Today I’m sharing the most beautiful red velvet cake. This is a buttermilk-based cake that has a moist, fine “velvety” crumb and a flavor that subtly hints at chocolate, but not overwhelmingly so. And the sweet and tangy cream cheese buttercream is perfectly complementary to the soft cake. This is an easy, high altitude red velvet cake recipe, and the cake batter is so easy to make with just a bowl and whisk. I always make this cake for Christmas, since the red and white is so gorgeous for the holidays. But there’s no reason you can’t make this recipe any time of year!
You might also love my black velvet cake and white velvet cake recipes!
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What is Red Velvet Cake?
Traditionally, red velvet cake didn’t contain any food coloring. Natural, non-alkalized cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed) reacted with the acid in the buttermilk and vinegar to create a red hue and velvety texture. These days, most people help the color along with a few drops of red gel food coloring.
Red velvet isn’t meant to taste like chocolate, so it contains very little cocoa powder. I’ve found that I prefer a bit more cocoa powder in mine, and while many recipes only use two tablespoons of cocoa in the cake, I use four tablespoons. This little difference adds a really beautiful depth of flavor to the cake, as well as masks the flavor of the food coloring, but doesn’t transform it into a chocolate cake.
Even though I grew up in the South, and red velvet cake tends to be a favorite down there, I don’t remember my mom making it much, if ever. And when I did finally taste it as an adult, it was not an instant love affair. I wasn’t sure what to think of the flavor, which struck me as rather bland, although I couldn’t argue that the cream cheese frosting was delicious. It took a few years and some recipe experimentation to learn that the first red velvet cake I tasted was not a very good one, but that when done right, it’s pretty wonderful!
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Cake Flour. You could use all-purpose flour, if you like, but I love the lightness of cake flour in this cake.
- Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
- Cocoa Powder. I use Dutch processed cocoa powder, and really love the Rodelle brand. It adds a subtle cocoa flavor, but the cake does not taste strongly of chocolate.
- Salt. I use coarse Kosher salt in all my baking. The salt balances the sweetness.
- Baking Soda. Leavens the cake, reacting with the acid in the vinegar and buttermilk, causing the cake to rise.
- Eggs. Add structure and richness.
- Vegetable Oil. Moisture.
- Buttermilk. Flavor, moisture and acid.
- Vinegar. Use white distilled vinegar. The extra acid gives the leavening a little boost for a good rise in this cake.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Red Gel Food Coloring. To make the cake red, of course. Without the food coloring, the cake will be a light tan color.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and a few drops of red gel food coloring.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk briefly, just until combined and smooth; don’t over-mix.
- Divide the batter between the pans and bake on the middle rack in the oven for about 25-28 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean and the tops spring back when gently touched.
- Set the cakes on a wire rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Buttercream
Everyone can agree that one of the best things about red velvet cake is the cream cheese frosting. For a sheet cake, you can make it with just cream cheese and and a little powdered sugar, but that would be far too creamy and unstable to spread onto a layer cake without it sliding off. The solution for layer cakes is a cream cheese buttercream with half butter and half cream cheese, a little more powdered sugar than I usually add to my standard buttercream recipes, and plenty of vanilla.
Making your cream cheese buttercream with half butter (or vegetable shortening) also makes it a much more stable frosting that can be piped onto your cake just as you would be able to pipe a fluffy buttercream. It seems popular to decorate red velvet cakes with crumbs of cake pressed onto the outside, but why? Maybe it’s to hint at what’s inside, but we don’t usually do this with other flavors of cake. I’m not sure why the crumb thing is a thing. I opted for some really beautiful piping on my cake, with white sugar pearls around the base.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Baking Tips
- As with everything I bake, my cakes are baked at high altitude (I live in Denver), and to achieve your own perfect results, you may need to make a few slight adjustments if you live at a lower altitude or sea level. There are many articles online that can offer advice on how to adjust your flour, sugar and leavening for various altitudes.
