Red Velvet Cake
I am yet to meet anyone who does not like Red Velvet Cake (RVC). RVC is a cake with either a dark red, bright red of red-brown color. It is traditionally prepared as a layered cake topped with cream cheese. I have made his cake “a million times” using different recipes. By far, I have achieved the best results using a recipe by Stephanie Jaworski of joyofbaking. In this post, I document the process of making RVC using that recipe with my personal notes and experiences which I hope will be beneficial to you.
INGREDIENTS:
(1) 250 Grams Cake Flour (About 2 Cups + 1 Heap Tablespoon)
(2) 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
(3) 15 Grams Cocoa Powder (2 Tablespoons)
(4) 113 Grams Unsalted Butter (1/2 Cup)
(5) 300 Grams Granulated White Sugar (1-1/2 Cups)
(6) 2 Large Eggs
(7) 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
(8) 1 Cup Buttermilk
(9) 2 Tablespoons Liquid Red Food Color
(10) 1 Teaspoon White Distilled Vinegar
(11) 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
A Few Notes: (1) Though the original recipe calls for 2-1/2 cups of cake flour, I realized that the measurement is a bit off as 2-1/2 cups of cake flour would amount to 300 grams which will be too much flour for this cake. (2) This recipe also calls for buttermilk. It is essential that you use buttermilk for this recipe as regular milk will not yield the same results. You can buy buttermilk wherever you buy milk. You can also make your own buttermilk this way. Finally, you can add 1 tablespoon of distilled vinegar to a cup and top it off with milk until you get a full cup. Let this stand for 10 minutes and you would have sour milk which is a workable substitute for buttermilk. (3) The recipe also uses cake flour which makes this cake light.
PROCEDURE:
This makes 2 cakes which can be halved and sandwiched together to produce a 4 layered cake.
(1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
(2) Grease and line the bottom of two 8″ or 9″ cake pans with parchment paper.
(3) In a large bowl, mix together the cake flour, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
(4) In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until it is soft and creamy. About 2 minutes.
Note: Make sure your butter is a room temperature so that it can cream properly. Your eggs and buttermilk should also be at room temperature.
(5) With the mixer running on low speed, add the sugar, increase the speed to medium and cream the butter and sugar together, about 3 minutes. Make use of a rubber spatula every now and then to ensure that the butter is not sticking to the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. You will notice that the resulting mix will be more grainy than creamy. This is due to the high sugar to butter ratio.
(6) After creaming the sugar and butter, add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Do not forget to mix the batter with your spatula to ensure that it is properly mixed. Do not add all your eggs at once as this will make the mixture coddle.
(7) Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
(8) In a measuring cup or bowl, mix the red food coloring together with the buttermilk.
Note: The redness of the cake is a direct reflection of the type and quantity of red food color that you use. Make sure you make use of a food color perfect for RVCs. I make use of a Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion by Lorann Professional Kitchen. It works very well and also improves the flavor of the cake.
(9) With the mixer running at low speed, add the flour and buttermilk mixtures in 5 additions (Flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour).
Note: Do not add it all at once as this will lead to over mixing and thus a dense cake. Do not over mix the batter after adding the last bit of flour. Any unincorporated flour can be mixed into the batter with a rubber spatula.
(10) The next step has to be done fairly quickly. Place the baking soda in a small bowl and pour in the white vinegar. You will notice a fizz. Mix them together and immediately mix this into the cake batter.
Note: The cake gets its texture and rise from the baking soda and vinegar mixture. The vinegar starts reacting as soon as it comes in contact with the soda so you must work quickly from then on.
(11) Divide the batter into your prepared pans, level with a spatula and bake in a preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Note: Do not over bake this cake (or any cake for that matter). When the cake is ready, you will notice that it will start pulling away from the sides of the pan. For best results, in the middle rack of your oven. If they both cannot fit into 1 rack, place two racks on the top and last third of the oven and bake a cake on each rack.
Remove the cakes from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes before taking the cakes out of the pans. Allow the cakes to cool completely, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for it to chill before frosting. Do not attempt to frost the cakes without chilling as they would tear.
Traditionally, RVC is frosted with a cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese frosting used is usually mixed with whipped cream to make it light. I personally enjoy my RVC with traditional cream cheese frosting as I feel the whipped cream waters down the taste. The recipe for a traditional cream cheese frosting can be found here.
