As a southern girl born and raised, I can verify that it’s perfectly acceptable to use cream cheese frosting. ^_^ It’s the only kind my husband (also a true southerner) will allow!

looks so delicious!

I have made this cake before with frosting that consists of flour, milk, white sugar, butter, and vanilla. It is the BEST frosting in the world….especially on this cake!!!

One thing i did…for the people who love frosting in my life…is to make two layers with the 9 inch pan…but before you frost…slice each in half so you have more layers of frosting inside….just a suggestion….plus it looks awesome when cut…

and…for christmas….add a little green food coloring to the white frosting that will go on the outside!

Oh yes, cream cheese frosting is a must for this cake! I am a true Southerner myself.

Nice pictures too you did of making this cake.

http://www.screweduptexan.com

Wow that is a stunning cake. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I’m not sure how I would feel about eating it though… it is very red!! Your photos are great.

is cake flour really necessary? sorry if i sound like a total simpleton out here. i just started to get into more advanced baking and im just wondering if cake flour is really necessary or if AP flour can cut it for a 19 y/o amateur baker practicing his skills.

@other Matt

Cake flour is generally a good idea–it’s no problem to get at the Mega Mart (what show am I hooked on,hmmm). It’s a much lower protein flour, so you get much less gluten formation when creating the batter, and a much more tender cake. AP wouldn’t be as bad as bread flour, but splurge the 3 bucks, I’d say.

Well, if you want to get all technical…cake flour is not neccessary. Actually, I have never seen it used in a Red Velvet cake recipe down here in the South. Cake flour might make it lighter, but I really think it is just a preference. Truthfully though, isnt all art a preference? Baking is an art–a culinary art. Using cake flour is what my meemaw would call “making it ‘fancy’”, which isnt neccessarily a compliment.

However, it is always a good idea to try a recipe as suggested just once. You can make adjustments as you become more experienced. This recipe does look great and scrumptous!

I have made a Red Velvet cake using freshly milled whole wheat flour. Gives the cake a nutty flavor which compliments the chocolate quite well. The only adjustment I made was to add a little more leavening as whole wheat flour does tend to be heavy.

http://www.screweduptexan.com

Has anyone ever made this cake without the dye, just to see what it looks like? I cannot bring myself to eat or to feed anyone that much red dye, but have always been curious about what it tastes like. I understand that the color is the whole idea, and it’s beautiful…just curious though.

I have made it without the dye…it tastes exactly the same, and it is a weird color. LOL I like it better red.

I haven’t tried the cake recipe yet, but I will. I am leaving a comment to say, I love your photography. The natural light and focus choices makes me want to try your cake immediately

Red Velvet cake is good but I can’t say if it is the healthiest dessert out there! The cream cheese frosting really makes the cake.

http://www.formerbrokemom.com

It is happy to see your posting. Yes really informative article. I will tell this information again to my friend, oh yes I suggest you to check my blog on http://www.cake-world.blogspot.com , I hope the article on my blog will be usefull for you… and we can share each other. thank you…

OKAY ITS THE HOLIDAY TIME WE ARE NOT THINKING HEALTHY AND ITS DEFINETLY NOT THE TIME TO DIET!! THIS CAKE IS GREAT!!! ADDING WALNUTS TO THE OUTSIDE MAKES IT LOOK PRETTIER AND TASTES BETTER IN MY MOUTH. A MUST HAVE HOLIDAY CAKE AT MY TABLE. ENJOY EVERYONE.

Hi! I’m a new subscriber, after I saw THIS recipe. I had never, EVER heard of Red Velvet before either, and I also heard it’s a Southern thang. Anyway, I made the cake by the recipe you have here, and it was DELICIOUS. The only things I did differently was I used All Purpose flour, but put it with the baking soda first and gave it a stir. I forgot to by cake flour, and I didn’t have time to go back. That didn’t seem to make a difference. Also, I only used 1 oz. of red food coloring which i DO regret. It came out beautifully, but the red was a shade or two lighter than this. And I really really REALLY wanted that blood red look up there. Oh well, next time, I also did the cream cheese frosting from scratch, and everything came out great. This was my alternative to buying a birthday cake, and everyone just died over it (not literally…that I know of…. hahaha). Thank you for a GREAT recipe, it’s goin in the books.

