This red velvet cake recipe is made with butter, eggs, vanilla, red gel food coloring, cocoa, buttermilk, and other ingredients. A favorite red velvet cake recipe with cooked frosting or use a homemade or ready-made cream cheese frosting for this popular cake.
Use gel or paste food coloring for the most vivid color. Make the frosting ahead of the cake and give it plenty of time to cool before frosting.
Ingredients
For the Frosting:
-
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
-
1 cup milk (or cream)
-
1 cup butter
-
1 cup sugar
-
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cake:
-
12 tablespoons butter, softened
-
1 1/2 cups sugar
-
2 large eggs
-
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
-
2 tablespoons red food coloring
-
2 tablespoons water
-
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-
1 teaspoon kosher salt
-
1 cup buttermilk
-
1 teaspoon baking soda
-
1 tablespoon vinegar
Steps to Make It
-
Gather the ingredients.
-
Whisk together flour and milk in a saucepan and cook, stirring, until thickened.
-
Transfer to a small bowl and cool in refrigerator.
-
Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer.
-
Add cooled flour and milk mixture a little at a time.
-
Beat well for several minutes or until mixture is not grainy, adding milk (or cream) as needed. Set aside while baking cake.
Make the Red Velvet Cake
-
Gather the ingredients.
-
Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans or two 9-inch cake pans.
-
Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
-
Add eggs and beat 1 minute longer. Beat in vanilla until blended.
-
Combine cocoa, food coloring, and 2 tablespoons water in a separate bowl.
-
Beat red cocoa into egg creamed mixture.
-
Combine flour and salt in a separate bowl.
-
Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to batter, beating on low to medium speed.
-
Combine baking soda and vinegar in a cup.
-
Add soda-vinegar mixture to cake batter.
-
Spoon batter evenly into greased and floured cake pans. Bake for 22 to 28 minutes.
-
Cool completely on wire racks.
-
Remove from pans and frost tops and sides.
Tips
- Bundt Cake Conversion: Bake the cake in a generously greased and floured 12- to 15-cup Bundt cake pan, but allow more time. Check for doneness with a long wooden or bamboo skewer. It could take up to twice as long to bake. Use a thin cake glaze to ice a Bundt cake.
- To make superfine sugar from granulated sugar, measure the amount you need for the frosting into a food processor. Process for about 2 minutes, or until the grains are quite fine. Let the dust settle before you lift the lid off the food processor.
Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
---|---|
449 | Calories |
27g | Fat |
50g | Carbs |
4g | Protein |
Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Servings: 12 to 16 | |
Amount per serving | |
Calories | 449 |
% Daily Value* | |
Total Fat 27g | 34% |
Saturated Fat 16g | 82% |
Cholesterol 94mg | 31% |
Sodium 360mg | 16% |
Total Carbohydrate 50g | 18% |
Dietary Fiber 1g | 3% |
Total Sugars 33g | |
Protein 4g | |
Vitamin C 0mg | 1% |
Calcium 41mg | 3% |
Iron 1mg | 8% |
Potassium 77mg | 2% |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. |