You can also use the RVC to make Red Velvet and Cognac Truffles. The recipe for the truffles can be found here.
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Terry Adido is passionate about showing people how easy it is to recreate restaurant quality meals in the comfort of their kitchens. With a style of cooking he refers to as Afro-European Fusion, his meals are influenced greatly by French and Italian Cuisine with a West African twist. If you love good food, you are in for the ride of your life.
Pls can I use mozzarella cheese in making the cream cheese frosting?
I don’t think so. I know for certain you can use Mascarpone cheese.
Can I use milo?
No you cant.
Just wanted to say thank you for sharing your knowledge Terry. I have benefited a lot.
You are welcome.
Hello Terry, thanks for the recipe, me and my twin sister actually tried it today and it came out very nice and the taste was heavenly, although it is the first time I have tasted RVC, it was nice..Don’t have a mixer yet so we did it manually, it was hard work lol,,but it was worth it . God bless, look forward to trying the bunnies.
I’m glad you both loved it.Your hard work paid off.
Hi Terry thanks for this recipe. Is it possible to double or triple the recipe for bigger cakes?
Hi Liz. You can multiply the recipe by half (that is 3 eggs as opposed to two) for a bigger cake pan. What I usually do is bake more layers.
It makes more sense to actually bake more layers and build it up. Thanks
You are welcome.
Pls can i use margarine(topper) instead of butter?i stays in nigeria n i av topper @ home.
You can, but you will be losing out on flavor.
Terry pls this recipe is for how many inches pan? I need a recipe for a 12 pan in red velvet. Help a sis please!
Hi. if you are doing a twelve inch pan, I would suggest doubling the recipe per pan. This recipe will work well for an 8 or 9 inch pan.
Thanks Terry for your response. If I understand you well, are you saying I should the above recipe? Its spiderman character cake am making and I need it to be high.
Yes, I asked that you double the recipe. If you want it high, you might just have to keep making more layers until it gets as high as you want. Commercially speaking, RVC is not the best for large cakes as it does not rise as high as sponge cakes.
Thanks Terry. You are such a darl!
Hi Terry
Is distilled vinegar, white distilled vinegar, white wine vinegar and cider vinegar same thing? And can any of this be used for this recipe? I saw different ones in store and want to clarify before buying. Thanks
Liz, distilled vinegar and white distilled vinegar are the same thing. The others are different. You can only use distilled vinegar for this recipe.
Secondly I am baking an 8″ round cake that will be 4″ high can this recipe be up to that height when baked or I need to bake twice the recipe? Thanks
For an 8″ cake that is 4″ high, this recipe should do. You will have to divide each sponge further into two which will give you 4 sponges in total. The cheese cream filling between each sponge will add to the height.
Thanks!
Ok thanks know what to buy now.
Hi Terry,
For the buttermilk, does the 1 cup equals 250ml or what is the measurement for that?
Hello Terry,
I really appreciate all your efforts. Am glad to have found your page… Pls can I reduce the rate of the sugar with it affecting the result?
Thank you
This cake really isn’t sweet as it has some cocoa powder in it. If however you still wanna reduce the sugar, I won’t advice that you reduce more than a quarter cup.
Hi Terry, i noticed you didn’t use baking powder that means its not needed in this recipe right?
Yes, it is not needed. This cake gets its rise from the baking soda and vinegar added at the end.
Hi Terry i have actually tried the RVC once but sincerely i found the taste slightly tangy is that how it should taste? And the texture was slightly dense not fluffy. that was my first experience baking and even tasting the cake.it kind of put me off. I really dont know where i got it wrong.I used the vinegar and milk combo to get the sour milk . But i ve heard so much about the cake so i just might try it again.
It is supposed to be slightly bitter and not tangy. It is not as fluffy as sponge cakes, but not dense. Did u pair it with creamcheese frosting? It brings out its beauty and taste.
Hmm…ok. I guess ill give it another trial. Thanks
All the best.
Terry your simple the best-thanks for your recipe. Its the 1st time I’m getting an order for a red velvet cake,used your recipe and carefully followed the steps,the cake came out lovely,my siblings love it and my client as well. Your page is my “GO” anytime anyday. Thanks once again.
Ah! You are welcome Blessing. Glad you all loved it.