- Your dairy ingredients (eggs, buttermilk, butter and cream cheese) should be at room temperature for best results.
- Cake flour is best in this cake. It makes a much lighter cake than all-purpose flour does. Use the “spoon and sweep” method to measure your flour, and be sure to sift the cake flour after measuring.
- I use Rodelle Dutch processed cocoa powder in my red velvet cake. The type of cocoa powder you use will affect both the rise and the red color of the cake.
- I used Wilton Tip 1M for the piping on the cake. For the decorating, I started by chilling the cake first, so that the base coat of buttercream was firm and cold. I began with the bottom row of “swoops”, piping a row around the cake, then working my way up the sides to the top and center of the cake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is red velvet cake just a chocolate cake with red food coloring?
No, not at all. It has far less cocoa powder than most chocolate cakes, so the chocolate flavor is much more subtle. And the acidity from buttermilk and vinegar gives it a unique flavor and tender texture.
What makes the cake red?
A chemical reaction between the cocoa powder, buttermilk and vinegar traditionally gives red velvet cake its signature color. A few drops of red food coloring boosts the color to really make it pop.
Which red food coloring should I use?
Be sure to use a gel food coloring, not a liquid. I use Americolor Super Red Gel Food Coloring.
Can I use regular whole milk instead of buttermilk?
Yes, you can substitute milk for buttermilk, but you should double the vinegar.
Does red velvet cake need to be refrigerated?
Because this cake is frosted with cream cheese buttercream, yes, you should keep it refrigerated overnight. Let it come to room temperature for 3-4 hours before serving.
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Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Red Velvet Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups cake flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder (Rodelle)
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 ⅔ cups whole buttermilk
- 1 tbsp white distilled vinegar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- red gel food coloring
Buttercream
- 1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 8 oz (1 block) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 6 – 6 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp meringue powder, optional
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (or 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste)
- 1-2 tbsp milk or cream, only if needed
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and a few drops of red gel food coloring.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk briefly, just until combined and smooth; don’t over-mix.
- Divide the batter between the pans and bake on the middle rack in the oven for about 25-28 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean and the tops spring back when gently touched.
- Set the cakes on a wire rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the butter, cream cheese and shortening for several minutes until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar and meringue powder by spoonfuls, mixing on low to combine. Add the salt, vanilla and milk (if needed to slightly thin the buttercream), and whip on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until very light and fluffy.
- Be careful not to add too much milk; cream cheese buttercream is softer than all-butter buttercream, and needs to be thicker if you plan on piping it onto your cake.
- Fill and stack the cake layers with the buttercream, then frost all-over with a very thin crumb coat of buttercream; chill for 30 minutes. Frost (or pipe) the remaining buttercream onto the cake.
- Note that if you don't do any decorative piping, you'll have leftover frosting. Just scoop it into a freezer bag, label it, and freeze it to use later.
Can avocado oil be used instead of vegetable oil? And are all recipes on this blog high altitude? I live in Denver CO. 🙂
I'm not sure how the flavor of avocado oil would taste in a cake, but from a baking perspective, I imagine it would work similarly to vegetable oil. If you don't want to use vegetable oil, I'd probably suggest a neutral-tasting olive oil instead. And, yes, all my recipes are for high altitude. I'm in Aurora, CO. 🙂
You call for 8 Oz / 1 cup of butter. 8 Oz of butter is 1/2 cup. How much butter should I use?
The recipe is correct. A one-pound (16 oz) package of butter contains 4 sticks. 1 stick is 4 ounces or 1/2 cup. 2 sticks is 8 ounces or 1 cup.
What tip did you use for this cake ?
Thank you in advance 😊
Tip 1M.
I am still making it!
I’m in Arvada!
Hi there, whats the ratio if I wanted to use ap flour instead? is it cup to cup?
Thank you
Yes, use the same amount of ap flour as cake flour. Always be sure to “spoon and sweep” the flour so it’s not packed into the measuring cup.
