butter are room temperature before mixing because if they’re cold, then the frosting will be lumpy. Cream cheese icing crusts over due to the amount of powdered sugar, but it will melt if it sits outside.
- Mix: With a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together on high speed for 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract and salt and beat for 30 more seconds on high speed.
- Add: Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on medium speed in-betweens additions. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix for an additional 2 minutes on medium speed.
Check out these other decorating ideas!
How To Quickly Ice a Red Velvet Cake
If you want to easily ice a cake, here are a few of my quick tips.
- Once the cakes are completely cooled, level the tops using a serrated knife. Slowly cut the uneven tops. You can place the leveled cake layers in the freezer for 5 minutes for easier decorating. When cake layers are cold they are much easier to work with and less crumbs!
- On a turn table or serving dish, place the first cake layer and add a few scoops of cream cheese frosting. With a knife or offset spatula, smooth the buttercream and then add the second cake layer.
- Add frosting to the the top and sides of the cake and then smooth out.
- Optional: To decorate the top of the cake and give a nice crunch, use the leftover cake tops from leveling and turn them into red velvet cake crumbs!
FAQ’s
Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting is served best right away!
Food Coloring
You can leave out the red dye but the cake will not be it’s signature red color. You can substitute red gel dye for natural dyes like beet powder or pomegranate powder. Be aware that some natural food dyes can add flavor to the cake.
Is Red Velvet Considered Chocolate Cake?
Red velvet is in its own category. While there is cocoa powder added, it’s not enough to be considered a chocolate cake. The base of the cake is mainly vanilla, while the buttermilk and cocoa powder add flavor!
How To Make Buttermilk
If you don’t have any on hand, it’s super easy to make! In a measuring cup, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice + fill the rest of the cup with milk. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. You can also check out my recipe for more infor and other buttermilk ratios.
How To Store This Cake?
This cake can be left at room temperature, covered, for up to a day. Or store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Cake layers can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months as long as they are wrapped well.
RECIPE CARD
Red Velvet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (360g)
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (226g or 2 sticks)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs at room temperature
- 1 ¾ cup buttermilk at room temperature (398g)
- 2 squirts red gel food coloring
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature (113 g or 1 stick)
- 1 package full fat cream cheese at room temperature (8 oz or 226g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 3 ¾ cups powdered sugar (confectioners sugar) (450g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (177℃). Prepare your 9-in round cake pans by tracing the pans on parchment paper and cutting out 9-in rounds. Place parchment rounds on the bottom of the pans and spray the sides with cooking spray. Or prepare pans how you prefer.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk then set aside.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter for 1 minute on high speed. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
- Add the sugar and cream together for 2 minutes on high. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the vanilla and eggs, one egg at a time, mixing on medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
- Turn the speed to low and add half of the buttermilk then add half of the dry ingredients. When just incorporated, add the rest of the buttermilk and dry ingredients and mix until you see smooth batter. Add a squirt of red food gel dye and mix until fully incorporated.
- Pour the batter equally into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow cakes to cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the cake edges to help release cakes from the pans. Be careful! The pans will be hot. Use oven mitts to turn the pans upside down onto a cooling wire rack. Lift the pans to release the cake. If you used parchment paper, peel it off and discard. Flip the cakes over and let them cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- With a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand held mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese together on high for 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract and salt and beat for 30 more seconds on high speed.
- Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on medium speed in-betweens additions. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix for an additional 2 minutes on medium speed.
Notes
- Best Cake Tips: Have all the cold ingredients reach room temperature for best taste. Use a food scale to weigh ingredients for accuracy.
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have any store bought buttermilk, use my how-to make buttermilk recipe.
- Cake Batter: The batter will be slightly thin – that’s okay! Pour even amounts of batter into the cake pans and measure using a food scale for accuracy for the most even layers.
- Stacking: These cakes are okay to stack!
- Freeze: You can freeze cakes for a month as long as the are wrapped tightly. Wrap when still warm to keep in moisture.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Frosting Tips: Make sure the cream cheese and butter are room temperature. Cold cream cheese can be lumpy once whisked.
- Helpful Tools: Electric mixers whip up frostings to a smooth and creamy texture. A stand mixer with a paddle attachment is very helpful and will save you time.
- Tangy Frosting: For an even more tangy flavor, add an extra 4 oz of cream cheese.
- Quantity: This cream cheese frosting recipe makes about 3 1/2 cups – enough to fill and frost a 2 layer 9-inch cake. This recipe can be doubled or halved.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, and should be used as an approximation.
