Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake

  • Prep Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hrs
  • Serves: 12,Yield: 13 layer, 8-inch cake

    • About This Recipe

    “Don’t be afraid of the deep red color-there is more than a hint of chocolate flavor in this fun and very tasty cake to serve anytime, but especially at Valentine’s Day and Christmas. I have also made it into cupcakes for the kiddies to take to school and share. The frosting is buttery and not-too sweet. This is a traditional cake from Chicago to the deep south. Back East you will even find cake mixes for an easy version of “Red Velvet Cake”. I tried several versions of this cake and favored this adaptation of Gale Gand’s from her “Just a Bite” cookbook”

    Ingredients

    Cake

  • 1cupbutter
  • 1 1/2 cupssugar
  • 2eggs
  • 1/4 cupred food coloring
  • 2tablespoonscocoa
  • 2 1/2 cupscake flour
  • 1teaspoonsalt
  • 1teaspoonbaking soda
  • 1cupbuttermilk
  • 1teaspoonvanilla extract
  • 1tablespoonwhite wine vinegar

    • Icing

  • 1cupmilk
  • 2tablespoonsflour
  • 1cupunsalted butter
  • 1cupconfectioners’ sugar
  • 1teaspoonvanilla

    • Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans.
  • Cream together butter and sugar with electric mixer until fluffy.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each.
  • Make a paste with the food coloring and cocoa.
  • (It takes a few minutes to get the chocolate to absorb liquid–be patient and keep stirring).
  • Add this paste to the butter/sugar mixture.
  • Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.
  • Add it to the sugar/butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing well between additions.
  • (Begin and end with dry ingredients).
  • After last addition of flour mixture, stir in vanilla and vinegar.
  • Beat for another minute and then divide into 3 prepared pans.
  • Bake for about 35 minutes, or until done.
  • Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely.
  • To make icing: Mix flour and milk in small pan and cook over low heat until it is thick (stirring often–constantly near end).
  • This will take about 10 minute.
  • Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
  • Meanwhile, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla.
  • Beat until it is very light and fluffy, about 10 minutes.
  • When the flour mixture is cooled, add it to the butter mixture and beat until just mixed.
  • Assemble the cake with a thin layer of icing between the layers and cover the top and sides of cake.

    • Reviews

  • “I never heard of Red Velvet Cake until my first experience in New Orleans recently.I came home and looked on Recipezaar and there it was!Thank you Sharlene for this amazingly delicious dessert.I made it today for my husband’s birthday tomorrow!I only used two layers for his cake and saved the third one for him alone to enjoy.I tasted it and it is awesome.To ice the cake, I used a cream cheese icing and added some coconut and chopped nuts.Between the layers, I smeared a thin layer of the same icing and cut fresh strawberries slices to nestle in between.It came out absolutely delicious!I’ll be making this over and over…Thank you again!”

  • “THIS is the recipe to go with!I baked two 9″ layers for about 28 min, and they couldn’t have come out better. Cake was light and fluffy, but with rich flavor. The frosting was surprising. When refrigerated, it solidified to a perfect texture. My guests gobbled it up completely – will definitely make again!”

  • “My 22 yr old daughter had heard about Red Velvet cake and was keen to try making it, so we tried this recipe, which overall has been well-reviewed.She chose to make it into cupcakes, as she wanted to share it with her friends. She found it easy to prepare, like some reviewers she found it a little dry,we dont know whether this could have been due to making cupcakes and adjusting the cooking time. However, my DH really enjoyed the cakes and felt they were perfect.She will definitely try this again, making a full cake next time. Thank you for sharing a good recipe,this was made for Think Pink, October 2011.”

  • “This recipe was the best red velvet c.ake I have made. I got rave reviews and requests for more! I did not use the icing recipe because I covered the cake in fondant”

  • “I made this cake and it came out perfectly! Looked delicious, tasted even better. 😀 The icing was very unique. Extremely smooth. It tasted a bit like vanilla ice cream and whipped cream to me. Delicious and not too sweet! It paired wonderfully with the cake – maybe even better than the cream cheese icing that I normally use! I made this cake for a friend’s December birthday, and decorated it all christmassy. 🙂 I even dyed the icing green to pair with the red of the cake – it came out beautifully – I’m uploading a picture as I write!”