Will this recipe work at 8000 feet?? Help!!! I have tried to adjust recipes but never had a beautiful cake yet. 😪
Thank you
For sure, but I’d suggest reading my FAQs first, where I’ve linked to some helpful charts for adjusting recipes for various altitudes: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/
I live in Denver – thank you for the high altitude instructions. However. I had difficulty piping as beautifully as yours was – can you provide a piping video?
Can you make this frosting without shortening? Maybe substitute with more butter?
You can certainly use butter instead of the shortening. The reason I recommend the shortening is that cream cheese frosting can be a little soft, and the shortening helps to stabilize it, especially for the piped design I decorated my cake with.
I’ve used this recipe several times and it always comes out great. We are in the Boulder area. On the frosting, I only use 4 cups powdered sugar which makes the frosting a little less sweet and just what we like!
I’m so glad you love it!
Do you have this recipe in metric measurements?
You mention this is a soft cake. Should I avoid using it in a tiered cake?
Any cake that’s not firm and dense like a pound cake would probably be described as “soft”, but that doesn’t mean it’s unstable. This recipe will work just fine for a tiered cake, especially if you’re using a proper support system for a tiered structure. The cream cheese frosting is what gives me much greater angst for tiered cakes, since it’s so much softer than buttercream. When I’ve done tiered cakes for weddings in the past, I’ve refused to make them with cream cheese frosting.
I’ve heard adding about 4 oz of brewed coffee is amazing in cakes, especially in chocolate and red velvet. Have you tried adding coffee to this recipe? Do you think I could omit one of the eggs and replace it with 4 oz of coffee?
I’m not sure that would work. Coffee and eggs are not the same, chemically, and the cake would probably have a different texture.
Thank you for this recipe! For three 6” rounds, how would you recommend I alter the amounts?
Half the recipe works great for three 6-inch pans.
Thank you so much!:))
I live in new york. Can i make these recipes as is or would I have to make adjustments?
Andri, you might need to make a few adjustments – please see my FAQs for guidance: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/
The cake is sitting in the fridge, waiting for the crumb coat to stabilize. So far, so good. My cakes didn’t collapse whilst baking, so that’s a win! My question is, while the crumb coat is in the fridge, is it ok to keep it out on a fall afternoon? With the shortening and the meringue powder, I’m hoping that’s the case! To clarify, is it safe to keep the rest of the butter cream out on the counter while the crumb coat is setting?
–Peyton, CO
Michelle, yes, when the weather (and my kitchen) is cool, the cream cheese buttercream is just fine sitting out for a bit while you’re waiting to frost the cake. On hot days, I put it in the fridge, or it gets too soft and slippery.
I feel like my cake is too brown. How can I make it too red? I I also feltlike the vinegar was a bit sharper. Please advise. Your recipes are my only recipes now to go.
If you want it more red, then just add more of the red food coloring, or you can also decrease the cocoa powder by 1-2 tablespoons.
I baked this cake for my mom’s birthday yesterday. It was a little more dense than I had expected but still delicious! I’m always looking for high altitude recipes.
I used vegetable oil as called for in the recipe but was wondering what the difference would be if I used butter instead. Will be trying that modification in a few weeks.
I added 1/4 cup of strong brewed coffee since a previous commenter was asking. Not sure how it changed the taste but it seemed to work and the cakes rose without issue. I always use baking strips around my cake pans so that the cakes bake with a flat top; no need to trim before stacking.
Definitely a keeper!!
I love this recipe! I moved from Colorado and now I’m scrambling to find a sea level red velvet recipe that taste as good as this one 😭❤️
I’m glad to hear it! Maybe you can try adjusting this one for sea level?
I live here in Colorado Springs. This cake turned out perfect.Nice and moist.
I live in Colorado Springs, and I have struggled so much to bake a great cake. I had almost given up.
Your recipes don’t fail and I am so excited to keep baking now! Thank you for the work you have put into all of your recipes! Bakers Unite!!
This is a beautifully moist and fluffy cake! Thank you for this amazing recipe!