I have a terrible confession to make.
Red Velvet Cake has, in the past, been for me a glorified cream cheese frosting delivery method.
I know.
It’s not that I don’t like the cake, but cream cheese frosting is my jam. Vanilla, chocolate, lemon, coffee. Regular buttercream is kinda dead to me. I’m just not interested. Cream Cheese is sweet, but the tang of the cheese cuts through the sweetness and is just so delicious.
This Red Velvet Cake is sooo good that it’s more than just a vehicle for delicious frosting. Ohmigosh.You’re going to love it because the cake itself is soo delicious, moist and delicately chocolatey, and it’s the perfect pairing with the tangy cream cheese frosting.
I’ve tweaked the original Hummingbird Bakery red velvet to add a bit more buttermilk, and – crucially, melted dark chocolate. The resulting cake is so moist, tasty and chocolate-y – it’s more than just a pretty colour! And with that frosting? It’s out of this world!
With three layers of vanilla and chocolate enriched red velvet sponge, filled and topped with decadent cream cheese frosting, this cake is sure to be a winner!
Note – in order to cover this cake properly, with plenty of frosting between the three layers, a thick crumb coat and enough frosting on top and the sides so it’s completely, beautifully white with no cake peeking out, you need quite an obscene amount of frosting. But trust me, you’ll need it all for a pretty cake. If you’re not so bothered, stick with the reduced quantity I give below.
- For the cake:
- 120g soft unsalted butter
- 330g caster or golden caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 50g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp red gel food colouring - Sugarflair, Home2Bake or Wilton. Do not on any accounts use a liquid food colouring!
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 50g melted plain chocolate
- 300g plain flour
- 260ml buttermilk
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- For the frosting:
- 150g unsalted butter
- 350g cream cheese
- 750g (about) icing sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- For the cake:
- First, preheat your oven to 180c/375f/gas mark 5 and prepare your baking tin. I wanted a taller, elegant cake so I used a smaller7" tin and cooked the layers in batches. You can use anything from a 6" to a 9" tin though.
- Next, combine your very soft butter with the sugar and mix vigorously by hand or in a stand mixer until they are very fluffy indeed. Add the eggs one at a time, and then sieve in your cocoa powder (important as it tends to be lumpy) and add the vanilla.
- Meanwhile, melt your plain chocolate in the microwave in a small bowl, and pour into the cake batter, and mix to incorporate.
- At this point, drop in your gel food colouring and see your cake batter turn red! I usually add at least a heaped tablespoon of gel food colouring - sometimes more! Keep adding until you get to a red you're happy with.
- Next, alternate between adding the plain flour and the buttermilk to the bowl - I usually add half the flour, half the buttermilk, and repeat, with the mixer running.
- Finally, add your pinch of salt, and then prepare your vinegar mixture - simply pop your white vinegar into a small cup or bowl, and then pour on the bicarb of soda. The mixture will fizz up, so quickly stir and pop it straight into the cake batter, and mix to incorporate.
- Please note - the cooking time for this cake will depend on whether you're planning to bake it in layers (ie using three pans) or as one whole cake that you'll then cut up. For three pans, plan to bake for 20 minutes, for a large cake using all the batter, it could need up to 45 minutes. Keep a close eye on the cake/s and test them frequently.
- I had only one 7" pan, so I first made one layer using a third of the batter, and then got lazy and cooked all the rest of the batter together - however, it was easy to cut in half without crumbling once it had cooled.
- For the frosting:
- I have a new method for baking cream cheese frosting and it's foolproof, but a little strange! Firstly, I recommend always making it in advance, so I'd make it at the point where your cake goes into the oven. You won't need to use it for a few hours, but that will give it time to go into the fridge and firm up.
- First, melt your butter in a heatproof bowl in the microwave, until its very soft and on its way to be completely liquid. Remove from the microwave, and use a whisk to mix, until it's completely smooth and yellow, with no lumps whatsoever.
- Next, drop your cream cheese into the bowl, and use the whisk to combine the two into a thick mixture.
- Then - sieve the icing sugar into the cream cheese mixture. I like to measure it all out, then use a scoop or cup measure to transfer around 150g at a time to the sieve and into the bowl. After you've incorporated each portion of icing sugar, use a wooden spoon (ditch the whisk!) to very gently and slowly mix together.
