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This Red Velvet Dream Cake is the best recipe for a moist and delicious cake! The cake is covered in a traditional homemade cream cheese frosting and is full of red velvet flavor!
If you love all things red velvet flavored, then you have to try this Red Velvet Mug Cake and Red Velvet Cream Cheese Bundt Cake too!
Red Velvet Dream Cake
Are you as excited as me?? Finally! A Red Velvet Dream Cake! So many of you have emailed me asking for one…and I just couldn’t get the recipe right. The cake was either too dry or didn’t have the right amount of flavoring.
This Is The Best Recipe For Homemade Red Velvet Cake
I kept promising a recipe was coming, but I didn’t want to give you a recipe that wasn’t perfect. I just kept working at it and we ate a lot of almost right Red Velvet Cakes.
That’s right, I ate cake after cake for all of you. I plan on sending the bill for my new jeans to each of you.
What Ingredients Are In This Red Velvet Cake?
This is a classic red velvet cake recipe. It has a little chocolate, buttermilk, a bunch of red food coloring and distilled white vinegar.
Then it’s all slathered in a traditional cream cheese frosting. And it’s perfect — at least in my opinion. 😉 It’s full of red velvet flavor and has a wonderful moist crumb. (Yes, I said moist.)
If you are looking for a 4th of July dessert, add some blue sprinkles to the top and you are ready to celebrate! Hope you enjoy!!
Red Velvet Dream Cake
This Red Velvet Dream Cake is the best recipe for a moist and delicious cake! The cake is covered in a traditional homemade cream cheese frosting and is full of red velvet flavor!
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ½ cups cake flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon red food coloring
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar
Icing
- 8 ounces (1 block) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans (or spray with Baker's Joy), set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt.
In stand mixer, beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar in a large bowl until well combined. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cakes cool completely before frosting.
Frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together in stand mixer until combined. Add sugar and beat until frosting is light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes.
To assemble cake: Level the two cake layers for even stacking. I level my cake with a serrated knife and cut off the minimum amount. Crumble the extra cake you cut off and set aside for decoration later.
Assemble the 2 layers with a thick layer of frosting in between the layers. Then apply a thin crumb coat on the top and sides. Pop the cake into the freezer to harden the crumb coat for about 10 minutes.
Apply one final thick and even layer around the outside of the cake. Then top with the crumbled up leftover cake for decoration.
Store in the fridge if not serving within the next couple of hours. Let cake warm up a little before serving (let cake sit on counter for about 20 minutes before serving to warm up!).
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 780Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 32gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 546mgCarbohydrates: 92gFiber: 1gSugar: 64gProtein: 10g
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Red velvet is my favorite cake hands down but I’ve never attempted to make it lol. This recipe was absolute perfection! The frosting was literally a showstopper!!! Thank you so much for sharing this!
So glad you enjoyed it so much Hope!!
Has anyone ever used this recipe in a 9×13 pan, I just worry about my skills with a round cake?
This is such an excellent cake! I cherish the disintegrated cake on top
Can you please tell me what brand of red food colour you use as many food colourings don’t give the bright red as shown in so many recipes, thank you.
Just made your cake and served it to my family. Red Velvet cake is my all time favorite! This is by far one of the best! Not to much chocolate, not too heavy, not too sweet, just perfect! Amazing recipe!
This cake is indeed a dream cake. I however had problems achieving your kind of red. I used red color gel so didn’t know if I needed to use a tablespoon or less than that.
Advise please!
is it okay just to use a regular white vinegar
Do you still use a tablespoon of food colouring if you are using gel colouring? I made it this weekend and used gel food colouring – with a little bit of a fail! I attempted to do a blue velvet cake and didn’t quite get the colouring right. Tasted amazing though!
Hi! I want to make this in a couple days for my friend’s birthday. She likes chocolate with her red velvet cake. What do you think would be the best way to incorporate chocolate? Chocolate chips in the batter? A chocolate ganache drizzle? Chocolate shavings sprinkled on top? I don’t want to ruin the cake and I also want it to look nice! Thanks in advance. Can’t wait to make it. ❤️
Hi Maddy! I think chocolate chips, or a drizzle of chocolate ganache or using a chocolate buttercream would all be good ideas! Just depends on how much chocolate you want with the cake!
Hi 🙂
I was wondering what kind of red dye you use? I’ve noticed some make the cake and frosting taste differently.
This looks delicious!
Thanks!
I use no dye in my frosting, only in the cake! And I like the concentrated icing color dyes from wilton. You can find them at Michaels or Walmart. You only need a little, so they don’t add any flavor!
This looks awesome! Did you use dutch processed cocoa powder or the normal stuff?
I used the regular cocoa but you can use either kind you have on hand!
I made this for a dinner with friends last night, and it was amazing! I ended up needing to give it a few extra minutes in the oven, but it came out beautifully. It’s so hard to find good, TRUE red velvet flavor, but this one nails it! The frosting was great as well, not too rich/sweet. I love your cake recipes so much, thanks for all you do to make sure they’re perfect, and for SHARING them!!
So glad you liked it Nell!! 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment!
So I just made this cake, but the both sank in the middle in the oven. I didn’t open oven door at all during baking. Just trying to figure out what I did wrong??? Please help.
Thanks for this. I want to double the recipe, Please will it come out as good as the single recipe?
Hi Anita, As long as it is baked in four pans instead of two, yes it will come out just fine! 🙂
Will this recipe work as a bundt cake? I’m not the most proficient cake decorator!
Yes! Just watch your baking time! You might have a little too much batter as well, just make a couple extra cupcakes. 😉
Has anyone made this as cupcakes? I am wondering how many it will make so I know if I should double the recipe or not. Thanks 🙂
On average, this recipe should make about 22 cupcakes! Hope this helps!
Made this over the weekend! Just as good as all your dream cakes 🙂
That does look like a dream! I really need to try making a red velvet cake like this, with crumbs pressed on the frosting for decoration–it looks great 🙂
Thank you so much. I love this type of cake.
THIS. LOOKS. AMAZING. Ugh so gorgeous, I need to make this!
Drea xo
Yep, this is 100% a dream.
Amazing color!
Ahh yayy! I have always loved your dream cakes and red velvet is my favorite thing. I’m gonna have to try this! 🙂
Just double checking, but if I wanted to make cupcakes do I have to adjust any ingredients?
Nope! Just watch the baking time! 😉
This is such a beautiful cake! I love the crumbled cake on top 🙂
Very beautiful cake !