OH quick question, everyone else said it was very moist, but I thought it was not as moist as I had hoped. Any suggestions? more butter? Any help is appreciated~

uhm i only have .3 oz of red food coloring

will that be enuff?!
if not, [instead of buin more] can you tell me what i can do

maybe mix colors or shorten the amounts of each ingredients

i looked up a lot of different red velvet cakes before deciding to make this one, the beautiful photos are part of what convinced me to try it out. and boy am i glad i did! holy cow… the cake is so moist and delicious and absolutely beautiful, everyone loved it; even certain [crazy] members of my family who usually LOATHE cake. PLEASE make it with cream cheese frosting, it tastes amazing! this website has the best easiest cream cheese icing ever, and its the one i used: http://www.slashfood.com/2007/10/24/last-cream-cheese-frosting/

That is the best piece of red velvet cake I’ve ever seen. Photos are stunning!

Good for you! We have to keep those husbands happy and if he is from the south, Lord knows, his momma spoiled him! I use Paula Deen’s grandma’s recipe. This one uses buttercream icing, but adds marshmallow cream….the taste is unbelievable. Also, I put chopped pecans on the top of mine!

I agree, dont back the cake too long or it will dry out. Just like cookies.

Freakin good cake though!

Has anyone every tried freezing half of the cake to have at a later date? If yes, was it still as good once defrosted?

Hey all, this cake looks and sounds absolutely delicious!!! But I am torn between Paula Deen’s gramdma’s recipe and this one. I had even bought the marshmallows to prepare paula’s icing but ended up making rice krispie treats for the kids(lol). So I think I will bake this version first and at a later date and time try Paula’s grandma’s recipe. Then decide the winner from there. I have been craving a red velvet cake for months now ever since I had the pleasure of purchasing one from my aunt’s friend and have since then moved out of state so I decided to make one myself. I always wanted a recipe I could hold onto and make for special occasions. Hopefully I will find my recipe soon!!! Oh yeah CREAM CHEESE FROSTING is a MUST!!!!!!

i can only find Hershey’s Cocoa powder. is there another one u can use. and does it matter whether its regular or unsweetened.

I used just regular cocoa powder, I believe it was “Nestle” or some other yellow container. Mine doesn’t say Sweetened or not, just says it’s 100% pure cocoa, so I’m pretty sure that means unsweetened. It’s the one and only ingredient on the ingredient list.

OK- I just dipped a finger in for taste. It is NOT sweetened at all! (runs to get water)

Just to let everyone know I used to make Red Velvets everyday at the restaurant I worked at and you can freeze them it actually works better so the cake does not crumble when you frost it. I always use cream cheese frosting but we also used a layer of ganache that would harden after it became cold. So it went cake, ganache refrigerate to harden the ganache then add frosting second layer of cake,ganache, and frosting, and for the the third layer just use cake and the frosting and decorate!

Does anyone know or made this cake is vanilla mean vanilla extract thank you.

Hey all, I made this cake Saturday and I only have enough for two small slices. I know right!!!! Well it’s a combination of both my family is greedy and the cake was absolutely delicious!!! It was very moist and the color was gorgeous. It is a little messy to make but well worth it in the end. For anyone who’s contemplating whether to prepare this cake or not PLEASE DO IT, it will receive rave reviews from all ages. I decorated my cake with pecans, between the layers and on top of the outer icing. Next time I will omit the use of so many pecans because it took away from my delicious cream cheese icing. But hey we live and we learn. My kids said they didn’t like nuts but they ate the hell out of this cake. (:LOL:) Thanks for the WONDERFUL recipe. Will be in my Recipe Notebook for many many years to come.

Girl, you’re making me drool! I will definitely try this recipe out!