- Repeat until all the icing sugar is incorporated, taking care not to stir vigorously - gentle is the key. You may need slightly more or slightly less icing sugar than what is given here - keep going until you get to a consistency you're happy with.
- Finally, add vanilla bean paste (for gorgeous flecks) and lemon juice - fresh if you have it. This really lifts the frosting without making it taste lemony. Cover and pop into the fridge until your cake is cool and ready to frost.
- To frost your cake, place on a pretty plate and choose a sturdy base layer, then dollop plenty of frosting on top. Top with the next two layers (if using three) - making sure that the top cake is placed on upside down for a flat top. If it's very domed, you may want to trim it a little with a sharp serrated knife.
- Spoon around 5 tbsp of frosting onto the top of the cake, and then use an offset spatula to work the frosting over the top and down the sides of the cake, until it's all covered with a thin layer. I find it especially tricky to cover the bottom of the cake where it meets the plate, but just do the best you can. Pop the cake into the fridge for the first coat of frosting to set, ideally for up to an hour.
- Once the first layer of frosting is set, simply add more frosting and repeat the process until you're happy with the look of the cake - for me, it took three coats. It's not essential - you could add all your frosting at once and the cake would taste just as delicious, but if you want it to look perfect, you'll need a little more time.
- Finish with spinkles or red velvet crumbs from your cake trimmings.
x Kerry
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Hi Kerry, I‘m planning on making this cake and wanted to know if I need to use white vinegar or white wine vinegar. The recipe says white but someone in the comments spoke of white wine and now I‘m unsure. Thanks! Sally xx
I have finally made the cake and it tastes fantastic! Really moist and fluffy. Thank you for this recipe! Sally xx
Hi! made this for the first time yesterday. Found it easy to follow and was super excited about the concept of adding melted chocolate. I have also been a Red Velvet sceptic for some time, not finding the point to a vanilla tasting red sponge with some frosting on it. So, my findings here were as follows: User friendly recipe; Easy ingredients and mixing method; great flavour! but… a bit too brown (i could not get it red enough for my liking) and i found the sponge really dry. I dont know if maybe i OVERBOOKED the sponges – i was super careful, checking with a cake tester etc, so I felt confident that I hadnt. but it was still a bit dry, unfortunately. maybe it just needs another go at it 🙂
*overcooked
Hey Michelle! That’s possible – some ovens run hotter than others
What colour did you use? I find sugarflair red extra is the best bright red 🙂
Hello 🙂 Yes, I also use the sugarflair extra red. Have had many disappointments with other brands, so I am not experimenting anymore. If I take another run at this, I’ll reduce my baking time and see if it improves.
Hi! I am going to make this cake later! i want to do it as 2 layers so i am just going to cook half of the mixture first then the second half…is this okay? also i was wondering how long it will take to cook each one separately. (I only have one cake tin)
Hi Amber! Hopefully the cake went well, while it’s not ideal to leave half the batter waiting around it shouldn’t be a disaster 🙂 If it’s a deep tin, you can also cook the whole batter together and then cut it in half. Hope you enjoyed the cake!
It was lovely! I ended up cooking it all at once like you said and just cut it in half. I think i added a little too much cocoa powder so the cake was not very red…Will definitely try making again! Thanks for the lovely recipe 🙂
Hi, how would i adapt this recipe for a two layered cake?
Since there’s only two eggs, you can’t really divide the ingredients by 3 and x by 2 – I’d recommend just making it as is and baking it as two layers – if there’s a little too much mixture just make a couple of cupcakes
Made my first red velvet layer cake with your tweaked recipe for parents Ruby anniversary and it was fab! Thank you for sharing! Gx
When you bake the cake in batches do you make each batch separately, or make it all at once and the later batches just sit uncooked until the tin is ready?
Hi Jacki! Thanks for visiting my blog! I made all the mix at once – you could also use disposable baking tins like the ones you can get in wilko if you don’t have many cake tins.
Hiya,
Does the cake have to be stored in the fridge seeing it uses cream cheese in the frosting
It depends on how warm it is in your kitchen / house 🙂 In the summer, definitely, in the winter, probably not
Made this recipe for a few friend’s birthdays now and they have all absolutely loved it! High praise all around so thanks – it’s now my go to cake.