Thanks Terry,it was perfect! Tried it out today nd had nice comments from everyone that ate it,nice taste nd texture. God bless you always!
Awesome! I’m glad you all loved it.
Hi terry, thanks for the recipe, can’t wait to try it out. Please is there any other red food color we can get here that you will recommend. God bless u
Hi Susan. There is no other one I can personally recommend. Any food color should work; some just work better than others.
Got that. Thanks Terry
You are welcome.
Hi Terry, thanks for your awesome recipes. My main challenge with RVC is the colouring, can’t find that type to buy in Nigeria, i use foster clark’s food colour but it doesn’t come out so good. The colour tends to separate and i usually have partly red and mostly brown cakes, would be delighted if you could offer some advice. Thanks
Hi. Unfortunately, I use only Lorann color emulsion which works great for me. Try adding a bit more food color and see how it turns out.
Exactly angie,I like redvelvet cake but am always dscouraged due to d colour result,turns pInk @ tyms brown.tried about 6 dffnt colours,stll not lucky.
You might need to use more color.
You can use Wilton red red or Sugar flair Super Red. Just dissolve it in a little water first before using.
Thanks for your impute Onyinye.
Tried your recipe for cupcakes tonight and it was perfect! Colour and all, best RVC i ever made. I think d cake flour did the trick, ws a challenge getting it before now. Thanks so much you are the best!!
I’m glad it worked out well for you Angie. Yes, the cake flour makes a lot of difference.
Terry, please can I use Self-raising flour? That’s all I have at home.
I don’t think that will work Janet as SRF contains baking powder and this recipe does not.
Nyc 1!fnx terry.pls how cann I get d type of food colour u used?
Hi. I buy it from stores here in Canada (Bulkbarn, Micheals, Winners). I believe it can be bought online too.
Hi, love your website. I live in in the UK and we don’t have cake flour, what can I substitute with? Thanks
Hi. Measure a cup of all purpose or plain flour. Remove 2 tablespoons of flour from the cup and replace them with 2 tablespoons of corn starch.
Thank you
You are welcome Anne.
thank you Mr. Terry. please when making the home made buttermilk, do we stir the mixture of vinegar and milk before leaving it for 10 minutes.
Hi Jules. I must confess that I dont always stir it. But yeah, stirring it will be great.
Pls I am in Nigeria is topper butter good 4 making my fluffy cakes?
Abimbola, First of all Topper is a brand of margarine and not butter. There is a difference between the two. Having said that, yes, margarine can be used in place of butter. You will however be missing out on flavor. It would have no impact on fluff.
Thanks Terry. I followed the recipe to the latter and I got the best moist and fluffy cake that I have ever baked. Am now a pro in red velvet. Bless you bro
Thanks Jummy. I’m glad you loved it. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Terry, tank u so much. U inspire me a lot and I luv u. Pls it there anything I can substitude for vuinegar ?
Thanks Yetunde. No there is no substitute for it.
Hi Terry can one cover this cake in fondant? And must cheese crean frosting be used as filling? I noticed you didn’t use vegetable oil, some recipe calls for veg oil, what’s the difference? TIA
Hi. (1) Yes. If you check my cake gallery you would see lots of RVC covered with fondant. (2) CCF is a major component of RVC. Without it you wont get the total taste . (3) Butter adds more flavor. Oil makes it a lot more moist. The cake is still moist with butter. Your choice really.
I tried it and I totally love it, but without oil, guess I will stick to that recipe. But I notice that it’s just too tender, or did I miss something out on that aspect. Its handle with care. (laughs). But it’s ok. Thanks once again for sharing and I love your side notes. You a really too much.
You are welcome. Its best to chill before frosting.
Thanks for sharing ur knowledge. God bless u. Pls can red velvet cake batter be stored? Y must I work fast when I add d baking soda n vinegar.
It can be stored in the fridge. Before frosting, I wont leave it out of the fridge for more than 24 hours. After frosting, I wont leave it out of the fridge for more than 3 hours. You work fast because the baking soda and vinegar starts working as soon as they come in contact with each other.
Pls in making cakeflour,u said 2tbspn of cornstarch. Is it d normal baking tbspn or the tbspn for eating food.
Hi. Any reference to spoons or cups on this website refers to baking spoons and cups. So yeah, baking spoon.
This cake can last for how long?
Depends. A week in the fridge.
