This homemade Red Velvet Cake recipe makes a moist, tender, and oh, so velvety soft bright red cake. It is buttery with a subtle cocoa flavor and topped with our irresistibly smooth Cream Cheese Frosting. This cake is perfect for any holiday or special occasion and is the most requested cake recipe on our site.
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We love making cakes and the bright red color of Red Velvet Cake makes it the perfect choice for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, rehearsal dinners, weddings, 4th of July, and Christmas (or any occasion because it’s delicious!). Watch the video tutorial and see just how easy it is to make this bakery-quality Red Velvet Cake recipe. It’s sure to impress! Here’s why you’ll love it:
- Easy to make with basic ingredients, you don’t even need cake flour
- Buttery soft with a tangy buttermilk flavor, and paired with a sweet, but not too sweet frosting
- Bright in color, which is especially appealing for Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, and birthdays
- Easy to customize the toppings to fit any occasion
Red Velvet Cake Video
Watch Natasha make Red Velvet Cake from scratch. This is the best red velvet cake recipe! The red cake batter rises beautifully making it perfect for a two or three-tiered cake, you don’t even need to trim the layers.
What is Red Velvet Cake?
The exact origin of Red Velvet Cake is somewhat debatable. Did it start at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, in the South during the 1920s when Adam’s Extract Company was promoting their new food coloring, or was it during the food rationing of World War II when people creatively used beet juice to dye their cakes red? Whatever its roots may be, we are glad this beloved classic American recipe is here to stay.
Red Velvet Cake is known for its signature red or red-brown colored cake layers and soft texture that is… well, velvety. Many ask if Red Velvet Cake is just Vanilla Cake with red food coloring, and the short answer is no. Red velvet cakes have common ingredients like cocoa powder, buttermilk, vinegar, butter, and flour that create a moist and fluffy cake with a hint of chocolate flavor, perfectly sweetened with the tangy cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients for Red Velvet Cake
The red color in this cake starts with a natural reaction of 3 key ingredients (white vinegar, cocoa powder, and buttermilk) so you don’t have to rely on a ton of food coloring. If you choose not to use it, your cake will still taste exactly the same.
- Cocoa Powder (not Dutch process) – adds a hint of cocoa to the distinctive flavor profile of red velvet cake flavor
- Vinegar – activates baking soda and adds extra acid to help maintain the red color in baking
- Buttermilk – adds moisture and flavor, and keeps the cake light and fluffy
- Baking Soda – reacts with the acidic ingredients, producing carbon dioxide which helps the cake rise, resulting in a moist and tender texture
- Vanilla – We use our homemade Vanilla Extract for the best flavor
- Butter and Vegetable Oil – add flavor and moisture to the cake to form a soft crumb
- Flour, Eggs, Sugar, Salt – cake-baking basics that give structure to the crumb
- Red Gel Food Coloring – We recommend using a gel vs. liquid. Gel is more concentrated, so you will need less of it and it won’t water down your batter or frosting
For the Best Cream Cheese Frosting
Follow our Cream Cheese Frosting recipe to make the best cream cheese frosting or use a premade frosting in a pinch. I promise you, the homemade frosting is so simple, that you will never go back to storebought frosting again. It’s the same one we use on our Carrot Cake. You will need:
- Cream Cheese – block style, softened and cubed for the classic cream cheese frosting flavor
- Butter – unsalted and softened
- Powdered Sugar, Vanilla, Salt – for flavor
How to Make Red Velvet Cake
- Prepare – Preheat oven to 350°F, grease two 9-inch round cake pans with butter, and dust with flour, tapping out the excess.
- Dry Ingredients – Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Wet Ingredients – With a hand mixer or using a standing mixer, cream together softened butter and sugar for a few minutes. Mix in eggs, adding them one at a time and mixing well to incorporate between each addition. Beat in vanilla extract until blended. Gradually add oil and mix on medium speed. In a small bowl, gently whisk together vinegar and buttermilk and then mix it into the batter on medium speed until incorporated.
- Combine – Add the flour mixture to the liquid ingredients all at once and mix on medium speed just until well blended, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Tint – Add 1/2 teaspoon of red gel food coloring and mix just until blended.
- Divide and Bake – Pour batter evenly between prepared pans and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let rest in cake pans for 20 minutes then invert onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely to room temp before frosting. This batter rises very evenly but if for some reason your layers are not flat, use a serrated knife to gently trim off the excess so that your layers will be level when you stack them.
- Decorate – Make Cream Cheese Frosting and decorate.
Pro Tip:
To ensure even cake layers, use a kitchen scale when dividing the batter into prepared pans. This will ensure that your layers are the same size and bake at the same rate.
How to Assemble Red Velvet Cake
- Add a generous scoop of frosting to the first cake layer. Using a spatula, spread it out evenly and then stack the layers on top of each other, using the frosting to hold the top layer in place.
- Crumb coat with frosting to glue down the crumbs and seal in the moisture.
- Apply a top coat of frosting with an offset spatula to fully frost the top and sides of the cake if desired.
Pro Tip:
Use Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting between your cake layers to enhance the chocolate flavor of the hint of cocoa cake.
