Whenever I bake a new cake, I have one basic worry – that I’ll end up with something that is dry.
Dryness in cakes is simply unacceptable. Sometimes I’d try the same recipe a few times before I’d give up and acknowledge that it was a recipe that simply did not work.
Don’t you hate it when that happens?
I have a bunch of girlfriends who are all either fantastic cooks or bakers or both. Once in a while, we would gather at one of our houses for a pot-luck party.
As you can imagine, we always have a feast!
So just this week, we had one of these get-togethers and my contribution was a cake. Not just any cake since one of the girls had a craving for Red Velvet Cake.
I have made many red velvet cakes because it is one popular cake but this is one cake that can go seriously wrong and end up so dry you feel like you are eating sand paper. Thankfully, I did find one recipe that I particularly like, and yes you guess it, it is one moist Red Velvet Cake recipe!
The second problem I had was the sweetness. I really cannot tahan (tolerate) things that are too sweet and I try as best as I can to avoid American frostings because of the amount of sugar that is added. I have included a recipe for an American Cream Cheese frosting with this recipe, and as far as such frostings go, this one is pretty good.
But my preference is always Swiss Meringue Buttercream so I made a Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream to go with this cake.
Note: I would not advise making Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream if you have never made a Swiss Meringue Buttercream because it is more tricky to make. I strongly advise that you try to make a Swiss Meringue Buttercream (successfully) before you attempt this!
So folks, today I present to you a deliciously moist, yet super simple to make, Red Velvet Cake!
And, of course, the know-how to make this cake!
The first thing I did was to blend together the canola oil and sugar in my mixing bowl.
While that happened, I whisked together buttermilk, red food colouring and eggs.
This was added to the sugar + oil mixture, and mixed.
Then I added the vanilla extract and coffee, and continued mixing.
In a bowl, I sifted together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. I added this to the mixing bowl in 3 additions, mixing well after each addition.
Once the flour had been blended into the batter, it was ready.
I divided the batter into three 6-inch baking pans, and baked them for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the cake emerged cleanly.
I cooled the cakes in the pans for 10-15 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely. I then wrapped the cakes in cling film and place them in the fridge to chill before frosting them. This is because this is a really moist cake and would be a nightmare to frost if you do not chill it first.
Then I frosted the cake. This one was frosted with Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
I decorated the top of the cake with left over cake which I blitzed in a food processor. (I detest wastage.)
And there you have it – a simple but elegant Red Velvet Cake.
I can see why so many people like the red velvet cake. It sure is one pretty cake.
Why not try making this? You can get creative and make a Purple, or Green, or Pink Velvet Cake!


- 2 cups (250g) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened, cocoa powder
- 2 cups (450g) sugar - I halved this
- 1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil - I used canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk
- 2 teaspoon (10ml ) of vanilla extract
- 1-2 oz. (28.3 - 56.6g) red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) of white distilled vinegar
- ½ cup (120ml) prepared plain hot coffee - mix 1 tablespoon instant coffee with 1/2 cup hot water
- 2 (8 oz/ 250g) packs cream cheese, softened
- ¼ (60ml) cup milk, may need more
- 1 stick (113.5g) butter, softened
- 2 teaspoon (10ml) vanilla extract
- 4 cups (500g) icing sugar
- Preheat oven to 325°F (162.7°C).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar and vegetable oil.
- Mix in the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and red food coloring until combined.
- Stir in the coffee and white vinegar.
- Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients a little at time, mixing after each addition, just until combined.
- Generously grease and flour two round, 9 inch cake pans with shortening and flour. - I used three 6-inch pans
- Pour the batter evenly into each pan.
- Bake in the middle rack for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake as cake will continue to cook as it cools.
- Let cool on a cooling rack until the pans are warm to the touch.
- Slide a knife or offset spatula around the inside of the pans to loosen the cake from the pan.
- Remove the cakes from the pan and let them cool.
- Frost the cake with cream cheese frosting when the cakes have cooled completely.
- Add softened cream cheese into large bowl.
- Pour in three-quarters of the milk, butter and vanilla extract.
- Mix until well combined.
- Pour in half of the powdered sugar.
- Mix until combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar.
- Add the remaining milk, a little at a time until you get the consistency you are looking for. This should be spreadable but not too runny.
- Use a spatula to scrape down the side of the bowl if needed.
- I blitzed the left over cake that I had cut off to level my cake, and used them to decorate the top of my cake.
A GIVEAWAY!
