Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Name: Red Velvet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour; 2 tbsp unsweetened natural cocoa powder; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 cup buttermilk (, room temperature); 1 tbsp gel red food coloring; 1/2 cup unsalted butter (, room temperature); 1 cup granulated sugar; 3 large eggs (, room temperature); 1/2 cup oil; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 tsp apple cider vinegar; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 cup unsalted butter (, room temperature); 1 lb confectioners' sugar (, sifted); 8 oz full fat cream cheese (, cold from the fridge)

This is the best red velvet cake with cream cheese recipe that you'll ever make. It's super moist, tender with a beautiful velvety texture, and covered with delicious cream cheese frosting. Despite its fancy looks, it's very easy to make. And we're going to make everything from scratch!

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What Is The Actual Flavor of Red Velvet Cake?
Why This Recipe Works
Ingredients For This Cake
Step-by-Step Instructions
Recipe Expert Tips
How To Serve And Store
Recipe FAQs
Related Cake Recipes
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💬 Comments

What Is The Actual Flavor of Red Velvet Cake?

This cake is famous not just because of its amazing looks and velvety texture, but also its layers of flavors!

It's buttery, tangy, and has a mild chocolate taste with vanilla undertones. These amazing flavors are brought up another notch with a delicious cream cheese frosting!

Red velvet cake tastes like having a bite of both chocolate and vanilla cake at the same time. It's like a milder version of my decadent Devil's food cake and my fresh summer berry cake.

The red color traditionally was a mere red-brown or crimson color, due to using natural cocoa powder. These days, red food coloring is used to highlight it more.

Although if you want to make it without food coloring, you can simply opt it out or use beetroot powder.

Why This Recipe Works

I've tested this recipe more than five times, and if you follow my instructions and tips, it'll never fail you!

I'm using a secret ingredient to make the cake super moist and tender: oil! Butter gives the buttery flavor (obviously!), but oil is a game changer when it comes to making the cake super moist and tender, just like my lemon meringue cupcakes.

I've also improved my cream cheese frosting so that it has more structure. This way, it's extremely easy to pipe with, which is important with layer cakes.

Having said that, my other layer cakes, like carrot cake with apple and walnuts and lemon blueberry cake, are just as delicious!

Ingredients For This Cake

Oil - Although it doesn't lend any flavor like butter, this is the secret ingredient that's going to make a moist red velvet cake, and the best ever. Just a bit goes a long way!

Natural cocoa powder-unsweetened. Don't use Dutch-processed cocoa powder, as we want something acidic to react with the baking soda.

Red food coloring - Use gel because it's more concentrated, and you won't need much. Don't use the liquid as you'd have to use more, and it'll affect the batter's consistency, which we don't want.

Cream cheese - Use the block, full-fat, and I highly recommend the Philadelphia brand.

*See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Sift dry ingredients. Sift the flour, natural cocoa powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.

2. Add food coloring to buttermilk. Whisk the buttermilk and red food coloring gel until there are no lumps, and set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugar. Add butter and sugar into a standing mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, and whisk for 5 minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix them together for a minute or two until they are well combined.

5. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk. Incorporate the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk, mixing well after each addition. Mix vinegar and baking soda in another bowl and pour into the batter. Fold gently with a spatula.

6. Bake. Pour the batter into the pans and spread evenly. Hit the pans on the kitchen top several times to release air bubbles. Bake at 350ºF (175ºC) for 25 minutes. Flip onto a cooling rack after 5 minutes and cool completely.

7. Make the frosting. Mix butter for 5 minutes at medium-high speed. Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar on low, then mix for 5 minutes at medium-high speed. Mix in cream cheese for 1-2 minutes. Place frosting in a piping bag.

8. Assemble the cake. Slice off the cake's dome and reserve it for decoration later. Place a layer on a cake stand, some frosting, and another layer.

9. Pipe the frosting. Using a piping bag, pipe frosting all around and on top of the cake, and smooth it out using an offset spatula.

10. Decorate. Press the crumbs from the cake's dome all around and pipe dollops of frosting on top. Enjoy!

Recipe Expert Tips

Measure correctly. I highly recommend a kitchen scale (it's more precise!). Use the spoon and level method if using cup measurements.
Make sure the ingredients are used at the temperatures specified. This will make sure they mix more easily, without over-mixing them.
Cutting butter and cream cheese into smaller cubes will help blend them more easily with other ingredients. It also speeds up the butter to come to room temperature.
Sifting the flour and cocoa powder will make the cake lighter and prevent lumps from forming in the cocoa powder.
Never over-mix once you add the dry ingredients to the wet. This prevents hard cakes.
Hit the pans on the kitchen counter several times to release the air bubbles so that we have a smooth, velvety-textured cake.
Don't over-mix the cream cheese with butter and sugar for the frosting, as it will lose its ideal piping-consistency texture.

How To Serve And Store

Serve - Bring the frosted cake to room temperature (if stored in the fridge) for 30-60 minutes before serving, to experience its true and delicious taste.

Store - A tightly wrapped, unfrosted cake lasts up to 5 days in the fridge. The frosted cake lasts up to 4 days in the fridge, just know that it won't taste as fresh as it does on the first day.

Frosted and unfrosted cakes last up to 3 months in the freezer, in an air-tight container.

Recipe FAQs

What makes red velvet cake red?

By using red food coloring. Traditionally, it was a mere red-brown or crimson color due to using natural cocoa powder. To make red velvet cake without food coloring, you can use beetroot powder.

What food coloring is best for red velvet cake?

The best is gel food coloring because it's more concentrated, and you don't need much. Liquid food coloring is the opposite, and adding too much will affect the batter's consistency, which we don't want.

Why did my red velvet cake turn brown?

Not enough red food coloring. Use gel food coloring as it's more concentrated.

Is a red velvet cake just a chocolate cake?

Nope, it's more than that. It has a mild chocolate flavor with a vanilla undertone, and it's tangy and buttery. It has so many delicious layers to it!

How far in advance can I bake this cake?

You can bake the cake, wrap it tightly with cling film, and store it in the fridge for 5 days before frosting it, or freeze it for up to 3 months. You can frost the cake 2-4 days in advance and have it chilled in the fridge, but just know that it's not going to taste that fresh. Or you can bake the cake, frost it, and freeze it for up to 3 months.

Slices of red velvet cake in individual plates.

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