Is corn starch d same as corn flour?
No it is not.
In Nigeria corn flour is same as corn starch
Sooo happy I can comment again, i’v been trying to prove am not a robot for somtime now, let me use this opportunity to thank u terry for your cupcake recipe, I was able to form my own recipe from it, thank you soo much
Awesome. Thanks for making an effort to drop a comment.
It’s not. I thought so too until Terry clarified that. I have made enquiries and I finally got corn starch in Nigeria.
Uju Is corn starch not like baking powder, as in white and smooth like that? I went to look for corn starch I couldn’t get, I was only seeing corn flour, it’s writen on it, that it can b used for special baking, adding thickness to gravy and also for frying, the one I bought is diva preminm quality corn flour that is the name. And it’s white and smooth like baking powder, i’v been using it for baking and my cake comes out great,
Yes, corn starch is white and fine like baking powder. I guess some brands also refer to it as corn flour.
Thanks Oga Terry.
You are welcome.
I made this recipe for my son’s birthday. It tasted really nice. Thanks for sharing your recipe
I’m glad to hear that. Thanks for the feedback.
I stay in Abuja and I have found a baking shop were corn starch is sold. Its different from corn flour.
Yes it is different. It is a lot finer
Well done Terry, Can preservatives be added or rum? Can I add lemon zest too?
I know nothing about preservatives. Rum can be added, but ti would change the taste of the traditional red velvet cake.
m gonna try this today
Awesome!
Hi Terry thanks for the great recipe. can oil be used in place of butter?
Technically, yes. I’m however not sure how it would turn out.
hi
I have a problem with my cakes being dense instead of fluffy.u said its better to use only egg yolks. so in this nigerian recipe that says for 500gms of flour we use 10eggs,how many egg yolks am I to use? does that mean I have to doubke that to 20 egg ylks if am to knock out the egg whites? help pliz.thanx alot for sharing ur knowledge
Mi Mido. I’m a bit confused. Where did I say its better to use only egg yolks? Egg yolks would not make a cake fluffy. Click here.
Hi Terry, my oven is too small to fit in it two 9” pans. Should i bake one cake then another since i have only one baking rack? as the first cake bakes, can i have the other in the refrigerator?
Hi. While this might work with other cakes (without even putting the leftover batter in the fridge) this will not work with RVC as the batter needs to get into the oven as soon as the vinegar-baking soda mixture is mixed inside.
Terry, thank you so much. I’m living my passion at no much cost cos of people like you. You are so selfless. God bless you
My pleasure Cindy.
Hi Terry, anytime I bake a redvelvet cake, it starts to turn brown before it gets done, do you have any idea what causes that?. Thank you
Should be the type of food color you use. Change brands.
Ok, will do that and see. Thank you.
If a recipe like the RVC calls for cake flour can it be substituted with all purpose flour and does the measurements remain the same cos its hard for me to get corn starch here in nigeria.
Hi. Yes you can. The only difference is that your cake won’t be as fluffy. 1 Cup of CF = 120 grams. 1 Cup of APF = 130 grams.
Ok then. Can i use cornflour (since its what we get around here) in place of cornstarch for cake flour? Thanks
No. Corn flour is heavy.
God bless you Terry.Have learnt so much by reading your reply to each comments.
Thanks Gladys.
Hi Terry am new here and HV learnt a lot.thanksthanks
You are welcome Ema. Glad to have you here.
Thanks a lot Terry. I’ve tried alot of ur recipes…in fact! u’re simply the best.
You are welcome Aisha.
Mr terry, i actually want to ask if am to use 2 cake pans for these measurements or just 1 size 9 pan? Hope to get your reply soon
It depends on how deep the pan is. The recipe can fit into a single 9″ pan which is 4″ deep.
Thanks alot, one more thing I read about how your method of making buttermilk and it will be difficult to get those things mentioned so i have decided to use the procedure of milk mixed with vinegar to get buttermilk, my issue is am making redvelvet cake which i am still adding vinegar and baking soda together, so am wondering if vinegar won’t be too much in just one cake, whats your opinion on this…. please reply
No, the vinegar will not be too much. I do same all the time when I do not have buttermilk available.
Just stumbled on this blog today. Very simple and inspiring. Great tips Will definitely follow you.
Thanks Comfort.
Thanks so much, God bless you.
You are welcome.