The really nice folks at Tovolo would like to share a few of their fantastic products with readers of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe, and as such, I am hosting a giveaway for a Better Batter Tool and a Cupcake Scoop.
Fancy winning one (or all) of these? Here’s how to take part!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway ends on Tuesday, August 5, 2014 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific time. The winner(s) will be selected by random.org and contacted by email. If there is no response after 48 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to residents of Singapore only.
*Photos of pot-luck party used with permission from Jess Tan. Thanks babes!
Hi Diana! That is such a gorgeous and elegant Red Velvet Cake! A cake that I have never attempted and eaten only once (a cupcake). I will have to bookmark this recipe and wait for a good time to bake it!
Phong Hong this is one cake you must bake. So moist!!!
Hi, Diana! You must be so enjoying having gathering with friends. I like your cream cheese swiss meringue butter cream…. but I have not make swiss meringue butter cream successfully yet…hahaha!
With your skills Jozelyn, it will be sap sap suey!
wow, that’s a beautiful cake! there’s something really special about red velvet cake….they always look kind of special and attractive to me..perhaps bcos they are red! haha! hmm..cream cheese SMB sounds very delicious!
Hey Lena, CCSMBC is so much better than the American CC frosting. So much better!!!
Yeah, I never thought of it! Why not make green or pink eh? !
Or purple? Or blue?
Great looking cake, Diana! Thank you for the admonitions and frosting choices.
Thanks so much Kim!!
hi, I dun hv distilled vinegar. anything else that can replace this?
Hi unfortunately, from my knowledge, no. The vinegar is needed to react with the buttermilk.
I would make red velvet cupcakes of course!! 🙂
And you did!! And they looked damn good too!
Hi Diana,
firstly, i would like to thank you for sharing this recipe on ECMS. i tried and it came out so well…the best cake i have ever made.
the only question i have is that my cake didnt turned out this red, how did to manage to retain the color after adding cocoa and coffee liquor, mine turned out brown !!!
i really want to try this in other color,please help me with suggestion.
thanks a lot
Payal Agarwal
Hey Payal I am glad you made the cake so successfully! 🙂 I used a gel colour – Wilton Red-Red. You must be brave when you are trying to achieve a red cake. Just close your eyes and ADD the colour. 😛 Good luck 🙂
Hi,
Can i ask what unsweetened cocoa powder you used?
I am always unsure about cocoa powder because of acidity/ alkaline etc
H I use Valrhona. It is Dutch processed. If they ask for natural cocoa powder I just use the normal one from Hershey.
H I use Valrhona. It is Dutch processed. If they ask for natural cocoa powder I just use the normal one from Hershey.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing your recipe.. This cake looks really good. Was wondering whether i can substitute the canola oil with olive oil? Thanks in advance! 🙂
Hi no, olive oil is too strong and your cakes will taste of it. Use another mild vegetable oil instead.
Hi Diana
Do you think the recipe can be used for bundt pan? Is so gorgeous!
Cheers
yes it can! 🙂
Can I omit plain coffee from the recipe? Thanks!
yes you can, won’t be as nice but do-able!
If I use 3 in 1 coffee mix is it okie then?
HI there,
Can I use only one 9″x3″ round baking tin to bake the cake, after which I will slice the cake into 3 layers? As I only have 1 round baking tin & I want to do 3 layers RVC. If can how long is the baking time & what is the oven temperature?
Thanks in advance! =)
Hi yes you can – the cake will be less tall so your layers will have to be thinner. The temperature will remain the same – just increase baking time (you will have to check as I don’t know how long it will take). Hope this helps.
thank you sis!!! im so gonna try ur recipe & ur SMBC recipe for my friend’s engagement cake.. hope it turns out well esp the SMBC for someone who’s a beginner like me!! thank you!!!! =)
Hi Since you have not made it before please try it out once before the event in case something goes wrong! cream cheese SMBC is a bit more tricky than normal buttercream!
Hi Diana,
thanks for sharing the recipe, may I ask you if I only have 1 baking tin for the 6″ can it be done? So while I bake the first cake the rest of the batter just waiting at room temperature? Thanks for your advice!
Hi Susi yes, if you have a smaller tin then you will need to bake in batches.
Hi Diana, I tried the cake and it’s quite fragile, is it like that? Or i did something wrong? Thanks for your advice!
Fragile? What do you mean by fragile? As in it was too crumbly?
Hi Diana.
Thank-you for sharing this.
Please confirm if the sugar in this recipe is already a cut down weight or are your suggestion f we cut down from the amount you stated in the recipe.
