Are you looking for the best red velvet cake? Then you've come to the right place! - The cake is incredibly moist, soft, and not overly sweet. By whisking the simple ingredients, you can make the cake batter in just about 5 minutes. With the fluffy and tangy cream cheese frosting, it makes the most delicious classic red velvet cake.
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The BEST Red Velvet Cake
When I first saw a red velvet cake at a grocery store, I was a little bit intimidated by the look - with the bright red color! But after trying one at a bakery, I was pleasantly surprised by its deliciousness!
I've received many requests for a red velvet cake over the past few years, but I waited to release it because I wanted it to be perfect. After multiple trials and errors, I think I finally nailed it! This is undoubtedly the softest, moistest, and best red velvet cake I've ever had.
My husband and I are hooked on this recipe. He loves it, even though he's not usually a big fan of a red velvet cake. I always end up eating more than I initially planned.
Why you'll love this recipe
- So soft & tender! - This is the softest red velvet cake I've ever had. It's fluffy, silky, and has a perfect amount of richness.
- Perfectly moist. - It's carefully tested to incorporate the maximum amount of liquid without getting dense and mushy after a day in the fridge.
- Very easy to make! - I won't sacrifice taste for speed, but thankfully, this cake is both easy to make and tastes perfect. You'll only need to continue whisking the ingredients in a bowl, and the cake batter will be ready in just about 5 minutes. There is no need to whip eggs or butter. Just keep adding them!
- Not-overly sweet. - This cake is perfectly sweetened, which makes me feel like wanting more.
- No buttermilk is needed. - While this might not even be a benefit for everyone, for those like me who don't usually keep buttermilk on hand, it's nice to be able to make this classic cake without it. I use milk and vinegar as the buttermilk substitute. You'll be surprised how they work so perfectly!
Our reader, Amy, commented:
"This was by far the best cake and the best Red Velvet cake I have ever made. My family couldn't get over how moist and delicious this cake was! ★★★★★"
What Is Red Velvet Cake?
Red velvet cake is a classic layer cake frosted with tangy cream cheese frosting.
The characteristics of the cake are:
- Slightly chocolatey due to the small amount of cocoa powder. It's like a blend of vanilla and chocolate cake!
- So tender and velvety - as the name implies!
- Perfectly tangy - The cake itself has subtle tanginess due to the vinegar inside, and the cream cheese icing completes the amazing taste!
- The vibrant red color and white frosting are the iconic look of this cake. Originally, the cake's reddish hue came from the chemical reaction between cocoa powder and vinegar, not added food coloring.
It is one of the most beloved layer cakes in the States, as well as carrot cake, chocolate cake, and vanilla cake.
Tips For The Ingredients
Cake Batter
- All-purpose flour: Use regular all-purpose flour.
- Baking soda: Baking soda reacts to acid (cocoa powder and vinegar for this cake) and helps to create a fluffier cake with more volume.
- Baking powder: Baking powder reacts to moisture and heat and helps to create a fluffier texture as well. It creates a slightly more cakey texture than baking soda.
- Salt: The subtle saltiness goes well with the tangy cream cheese icing.
- Cocoa powder: Use any of your favorite cocoa powder. My favorites are Valrohna's, Cacao Barry's, and Hershey's Special Dark.
- Granulated sugar: It helps to add a moist & soft texture to the cake. Use white sugar to make the cake light.
- Egg: It helps the cake to rise in the oven and create a soft texture.
- Oil: I used olive oil as a healthier option. You can use any regular oil, such as canola and vegetable oil.
- Milk: Use regular whole milk. Milk and vinegar perfectly replace the buttermilk often used in red velvet cake.
- White vinegar: The acid reacts with baking soda and helps create a fluffier cake with more volume.
- Vanilla extract: You can omit it if you like.
- Gel paste red food coloring: AmeriColor red food coloring is my favorite.
- Milk (hot): Oftentimes, I like to add hot liquid to oil-based cake batter, especially when it contains chocolate. I feel the texture of the cake gets a bit finer, the cake gets cooked slightly more evenly, and overall, it tastes a little bit better.
- Unsalted butter (melted): It gives a richer texture. I decided not to add it too much to keep the texture lighter after chilling.
Can I make red velvet cake without buttermilk?
Yes. You can substitute it with whole milk and vinegar. To make homemade buttermilk, I normally mix them together and let them sit for some time to curdle, but for this recipe, you can add them separately to the cake batter and still achieve an amazing cake texture.
I understand some people's concerns about making it without buttermilk since it is a classic ingredient used to make red velvet cake, but I think you'll be surprised by how it works perfectly after tasting the cake!
