This is the best Red Velvet Cake with a moist, soft crumb that melts-in-your-mouth and a classic tangy flavor from buttermilk! Covered in homemade cream cheese frosting, it’s the cake I make it when company’s coming, and honestly, sometimes when no one is. It’s just that good.
What is Red Velvet Cake?
Red velvet cake is that gorgeous red‑colored cake with a velvety texture you’ve probably seen at parties. It’s kind of like a chocolate cake, but smoother, with a little tang from buttermilk, and the dreamiest cream cheese frosting on top. It’s like chocolate and vanilla had a fancy Southern baby.
“I was anxious making my first layer cake, but it came out way better than I expected! It had the perfect red velvet flavor and was as moist as promised. Next time I make this red velvet cake, I’m going to place a layer of cheesecake in the middle! While the cake does have a soft crumb, I think it’s also dense enough for a layer of cheesecake.” — Haley, busy mom of two and passionate home cook and baker.
Ingredient Notes
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Flour: Use cake flour, not all-purpose flour, for that silky texture.
- Cocoa Powder: Natural cocoa powder or Dutch process, whichever you prefer.
- Oil: Using oil instead of butter keeps this cake moist with a soft, dense crumb. You can use any neutral-tasting oil that you prefer. I usually use vegetable oil. If you prefer to use melted and cooled butter, feel free, the texture will just be lighter.
- Buttermilk: For the best results, you really want to use real buttermilk. The final taste and texture really is worth the splurge! However, if you don’t have this, you can pour a tablespoon of white vinegar, lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar into a measuring cup. Add enough whole milk to make one cup, and let it sit for five minutes to thicken. The cake won’t be quite as good, but still tasty!
- Red Food Coloring: I like to use red gel food coloring or “icing coloring”, as a little bit goes a long way and will easily give you a vibrant red color.
- Vinegar: A little white vinegar is traditional and helps to give the cake that classic tangy flavor.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: For a richer chocolate-y taste, try it with chocolate buttercream frosting. Whipped cream cheese frosting is also a good choice for a lighter cake.
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How to Make Red Velvet Cake
Scroll down to the printable recipe card for the full instructions.
Measure the flour carefully. Too much flour can make your layers dry. Fluff your flour with a fork (so it’s not packed in the bag/container) and then spoon it into a measuring cup, scraping a butter knife across the top to level it.
Use room temperature ingredients. It’s best to make this recipe with room-temp ingredients, from the eggs to the cream cheese.
Whisk the batter, but don’t over-mix. Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in separate bowls. Combine the two, stirring just until smooth. Over‑mixing can make the cake overly dense.
Bake cake in two or three layers. I prefer two thick layers and bake this cake in two 8-inch cake pans. However, you can bake it into three thinner layers, just keep an eye on them as they will bake faster. Keep in mind you may also want to make extra frosting for a 3-layer cake.
Don’t frost warm cake layers! The cream cheese frosting can melt and slide off if the cake isn’t fully cool. You can speed up this process by placing the cakes in the fridge (about 45 minutes) or freezer (about 20 minutes).
Use a crumb coat for perfectly white frosting. When frosting the cake, apply a very thin coat of frosting around the sides and on top of the cake. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes to harden, then frost all over thickly with frosting like normal. This will keep your frosting from having any crumbs in it!
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
If frosted with cream cheese frosting, you will need to store this homemade red velvet cake in the refrigerator, covered tightly. A large, round cake storage container or cake stand works well. Individual slices can be stored in smaller airtight containers. This cake will keep and taste fresh for up to 4 to 5 days.
You can serve it cold right out of the fridge or at room temperate. For the best taste/texture, I recommend letting it warm up on the counter for about 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
If you’d like to freeze this cake, your best bet is to freeze the unfrosted layers, wrapped airtight, for up to 3 months. Thaw layers overnight in the fridge before frosting.
Red Velvet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ½ cups cake flour
- 1 ½ cups granulated 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 ½ teaspoons white distilled vinegar
Icing
- 8 oz (1 block) cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
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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!).
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Notes
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Nutrition
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More Red Velvet Desserts To Try
- Red Velvet Cupcakes: Perfect individual cakes for parties.
- Red Velvet Mug Cake: Ready in just 5 minutes!
- Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies: Sweet and stunning.
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies: Made easy with a box mix.
- Red Velvet Whoopie Pies: Filled with cream cheese icing.
- Red Velvet Cream Cheese Bundt Cake: With a surprise filling.
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I had a red velvet cake recipe for YEARS that I’ve always used. Was a family recipe. I made THIS recipe and will never go back to the other. This makes a very moist flavorful cake. I don’t use the cream cheese frosting however. I believe a red velvet cake needs the ORIGINAL frosting for it. The Ermine frosting is much better for this cake. I used this recipe for red velvet cake balls I made for Christmas. HUGE hit.
Is it an essential part of the recipe to put it in the freezer? I have a very stupidly designed freezer, that isn’t wide enough to fit the cake in. Unless I’m going to try and find a way to put it in horizontally.
Hi Sean! You can skip the freezer if needed. The cake will still be delicious! The freezer method just helps to stop the baking process quicker, so as the cake cools it does not continue to cook anymore. This keeps the cake extra moist, but it’s still delicious if left to cool regularly on the counter!
Not a big fan of cake flour. Can I use all purpose instead?
The difference with cake flour is that it has cornstarch added. This effects the texture of the cake. Yes you can use all purpose, but it will be different than the cake I made with cake flour.
The best cake recipe ever
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
Yes
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!
Use as much or as little you need to get the desired coloring. Gel food coloring is way different from liquid.
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.
More than likely didn’t bake it long enough. Sometimes you may need to turn the oven temperature down a bit and bake it longer.
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!