This recipe looks so yum. I’m planning to make it as a two tiered birthday cake with Callebaut white chocolate pencils vertically around the outside of the cake. Do you think the cake is strong enough to be tiered without dowels? Also is the cream cheese frosting firm enough to hold the chocolate pencils?
Cake looks great , was going to use it as a base of a childs birthday cake, and planning on putting rolled out icing on top to decorate , I was just wondering if you thought it would be better to omit the frosting on the top and sides , of shall I just put the icing on top of this?
,many thanks
Hi Gareth, I think your best bet would be a very thin layer of frosting which you let chill completely in the fridge – I’d aim for a day in the fridge so that it’s firm enough to hold the fondant. Hope it goes well!
Would this recipe work for cupcakes as well? I usually make my red velvet cupcakes using your other recipe but this recipe sounds even better.., I love putting melted chocolate in chocolate cake recipes as it gives such an amazing flavour. Thx.
Hi Michelle! I actually have a great recipe for red velvet cupcakes already – it’s right here 🙂 http://kerrycooks.com/fabulous-red-velvet-cupcakes-with-swirled-cream-cheese-frosting/
Thanks Kerry. I was hoping to try this recipe as it has the melted chocolate in it and I was just wondering if you have every tried.. I think I’ll have a go and see what happens. I’ll let you know.
Thanks
Of course- let me know! You could also add some melted plain choc to the cupcake recipe if you wanted
Spent the past few hours looking at red velvet cake recipes and this is the one I’m going to try, baking tonight, I’ll let u know how I go 🙂 xx
Hi, I’m not allowed to drink alcohol. Is there any alternative to using the white wine vinegar in this recipe? Thanks
Hi Emma – not that I know of – have yup tried googling?
Is the quantity of ingredients listed for the frosting enough to do the three layers that you suggest in the recipe?
How does using vanilla extract weigh up against going to the expense of buying vanilla bean paste?
Hi Jonny,
It is indeed.
Vanilla extract (good vanilla extract – Nielsen Massey, or homemade), is about the same price as vanilla bean paste – about £6 a bottle. I personally favour paste for its intensity and vanilla beans. If you live in the UK like me, keep an eye out for supermarkets (Sainsburys and Tesco) doing 3 for 2s on baking and then stock up on Nielsen Massey.
I’ve also tried various cheaper paste’s but they don’t compare.
I absolutely LOVE Red Velvet Cake. It is one of my very favorites 🙂 Cream cheese frosting is delicious on red velvet cake (and carrot cake!) YUM.
Same here! Anything is better with cream cheese frosting 🙂
Wow I love the extra melted dark chocolate – that’s the key to my chocolate fudge cake too! I’ll have to give this a go.
Keep up the good work hun 🙂 x
That’s what makes it so delicious! And all the cream cheese frosting of course!
Wowzers! I am now desperate for some cream cheese frosting. Beautiful cake.
Thanks my dear!
Hi Kerry! oh my, that cake looks scrummy! I am having a cuppa right now, and a slice of your cake would go down really well. I am just going to have to make it….. But where did you get the gel colour from please? I have not noticed the makes you mention in sainsburys or waitrose?? Seen ordinary liquid ones! i know you mention Asda .. ?? Thank you very much.
Sorry about that Maggie – I’ll add some links to the post – the best place to get gel colours is generally online such as eBay – just search ‘Sugarflair’, or alternatively asda or a cake decorating shop. Not many supermarkets do gel colour ranges yet but I’m sure they will in the future.
Looks awesome! I had to make loads of red velvet cake during writing of my book and by the end of it, I decided that a good red velvet cake was indeed a heavenly thing but that there are many bad versions out there! I love the 3 tiers and cream cheese sounds great too. I must try that because I have only done it with marshmallow fluff and actually I prefer cream cheese anyway.
Oh you do make me laugh. I love,love, love cream cheese frosting too and I’m not such a fan of regular buttercream either – not that that stops me eating it when I cover a cake in it! This looks really, really good. I wish I had a slice now with a cuppa. It would be a really good start to the weekend.
x
Thanks Emma! I’ll also not turn my nose up to regular buttercream, but cream cheese has so much more flavour!
Thats a beautiful cake Kerry.
Thanks!
I made this cake at the weekend for my 50th birthday – what a triumph!!!! Everyone loved it – lovely moist cake & tangy frosting. Lots of requests for the recipe.