One last thing I forgot to add if you do freeze them wrap the layers of the cake indiviually in saran wrap so its airtight. Also if you are refrigerating the cake at all take it out at least two hours to sit at room temp it becomes very moist.

Tiffany,

Thank you for the freezing tips. Happy Holidays.

Well I tell you what, I simply HAVE to make this cake for Christmas Day. The colour looks absolutely spectacular; every other Red Velvet caket I’ve looked at seemed a bit wishy-washy or garish whereas this is beautiful and blood-red.

I do believe I’ll have to do a “trial run” of this cake this weekend as well… you know, just to make sure I’m happy with it… >_>

YES, JENNY YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY TRY IT YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED. I FEEL YOU JESSICA, I THINK I NEED A FEW MORE TEST RUNS BEFORE CHRISTMAS TOO….LOL..JUST KIDDING!!! WE’RE NOT THAT GREEDY ; )

Can I make this with Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder? It’s the only kind I could find that was dutch processed, which I needed for another recipe. I’m excited about making this for my husband’s birthday!!

I’m unsure about that one Phobie. Dark chocolate is bitter than chocolate, even though it’s all unsweetened. maybe you can offset the added bitterness by adding a little more sugar. I’m no expert by any means, but I do try to improvise from time to time. But I would wait and get some other suggestions before you do anything, because all that time it takes to make this cake would be a waste to mess it up.

what if i were to make red velvet cupcakes using this recipe? has anyone tried it? i wanna make them for christmas with green dye in the frosting…red and green…it’ll be very cute….how long should i bake them though?

I just made red velvet cupcakes last night keep the liners when you fill them between 1/2 to 3/4th .I am sorry I can not give you a time I usually just check them without a timer whenever the toothpick comes clean you can start checking them after 10 minutes to see how they are doing. They are very cute I made some chocolate covered cherries to garnish the top of the cupcake.

My daughter is asking for a Red Velvet Cake for her birthday! I can’t wait to try this recipe. It looks wonderful!
Your website is gorgeous with lots of great recipes, can I add you site to my blog lines?

Thanks
Krista

Came across this recipe during a google search as I lost my own red velvet recipe. I’m from the UK and have fallen in love with the red velvet cake. Going to use your recipe for a dinner with friends this weekend. It looks lovely, thank you!

I have Wilton Christmas Red and Red Red Icing colors that iare pastes. Can I use that, or do I have to go out and get a liquid Food Color? If I could use these, wouldn’t I have to put in some liquid, since the color is a paste already?

Ya’ll don’t have to use food coloring if you’d rather not. The red originally came from a reaction between the cocoa and vinegar. Beets can be used to make it ‘redder’ without the food coloring. Cook the beets in only water just covering them. (Remove and season the beets after you transfer them to your bowl instead. Good dinner side! MMmmm) You’ll need to play with the amount of liquid color to suit you. The water can be simmered down so your color is more concentrated. Obviously if your fluid is a different amount when you are happy with the color you either have to adjust the recipe - or do what I do an keep a’simmerin’ that beet water until the color at 2oz makes you smile! Best wishes!

Well, I just got done making the cake and it didn’t turn out at all like yours. There’s barely even a hint of red in the sponge even though I used the full 2oz of red food colouring… in fact I followed the recipe to the letter. Very disappointing.

[...] is too sweet for my liking though (I used 2 cups of icing sugar). I followed the recipe from Pinch My Salt website. The only thing that I modified is that I used 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour instead of 2 [...]

I followed the recipie and this cake was perfect. I made it for my daughter in law’s graduation from college and 40 cajuns from Louisianna. There was maybe three small slices left. Everyone loved it. It was beautiful and very red. I used the cream cheese icing.

Beets! Ewwwww !!!! So….If I use my Wilton Food Coloring (which is paste), I would have to add water to equal 2 oz. before I mix it with the cocoa? Otherwise it would turn out dry?