How to Decorate Red Velvet Cake
The signature red color of the cake layers is what Red Velvet Cake is famous for, so there is no need for elaborate decorations. After frosting:
- Apply red sprinkles around the top and bottom 1 1/2″ borders of the cake.
- Add red icing sugar in the same pattern to fill in some of the spaces.
- Add coconut or white chocolate shavings instead of sprinkles, patting it gently to secure it onto the sides. This adds a visually appealing texture to the outside while keeping the cake elegant and white.
- Reserve some frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip and refrigerate for a few minutes for easier piping then pipe frosting in puffs or rosettes around the top border of the cake.
Common Questions
This cake was originally served with ermine icing (a flour-based, depression-era, cooked frosting). More recently, it was replaced with Cream Cheese Frosting. If you are looking for a more stable frosting, you can use Buttercream, but traditionally, cream cheese frosting is used (and we think it tastes the best).
We do not recommend Dutch-processed cocoa because it is an alkalized cocoa powder and won’t react with baking soda. Stick with an acidic natural unsweetened cocoa powder like Hershey’s or Nestle (not Special Dark).
The cocoa in red velvet cake does technically make it a chocolate cake, but there are only 2 Tbsp of cocoa powder so it is much lighter and isn’t as chocolatey as a classic Chocolate Cake.
You could make Red Velvet Cupcakes if you adjust the baking time since they bake faster. Check for doneness around 17-20 minutes. You could also make Red Velvet cake pops.
Natural cocoa turns a dark brick red when it reacts with buttermilk and vinegar. Adding red food coloring makes the cake a more vibrant red.
If you limit food dyes in your diet, you can certainly omit the coloring without affecting the flavor at all, your cake will just be brown with a reddish hue, rather than bright red. You can use natural elements such as beetroot powder to tint your cake batter – start with 5 Tbs and mix, add one tablespoon at a time until you get your desired red color.
Make-Ahead
- To Refrigerate: Fully assemble and refrigerate this cake for up to 4 days.
- Freezing a Whole Cake: You can freeze a fully assembled cake in a cake box (cover the box with foil to prevent freezer burn) for up to two months.
- Freezing Cake Layers: Cool cake layers to room temperature then place plastic wrap or parchment paper between layers to prevent sticking. Wrap completely in plastic wrap and a layer of foil.
- To Thaw: Thaw a fully assembled cake or cake layers in the refrigerator overnight. If you thaw it on the counter, you will end up with soggy cake. Bring to room temperature for 2 hours before serving.
This bakery-quality Red Velvet Cake recipe is a show-stopper and it’s surprisingly easy to master right at home. Plus, you’ll fall in love with the Cream Cheese Frosting and want to use it on all of your cakes and cupcakes!
More Cake Recipes
If you love this Red Velvet Cake recipe, then you won’t want to miss these top-rated cake recipes:
Red Velvet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more to dust the pans
- 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more to grease pans
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 3/4 cup light olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk, room temp
- 1 tsp white distilled vinegar
- 1/2 tsp red gel food coloring
- 1 Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in the center of the oven. Grease two 9-inch cake pans with butter and dust with flour, tapping out the excess.
- Stir then sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 Tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt.
- In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar for a few minutes until sugar is moistened and the mixture looks powdery like snow. Mix in two eggs, adding them one at a time, and beating well to incorporate between each addition. Beat in 2 tsp vanilla extract until blended. With the mixer on, gradually add 3/4 cup oil and mix on medium speed until well incorporated.
- Stir 1 tsp vinegar into your 1 cup buttermilk, then mix it into the batter on medium speed until incorporated.
- Add flour mixture all at once and mix on medium speed just until well blended and no streaks of flour remain, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Add 1/2 tsp red gel food coloring (add more to reach the desired color) and mix just until blended, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Divide batter evenly between prepared 9-inch pans and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Let rest in cake pans for 20 minutes then invert onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely to room temp before assembling with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Filed Under
Hi Natasha. Can I substitute buttermilk with yogurt? This cake looks amazing. Definitely I’ll be making this soon.
Hi Riza, I haven’t tested that to advise on it wokring. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Hi Natasha, Can I use cake flour? If so would I not add the baking soda?
Hi Tara, I haven’t tested this with cake flour, so I can’t speak to that or if it would be too soft of a crumb. If you experiment, please let me know how it goes.
Hi Natasha, i made red velvet cup cakes using this recipe. The cup cakes were soft and moist and delicious. I had to use 2.5 tsp of red gel food colour to get that bright red. Will be using this recipe going forward.
Hello Roma, good to know that you loved making this into cupcakes! Thank you for sharing that with us.
Hi Natasha. I love red velvet cake and would like to try your recipe.
Will it be possible to have this recipe in grams instead of cups?
Thank you.
Hi Cathy, If you scroll down to our printable recipe card, most of our recipes have a metric conversion option on the printable recipe card. We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes, but it is taking some time to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
Hi Natasha. I am Cathy from Malaysia. I love red velvet cake.
Will it be possible to have your recipe in grams instead of cups?