What type of food coloring is best for red velvet cupcakes?
I recommend gel food coloring instead of liquid food coloring to create a much brighter color without adding too much and changing the texture.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Unsalted butter (soften): It's important to use room temperature butter so it blends well with other ingredients easily.
- Powdered sugar: Sift it ahead if it looks very lumpy.
- Salt: It adds more depth in flavor.
- Cream cheese (cold): Use cold cream cheese. Leave it at room temperature for 15 - 30 minutes to soften it a bit. Using cold cream cheese is the key to making a stiffer frosting. I am a big fan of Philadelphia cream cheese. I use it for all the other cream cheese desserts, such as New York cheesecake and no-bake strawberry cheesecake, simply because I haven't had better cream cheese than it!
- Vanilla extract (Optional): I did not add it this time.
How To Bake Red Velvet Cake
Preparation - Coat a thin layer of softened butter on the bottoms of the 2 8-inch pans and attach parchment paper as a cake liner. Preheat the oven to 330ºF (165ºC)
- Whisk the dry ingredients - In the bowl, add all the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and granulated sugar. Whisk them together until well combined. Set it aside.
- Whisk some of the wet ingredients - In a separate bowl, add some of the wet ingredients (except hot milk and melted butter): eggs, oil, whole milk, white vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring. Whisk them all together until well combined.
TIP💡: Lightly oil the teaspoon before measuring the red food coloring so that it comes off easily.
- Add in the dry ingredients - Mix until very smooth.
- Heat hot milk and butter - Heat milk and butter in the small saucepan at medium heat until the milk starts simmering very gently. Pay close attention to it to prevent the milk from over-floating. Mix it sometimes to make the temperature even.
- Add the hot milk - ⅓ to half of the hot liquid into the cake batter and mix until well combined. Add the remaining liquid and mix again. At the end, scrape off the side and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure everything is evenly incorporated.
- Bake! - Divide the cake batter into the 2 prepared pans (about 695 g / each) and bake at 330ºF (165ºC) for 35 - 40 minutes until the top bounces back gently and a toothpick comes off clean with a few crumbs when inserting it in the very center. Adjust the bake time accordingly.
Make Cream Cheese Frosting
Use the double batch of my cream cheese frosting recipe to frost the one 8-inch cake.
Whip soft butter, powdered sugar, and salt at medium to medium-high speed until very fluffy for about 5 minutes.
Add cold cream cheese left at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Whip it at high speed until evenly combined. Whip even more to make fluffier frosting - I whipped it for another few minutes this time.
TIP💡: If you want even stiffer cream cheese frosting, simply double the amount of butter. I am sharing more about it in the original cream cheese frosting post, comparing the two frostings. Check it out if you are interested!
How To Decorate Red Velvet Cake
- Remove the cakes from the pans - Set it aside until it cools down completely. Once cooled, detach the side using a small cake spatula. Flip and take off the pan.
- Cake crumbs (Optional) - As an option, trim the surface of the cake to make it more even. I'm using the crumbs to decorate the cakes this time. Bake (Preheated) at 300ºF (149ºC) for about 15 minutes, until dried. Take it out one or two times on the way and mix to ensure it's evenly cooked. Crush them into smaller pieces each time.
- Crumb-coat the top - Drop a big scoop of the cream cheese frosting and spread it to make it flat using an offset spatula. Place the second layer on top. Drop another big scoop of frosting and spread it over the top.
- Crumb-coat the sides of the cake - This is the crumb coat, so it doesn't have to be thick. You just want to seal all the cake and the crumbs so that they don't come out during the final coat.
TP💡: If you feel the frosting is getting a little bit too soft to finish the final coat, chill it in the fridge for some time to make it firmer.
- Final coat - Spread the frosting just like how I did with the crumb coat, but thicker this time.
You can finish the final coat and the decoration in any way you like. Today, I made a little bit of a rustic look using a cake spatula. It's a decoration you can create quickly without a piping bag and a tip.
- Decorate the top - I recommend chilling the cake in the fridge for some time before you decorate the top to prevent the frosting on the corner from getting squished with the pressure.
And it's complete! Enjoy it on special occasions, such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Holidays, Birthdays, and more!
Tips For Storing
Wrap the surface and store it in the fridge for 4 - 5 days. I recommend consuming it within a few days for the best taste!
This cake stays soft and moist even when it's chilled in the fridge, but I feel it's slightly softer and fluffier at room temperature. I recommend leaving the cake at room temperature for some time if you want to enjoy the texture!