  • “I began dropping red food colouring in with the cocoa powder and ran out after a few drops. Decided there wasn’t much point to it other than the shocking colour effect. I think there’s too much flour in the recipe to balance out the eggs and buttermilk. Either lessen the flour by half a cup or increase the buttermilk by a quarter cup (50ml). Nice soft texture. The frosting didn’t have much flavour in it, so I added a little more powdered sugar and a bit of lemon oil and lemon juice, which was fine. The frosting held together well on the cake overnight out on a cold balcony. Thank you for my first (non-)red velvet cake experience!”

  • “Yum!!! i made this into red velvet cupcakes for valentine’s day and they were delicious!!!! So now i’m making it again for our french club mardi gras party! Delicious!”

  • “I amde this for my daughters 16th bday as a surprise and she loved it and so did we. I cooked three cakes for about 23 min and they came out perfect. Thanks!”

  • “Instead of red velvet cupcakes, I made these into Green Velvet cupcakes by changing the food coloring from red to Green. I didn’t have any cocoa in the house or spare $$ to go out and buy some, therefore, I substituted with 1/3 chocolate pudding.”

  • “Delicious!35 minutes made it a little dry in my oven, but the flavor and texture were excellent.Next time, i am going to stop at 30 minutes and it will be PERFECT.”

  • “Great cake!It comes out moist and holds together very well.I used cream cheese frosting instead of the recipe listed.A big hit all around!”

  • “Make this for the Boyfriends Birthday per his request. The only adjustments I had to make came after they spent a touch too much time in the oven (Darn Multi-tasking).I Mixed a little amaretto and cherry juice and brushed it over the layers to give it a little extra moisture. I also used whip cream in between layers instead of all frosting. Thank you very much for posting.”

  • “This was the first Red Velvet cake that I made from scratch. It was delicious. I took it to work and there was not a piece left. Everyone kept telling me how delicious it was.”

  • “I made this for my step-daughter’s birthday.i was really paranoid about a homemade cake b/c she’s more of a box cake connoisseur (what 13 year old isn’t these days?).Anyway, we didn’t have 8″ pans, so I did two 9″ layers instead.I only cooked it for about 25 minutes.I found it to be delicious and moist.Even the birthday girl loved it!She had requested cream cheese frosting, so we used #6536 instead of the included white frosting recipe.I will definitely make this again.”

  • “This was wonderful.This was the first red velvet cake I made.Even though Iforgot to do step 11 (add the vanilla and vinegar) it came out great.Thanks so much for sharing.”

  • “This cake looked fabulous and everyone loved it. Personally, I would have liked a little less sugar and a little more cocoa, but that can be fixed next time I make it (and I will). Many thanks for the recipe.”

  • “I made this cake, and it was moist and delicious!It was very unique here in Finland, where cakes typically are quite different.I’m sure I’ll make it again.”

  • “This was delicious!! I chose to make this a 2 layered cake b/c I only had 2 8” pans. And it turned out really good. The cake was very moist and tasted great. With the frosting I used granulated sugar instead of confectioners sugar b/c I don’t like the taste of confectioners sugar and when I have made Red Velvet cake in the past the recipes called for granulated sugar so that is what my family likes. Also I didn’t use a full ¼ cup of red food coloring I only had 1/8 cup and it worked just fine. “

  • “My mom makes this cake every Christmas.It is a family favorite.She uses granulated sugar in the frosting though instead of powdered sugar, plus a tad more butter than is called for.We do 2 layers instead of 3.Thanks for posting.This is such a great cake!”

  • “This cake is amazing!!! I would recommend this recipe to any red velvet cake lover. I topped it with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting…….FABULOUS!”

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