Tq
I used 225g sugar for the cake.
Hi Diana,
Where do you get the baking tins? The 3 short baking pan for the layer cake? Thanks!
Hi Serene I get mine from Wilton from Amazon.
Hello! Finally, I baked this cake yesterday. The recipe is a keeper and thank you very much for sharing. I used beet root powder instead and the colour is not as bright as the colouring. If only I can attach the photo for you to see. The cake is very moist and I used a square aluminium tray instead of the round tins as recommended.
It was very full when I poured the batter in the tray. Hence, I used 2 trays instead. I’ll bake it again and I’ll be more generous with the beet root powder.
Cheers!
I agree!! The recipe is really a keeper!! So moist & fluffy.. Baked 5 layers rvc for my bestfriend engagement cake & its really perfect.. Still moist after she keep for a week in the fridge..
Thanks again!!
That is awesome!!! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Hi Diana,
The cake looks very yummy! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’m thinking to make this for my son’s 1st birthday (but a blue velvet instead). Here are my questions:
1. Should I 1.5 or double the recipe in order to serve 30ppl?
2. I only have 2 × 7” cake tins, do you think 1.5 recipe can fit into two tins? And after that slice each into two to make a 4 layer cake?
3. Then should I 1.5 times the ccsmbc too?
4. I can’t seem to find buttermilk at my local supermarket. Can I replace it with milk and lemon juice?
Sorry for asking so many questions and thanks!
Hi Jane I just saw your comment – am I too late to answer the question? For pan size, pls refer to this http://www.craftybaking.com/howto/baking-pans-substitution-chart
If you intend to use quite a bit of frosting, then yes do increase the amount. If you are just using a very thin layer then the original quantity should be sufficient. I tend to make more and freeze the remaining buttercream. You can always use it to frost cupcakes later!
My cream cheese frosting ended up runny. Don’t know whats wrong. I’m using hand electric mixer.
Because I wasn’t there to see how you made the frosting I am afraid I also can’t help you.. Have you made vanilla SMBC before?
Hi may I know how much coffee powder to 120ml of water? Also can I use butter instead of oil? Thanks☺
1 tablespoon instant coffee. You can try using butter but since i have not used it before I also don’t know if it will work.
Hi,
It is a great tasting cake but the icing is tricky
I have used 65g eggs, get to the buttercream stage and is all good
but after adding in the gel colour
it starts to get runny
any idea on how to rectify?
so far, past 4 attempts to bake this cake all are about the same
Hi which gel colour did you use?
I used Wilton Gel colours
Hi Diana, I have tried yr red velvet recipe and it turns out great…Thank u for a great recipe…I hv also successfully made the SMBC twice before attempting the CCSMBC. However my frosting gets a bit runny after adding the SMBC to the cream cheese. I have tried putting back into the fridge for 15 mins before beating it again but it’s still runny. The 1st time it turns out ok…but when I took them out to frost the next day, it turns runny when I beat the mixture again. The 2nd time it starts to become runny once I added the SMBC to the beaten cream cheese. Try putting it back in the fridge and beat again after 15 mins but still runny….I hope u can help me out here…thks Diana.
Hi maybe you can chill for a longer time before beating?
Hi Diana
Can I make Red Velvet cake without the cocoa powder? Your recipe looks delicious, thank you
I am not sure how it will work out without the cocoa. You can try and let me know?
Hi Diana! I was looking for cream cheese SMBC to frost my carrot cake and found your recipe, also this gorgeous looking red velvet cake. When you’re making this cake, do you use the metric or the US measurements? Because i found that in some recipes the metric and US measurements are not the same size if you weigh them.
And also i have tried making the cream cheese meringue butter cream. At first i used cream cheese brand named “CALF”. I was pretty satisfied with the consistency and the texture but the taste wasnt as great. Then the other time i made 3 batches of recipe at once and using Anchor cream cheese because i think this brand tastes way better. The making of SMBC went smoothly–it holds its shape really well, but then after i whipped the cream cheese and combined them together ( 1 by 1 spoonful ) the frosting came into runny mess and i cant use them to frost my cakes at all.
Do you know why this happened and any solution for this problem?
Sorry for the long post and thank you so much! 🙂
Hi CCSMBC is very tricky. Maybe you can read this: http://www.thebrewerandthebaker.com/archives/7640
This is a gorgeous cake! I have decided to make this for a ladies’ gathering in March.
I hope everyone loves it Amy!