The Video Tutorial
Watch the video tutorial and learn how to make the red velvet cake visually to have a deeper understanding of each step!
Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it 😉
FAQ
Yes! Check out my red velvet cupcake recipe for the cupcake version. It is the recipe, but the quantities are adjusted for a dozen cupcakes.
Yes, you can! Just know that the layer gets a bit thinner with 2 9-inch pans. The baking time should be a little bit shorter, too. Check them earlier to avoid overbaking them.
A half batch of this is enough to make a 6-inch cake. It takes a shorter time to bake them, so check them earlier!
I love using cake flour to make sponge cakes, such as vanilla sponge cake, chocolate sponge cake, and vanilla roll cake, to create the lightest, fluffiest textures.
However, I find all-purpose flour often creates a better texture for cakes with a high liquid content, such as this red velvet cake, classic chocolate cake, pumpkin muffins, and chocolate banana cake. When I use cake flour for very moist and rich cakes like these, I find the texture becomes too crumbly and mushy, which isn't always pleasant.
Yes, you can use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment instead of a bowl with a whisk.
Not really! I usually use cold eggs and milk (except hot milk) straight out of the fridge, storing everything else at room temperature.
Yes, It's certainly possible to make it without it. The flavor stays the same.
Cream cheese frosting is the most popular and classic frosting for red velvet cake I recommend pairing it with. An old-fashioned ermine frosting (A.K.A. boiled milk frosting) is also popular. But there is no rule here; try it with other frostings and go bold if you like!
There are two main causes for this:
It happens most often when the cake is under-baked. Ensure the cake is cooked in the center by touching the surface and inserting a toothpick; it should come off clean with a few crumbs attached.
This also happens when the oven door is opened frequently or for too long in the middle of the baking process. Try not to open it until the very end to prevent the heat from going down drastically.
You can frost red velvet cake using a cake spatula or any of your favorite piping tips. Check out 30 ways to pipe with a star tip and 32 piping techniques to pipe with round tips to find your favorite designs!
More Classic Cake Recipes
If you love this red velvet cake, also try other delicious classic cakes!
💬 Please share your feedback! I always love hearing how you enjoyed my recipes for special occasions with your friends and family.
If you have a question about the tutorial, leave it in the comment section below, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!
Best Red Velvet Cake
Equipment
- 2 8-inch round baking pans
- Parchment paper
- Bowl
- Whisk
- Rubber spatula
- Cake spatula
- Knife
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cake Batter
- 280 g (2 ¼ cups) All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 13 g (2 Tablespoons) Cocoa powder
- 350 g (1 ¾ cups) Granulated sugar
- 100 g (2 eggs) Egg
- 172 g (¾ cup) Oil
- 120 g (½ cup) Whole milk
- 30 g (2 Tablespoons) White vinegar
- 10 g (2 teaspoons) Vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons Gel paste red food coloring Adjust the amount as you like.
- 240 g (1 cup) Whole milk (hot)
- 56 g (½ stick) Unsalted butter (melted)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 225 g (2 sticks) Unsalted butter Use 450 g (4 US sticks) of butter if you want a little bit stiffer frosting. I only used 2 sticks today.
- 500 g (4 cups) Powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 450 g (2 8-oz blocks) Cream cheese
- 1 - 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract Optional. I did not add it this time.
NOTE: For best results, measure ingredients with a scale. All recipes are designed with weighed ingredients using grams/ounces. Cup measurements (US customary units) are provided for your convenience.
Instructions
Red Velvet Cake Batter
- Preparation - Coat a thin layer of softened butter on the bottoms of the 2 8-inch pans and attach parchment paper as a cake liner. Preheat the oven to 330ºF (165ºC)
- Whisk the dry ingredients - In the bowl, add all the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and granulated sugar. Whisk them together until well combined. Set it aside.280 g All-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon Baking soda, 1 teaspoon Baking powder, 1 teaspoon Salt, 13 g Cocoa powder, 350 g Granulated sugar
- Whisk the wet ingredients - In a separate bowl, add wet ingredients (except hot milk and melted butter): eggs, oil, whole milk, white vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring. Whisk them all together until well combined.100 g Egg, 172 g Oil, 120 g Whole milk, 30 g White vinegar, 10 g Vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons Gel paste red food coloring
- Add in the dry ingredients - Mix until very smooth.
- Heat hot milk and butter - Heat milk and butter in the small saucepan at medium heat until the milk starts simmering very gently. Pay close attention to it to prevent the milk from over-floating. Mix it sometimes to make the temperature even.240 g Whole milk (hot), 56 g Unsalted butter (melted)
- Add the hot milk - ⅓ to half of the hot liquid into the cake batter and mix until well combined. Add the remaining liquid and mix again. At the end, scrape off the side and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure everything is evenly incorporated.