Thank you very much
Hi Cathy, If you scroll down to our printable recipe card, most of our recipes have a metric conversion option on the printable recipe card. We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes, but it is taking some time to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
hi Natasha I’ve been struggling to form the icing around the cake the way you do. mine seems to spread unevenly. any thing that I may be doing wrong. thanks
Hi Gerald! I recommend seeing the video for technique. But, I recommend an icing spatula. I hope that helps!
Hi Natasha! Love your site and all your recipes! Do you know if I can make this using 8 inch round pans that are 3 inches deep? I have 3 of them and didn’t know if I should use all 3 or just 2 and how to adjust the cooking times. Thank you!
Hi Summar, I haven’t tested it that way so I’m not sure if that would be quite enough batter for 3 of them. I think 2 would be ok but you may need to bake longer. You will have to experiment.
When I was young we lived next to an old Italian lady who used to make red velvet cakes and she would invite me over for some… they were soooo good! I must try this recipe.
Please do and I hope it becomes your new favorite!
Can I use regular milk with vinegar to make buttermilk? If so, do I still need to add the additional vinegar?
Hi Stephanie, I would probably still add the vinegar to the recipe to get the right balance of acidity.
Hi Natasha, can I make a frosting that doesn’t have too much of a cream cheese taste to it ( not a super strong cream cheese taste)? Also, is there a way I can make a hardened chocolate coating around a whole cake? If so, can you tell me how? Thanks!
Hi Amirah, the frosting is balanced in flavor and we don’t feel it tastes too strongly of cream cheese. I haven’t tried doing a hardened chocolate coating, but we do have a great chocolate ganache that might work well here.
Hi Natasha, can this cake recipe be used for cupcakes? If yes, how would you alter the cooking time or anything else. thank you
Hi Elaine, I haven’t tried that yet but someone else shared this. “Made this into cupcakes. I got 24 of them and I used an ice cream scoop (baked at 155 fan forced for 19 mins).” I hope that helps.
This red velvet cake looks DEVINE! I cannot wait to make it. All I have is 10” pans, I see you used 9” pans. Would I have to modify the recipe for 10”? Thanks!
Hi Nicole, that may work in a 10″ pan, but it will be a thinner cake. You can adjust the recipe if need be, if you do, I’d love to know how you like that.
Natasha I tried an experiment with liquid food colouring and it worked. I divided the buttermilk by half and add 2 tsps of liquid colouring until the buttermilk turned a blood red. I first add half after the oil and the other half alternating with the flour mixture and after it was baked it was a brilliant red.
So wonderful to hear that it was a success! Thanks for sharing that with us.
Natasha can’t I use a liquid food coloring cause thats what I have
Hi Ranuth, I haven’t tested this with another alternative, and I recommend gel color, though, explained in the recipe. The liquid may still work, but you might need to use double or more to get the same color. Adding that much liquid may water down your batter or frosting.
thanks i will update how it goes
Hi Natasha,…I am from India..love ur recipes…..can I use Apple cider vinegar instead of distilled vinegar and curd instead of butter milk….what is the difference?
Hi Swapna, apple cider vinegar is usually a lower acidity than distilled vinegar. I’m not sure what you mean by curd. Without testing those substitutions, I’m not sure how it would affect the recipe.
Can this be made into a 9×13 cake?
Hi Bard, I haven’t tried doubling and baking in, say, a 13×9 for each layer. If you experiment, please let me know how it goes. I would probably try 1 1/2 times the recipe for a 13×9, though.
Hey Natasha!
Thanks a million for this recipe. It’s just perfect. So soft and moist that it actually doesn’t need any frosting to complement it.
I didn’t use olive oil as I find it leaves an after taste. I used sunflower oil instead.
I have loved every recipe of yours that I have tried so far. You just simplify everything to make one try it out at least.
Thank you once again.
Aww! Thank you for that lovely compliment, Asha! I’m so happy to hear you’re enjoying my recipes!
I loved the recipe it was the perfect stable cake I needed to make my Deadpool unicorn cake it was nice and moist I just wouldn’t use olive oil cause it leaves that taste.
Wow! That sounds like an interesting cake! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
hi natasha! can i substitute the butter with neutral oil?
Hi Hillary, that may work too since it’s also okay to use vegetable oil. But I haven’t tested that substitute to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Will this work with regular food colouring instead of gel? How much would I add?
Hi Mona, I haven’t tested this with another alternative, but you might google that to see if there is something that would work that you can buy in Canada. I recommend gel color though and I explained that in the recipe. Liquid may still work, but you might need to use double or more to get the same color.
Thanks for the reply. My almost 8 yr old little baker made this recipe yesterday. Eyeballed it for the red food colouring. She used the batter to make 24 cupcakes. They turned out perfectly. So moist and velvety! Delicious!! We also made the cream cheese frosting. So good!! Thank you.
Aww, that’s the best and so great! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles
Hi! I wanna make this but want to make it a red velvet CHEESECAKE. Could you tell me how to do that or make a recipe please? Thanks!
Hi Malinda, I don’t have a recipe for red velvet cheesecake yet but that’s a good idea and suggestion. Hopefully, I can try that soon.