Yes , i nailed it! Thank you so much Terry. I followed your recipe to the last and it was awesome. I made 4 pans and they were all perfect. Everyone loved it and my client was over the moon.
God bless you and thanks again for your selflessness.
You are welcome Cindy. I’m glad to read your feedback.
Hi Terry, your page is off da hook! I’m totally thankful for your recipes and tips. Pls Terry, can we mix the baking soda with the cake flour if we don’t have vinegar to mix it with?
Thanks Nelly. The baking soda-vinegar stage is actually a very crucial part of this cake. I would not advice proceeding without vinegar.
Hello, I love your blog… I love baking too, the first time I tried to bake rvc it turned out soapy in taste and bitter, the colour was brown outside and bottom.so I had to scrape off the much portion of the cake to get the red part inside… I guessed it was the substitute for buttermilk which I made(milk and cream of tartar) saw this method online.. I had to try it again with beetroot and the little speck of food coloring(powder) I used before,it was awesome in taste and fluffy, this time around I added vinegar to my milk for butter milk substitute, I used powdered milk diluted with small water before adding the vinegar and it came out nice. My issue here is that it still turned brown outside and the bottom.. I had to scrape most part of my cake to get the red part of it 😟… How can I stop the cake from getting brown?
Hi. You should change your food color brand. Also do not bake for long.
I tried this red velvet cake recipe for the first time. It was heavenly!!! The cake was moist, fluffy and the taste was so on point. Thanks for the tutorials. God bless you more than you can ever imagine. Cheers!
Glad to hear that Barbara. Thanks
Hi Terry. God bless u for this. Please which Red colouring do u use for ur Red Velvet Cake? I searched for Lorann’s products on Amazon,but saw only d Red Velvet Flavour n other flavours. Thanks.
Hi. I use LorAnn red velvet bakery emulsion
Hi Terre,thanks for sharing your recipe. Please what quanta of cream cheese frosting do I need for a 14inch red velvet frosting.
You would have to try that out yourself and find out. There are so many unknowns here.
Can I do without venegar and butter milk?
Not for RVC cakes.
Hello Terry. I have been baking a perfect redvelvet cake but recently i had an incident. The cake turned brown half way down and at the sides like it didn’t mix up well before baking. But it mixed well because the batter was all red. Could it be as a result of my bicarbonate of soda?
It must be the type of food color you used.
Hello terry, I want to bake this cake in an 11inch pan by how much should I increase te receipe? Thanks in advance
It depends on the height you are going for. The entire batter can fit into a 11 inch pan. You might need to multiply the recipe by 2 or 3 and bake multiple times.
In response to someone’s question, you said rvc cakes are not meant for large cakes as they do not rise as high as sponge cakes. My question now is 1.what type of cake is ideal to get higher layers of cake.
Well, RVCs ca be used for large cakes. You just need to increase the recipe and bake several layers.
Hi Terry, I have read this recipe and the questions and replies on it.
I’ll be making RVC for a client on the 15tj of this month. Wish me luck.
I love your site.
You have my best wishes Lara.
Hi Terry, I have a hand mixer and it doesnt have a paddle attachment, will the regular batter whisk work?
Yes Celine.
Thank you very much Terry for being ever So selfless. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
You are welcome Joy.
Hi Terry, I must say you are a rare being. Sharing recipes and replying to all comments.kudos to you.I attended the Uncut learning by Ezzine Okonkwo in Nigeria, it was nice meeting you.I ve really learnt a lot from your site. God bless your soul.
Thanks Laura. The Uncut workshop was fantastic.
Hi Terry,
I once used jam syrup to frost a cake but my client complained that it was drawing.
What could be the cause?
Also do you cover your cake say with foil when cooling to avoid dryness?
I asked cos after baking, my cake is moist and fluffy but when cooled it turns out hard
How do I prevent this
Thanks a lot for this blog
I have really learnt a lot and am self taught
Maybe heat. I’m not sure. I do not do the bag method but I know people who say it works.
Thanks a lot for sharing the recipe . Pls can I use butter and vegetable oil together for the RVC
I tend to do that mostly for cupcakes. I’m sacred the batter would be too soft and cave in during baking.
Hello Terry, Pls what is the shell life of a redvelvet cake and any tips as to best way to help it stay fresh
About 3 days at room temp. Longer in the fridge.