- Bake! - Divide the cake batter into the 2 prepared pans (about 695 g / each) and bake at 330ºF (165ºC) for 35 - 40 minutes until the top bounces back gently and a toothpick comes off clean with a few crumbs when inserting it in the very center. Adjust the bake time accordingly.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Use the double batch of my cream cheese frosting recipe to frost the one 8-inch cake. Whip soft butter, powdered sugar, and salt at medium to medium-high speed until very fluffy for about 5 minutes.Add cold cream cheese left at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Whip it at high speed until evenly combined. Whip even more to make fluffier frosting - I whipped it for another few minutes this time.225 g Unsalted butter, 500 g Powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon Salt, 450 g Cream cheese, 1 - 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
How To Decorate The Cake
- Remove the cakes from the pans - Set it aside until it cools down completely. Once cooled, detach the side using a small cake spatula. Flip and take off the pan.
- Cake crumbs (Optional) - As an option, trim the surface of the cake to make it more even. I'm using the crumbs to decorate the cakes this time. Bake (Preheated) it at 300ºF (149ºC) for about 15 minutes until it gets dried. Take it out one or two times on the way and mix to ensure it's evenly cooked. Crush them into smaller pieces each time.
- Crumb-coating the top - Drop a big scoop of the cream cheese frosting and spread it to make it flat using an offset spatula. Place the second layer on top. Drop another big scoop of frosting and spread it over the top.
- Crumb-coating the sides of the cake - This is the crumb coat, so it doesn't have to be thick. You just want to seal all the cake and the crumbs so that they are not going to come out while you are doing the final coat. If you feel the frosting is getting too soft to finish the final coat, chill it in the fridge for some time to make it firmer.
- Final coat - Spread the frosting just like how I did with the crumb coat, but thicker this time. You can finish the final coat and the decoration in any way you like. Today, I made a rustic look using a cake spatula. It's a decoration you can create quickly without a piping tip.
- Decorate the top - I recommend chilling the cake in the fridge for some time before you decorate the top to prevent the frosting on the corner from getting squished with the pressure.
Video
Natasha says
This is the BEST red velvet recipe I’ve ever tried!!! Thank you so much for sharing this Aya!!!
ayacaliva says
Thank you so much Natasha! I appreciate giving it a try and sharing the result😊
Thatfirsttimebakerangie says
Tried this recipe and it was amazing!! Thanks to your simple instructions I baked my first red velvet cake <3 I didn't have gel food color so I substituted with 2-3 tbsp of red liquid food color.
Also I reduced the butter to like 2-3 tbsps as well. And used a different frosting. Came out pretty moist and sweet just right. I didnt even spray any sugar syrup or anything before frosting and it STILL was soooo moist and nice. VELVET. Its a keeper. Thank you <3
Aya Caliva says
I'm glad to hear that!! I'm honored your very first red velvet cake was my recipe😊 Thank you for sharing!
Thatfirsttimebakerangie says
The pleasure is all mine. :)) I would really like to try a white velvet cake version of this recipe.
Do you have any suggestions/alterations that I must keep in mind??
Aya Caliva says
Thank you! I haven't made it without food coloring and cocoa powder, but been thinking of testing it out! I would definitely share the result here or on YouTube if I do.😊
Sharon says
Are the baking temperatures for a fan oven
Thankyou
Aya Caliva says
Hi! Yes, I used a fan setting, but works fine without it as well. The time, temperature, and setting really depend on the oven, so I hope you can find the ones that work the best for you!
Agnes says
Absolutely beatiful cake. My batter was the same red like this one but when I baked it, it the food coloring went more in the middle and the outside was more like a chocolate cake. Hope it makes sense. I wonder why it done that. Taste wise it was amazing.
ayacaliva says
Thank you for sharing, I'm glad you liked it! Hmm... Which brands' did you use? It might be due to the coloring or the oven if it ever happened to you with different recipes without the red coloring.
Agnes says
Could it maybe be because I baked the whole lot in one tin and then I cut it in half? And because I had to bake it longer as well. I will try to bake it in two separate tins next time and see what happens. Also I need to adjust the frosting next time as I got quite a lot left. But definitely one of the best cakes I ever made.
Vanessa says
The recipe says 2 tablespoons of vinegar which is 30ml. Is that not too much.
ayacaliva says
Hi! Yes, it might seems like a lot but it works since this recipe does not use buttermilk. It reacts with baking soda and make the cake more tender.
Charmaine says
Hello,
I was wondering if the ingredients had to be room temperature (like the eggs, milk, butter…). I wasn’t quite sure so I wanted to verify.
ayacaliva says
Hi! They don't have to, I always take eggs and milk out of the fridge right before use. The recipe is pretty tolerant😊
Amy Tilton says
This was by far the best cake and the best Red Velvet cake I have ever made. Red velvets can be dry. Believe me, I have tried so many different recipes and not one of them was moist. My family couldn't get over how moist and delicious this cake was! Thank you for sharing and I subscribed to your page. Thank you so much!
ayacaliva says
Thank you so much!! I'm so happy to hear it😊 Thank you for taking the time to share your experience!
Brian says
Thanks for this recipe. It turned out really good. It domed a bit and flattened perfectly during cooling. But then I made it again in a 9-inch round cake pan, but it didn't quite dome as much and so when it cooled it sunk in a little too much in the middle. Any thoughts? Thanks again!
ayacaliva says
Hi! I'm glad it worked well the first time! About your question,
Here are the possible causes I can think of, hearing the description:
* Underbaked - Maybe the cake was s little bit underbaked. The cake feels more dense and less fluffy when that happens.
* Opening the oven door frequently at the beginning to the middle stage affect the texture of the cake.
* Or it could be the oven - If it took much longer time to bake the cake than the recipe, you may want to increase the temperature slightly.
I hope that helps!
Maria Luiza Fontoura says
Thank you, the best recipe ever!!
ayacaliva says
Thank you!!
Nia says
Cake was very good and most. Could you switch the regular milk for buttermilk in this recipe? And if so would it be the same amount
ayacaliva says
Hi! I have't tested it with this recipe, but I believe you can! I usually add about 1.5 Tbsps of white vinegar for 1 cup of milk to make homemade buttermilk, so I would reduce the vinegar to 1/2 Tbsp and see if it works! Let us know if it was a success 😉
Linda says
This looks so good and moist. I need to try this. Thanks for sharing
ayacaliva says
I hope you'll like it!!
Emily says
This looks delicious! Instead of a frosting, could you use powdered sugar on top to finish it?
ayacaliva says
Hi! Yes, you can😊
Inaya says
Hi, I'm planning to make this cake for my uncles birthday! This is my first time baking a red velvet cake. Is baking soda a must? Can I substitute lemon juice instead of vinegar?
ayacaliva says
Hi! Yes, baking soda is a must for the cake to rise well in the oven. And yes, you can use lemon juice instead of vinegar. I hope you all love it! Let me know how it turned out if you get a chance!
Reema says
Tried this recipe and it was the best one... Just loved it.. It was perfect.. Thank you so much for guiding it so well..
If I want eggless can i substitute it with some other ingredient? If yes then can u guide me with the measurement please
ayacaliva says
Thank you so much! I'm sorry to say I do not have an eggless red velvet cake recipe yet.
Debbie says
My cake faiked, sad.
Aya Caliva says
I'm sorry that happed! If you could share how it failed, with details (such as how the cake batter looked, how the cake looked before and after baking), I can estimate what may caused this. I hope you share it so you can make it successfully next time.
Sarna A. says
Hi Aya, I was in the middle of baking these beauties when I realized I didn't have enough sugar, so I had to add another 100g or so of light brown sugar. What difference would it make in the texture? Is it better to use all white sugar instead? Thank you so much!
Aya Caliva says
Hi! The texture gets heavier with brown sugar. I prefer using granulated sugar for the lighter texture. I hope you still liked it though!
Sarna A. says
Hello Aya, you were right it was a teeny bit dense and fudge like but it was still delicious and soft! I'd listen to your advice and will only use white sugar for my next bake. My family loved the cake! It was not too sweet which is amazing, many thanks to you!
Aya Caliva says
Thank you for sharing! I'm glad your family loved it!
Laurie says
Hello! So excited to try this recipe. Will this recipe work at 4500’ elevation without making any adjustments?
Aya Caliva says
Hi! I'm sorry to say I don't have much experiences at baking in high altitude. Have you baked other similar type of cakes before? If they turned out good by following their exact instructions, I would say there is a high chance it works just fine!
Laurie says
I love this recipe! I made the following high altitude adjustments, I reduced both the baking soda and baking powder to 3/4 tsp each and raised the oven temp to 350, and it baked up beautifully!
Aya Caliva says
That's great!! I didn't know we need to reduce the amount of leavening agents in high altitude. Such a great learning! Thanks for sharing.
Sharon says
Hello Aya is the oven temperature for a fan oven
Thankyou