AP flour may have been the original flour but the use of Cake Flour goes way back and I would it consider the preferred flour. Also, there is a way to make it even prettier. You can make extra or make 4 thinner layers. Then you take one layer and fork it into fine cake crumbs and coat the cream cheese frosting all over and you get a red/white/red when sliced. It looks like velvet on the outside.

This cake is very good, the one thing I did differently is use 1 oz instead of 2 for the food coloring. It was still VERY red, 1/4 c of food coloring is just too gross…

If I didn’t have millions of cookies to make this week, I would try this recipe immediately I’ve tried a few different recipes for RVC but not found the perfect one yet, here’s hoping yours is the one! Love the decadent mood of your photos.

this cake looks so good im going to try an make it look jus like thay wen i make one and i hope its jus as good as it looks but this is one cake i love to eat you jus cant stop me its like its another addicting drug

Atempt the flower milk sugar butter vanilla frosting, it is the true Waldorf Astoria’s recipe that dates back to the 1040’s. It is not truly a red velvet cake with out it. cream cheese frosting should not be allowed on this famous east coast cake! You wont be sorry.
5tbs flour, 1 cup whole milk, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup real butter, 1 tsp real vanilla/
cook flour and milk until thick paste. Stir stir stir no lumps. Cool completely. Cream sugar butter and vanilla. Add to cooled flour mixture. Beat with beaters until right consistency!

I just made red velvelt cake this evening and it looks awful. How do you mix the flour, soda and vinegar into the cake mix with out it becoming lumpy? I couldnt get the white lumps out- even after I bakes it. It tastes ok but looks dreadful… whith hard white doughy lumps =(

I just made red velvet cake this evening and it looks awful. How do you mix the flour, soda and vinegar into the cake mix with out it becoming lumpy? I couldnt get the white lumps out- even after I baked it. It tastes ok but looks dreadful… with hard white doughy lumps =(

Curious did you use cake flour or AP flour?

I made the Red Velvet Cake yesterday, and put it in the freezer for tomorrow’s party. Unfortunately, I borrowed 2-8 inch cake pans from a friend. They were dark, and mine are light. After 20 minutes I checked the dark pans. The cake was done, already. I kept mine in for another 5 minutes. The cakes came out a different red. I knew the cake in the dark pans would bake faster, but I did not know that the cake would look different, also. I’m hoping that the insides are the same, and the dark layers are not dry! I should have checked them after 15 minutes, but who knew! Anyway, it’s impossible to have lumps if you follow the directions, to the letter! I am a baker, so I know how critical that is.

I’m using the Cream Cheese Frosting. I love it! I don’t like all that sugar, but you have to for the consistency. I’ll let you know how it came out.

My father’s birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day and we substitute green food coloring for the red. It’s beautiful and tastes just as good as it does when we make it red for Christmas. He loves it!!!

I have used both ap and cake flour to make red velvet cakes and have never ran across an issue of them being lumpy. A general rule of baking that seems to work well is to mix all dry ingredients together and separately all liquid ingredients and mix them well, next just add your liquid to your dry in mixing bowl till you have a smooth consistency and all should go well. Baking is very particular just pick up the general rules and you should be good.

Well I made the cake for my roommate an family an friends last night it was a hit! Thanks for a great recipe- hopefully I will be able to test it out on my husband one day -whenever that may be

Hi! I made this as a Christmas treat last weekend (put red and green sprinkles on top!), and it turned out FABULOUS. My only word of advice to people is to remember to take out the eggs and buttermilk (and butter and cream cheese for the frosting) before you start the recipe so that they are room temperature. This held me up! Thank you for the recipe — you’ve gained a reader!

I’ve been looking for a red velvet cake recipe for so long. I tried one off food network and it turned out oh so wrong. I made a red velvet cake following your recipe and it was the best!!!!! Thank you so much.

So I have a question why do we have to have the buttemilk an eggs at room temperature? Anyone know

I am from the south and red velvet cake is a special occasion cake for us. The red coloring is the the special look of the cake. I don’t think that red food dye once in a while on the whole will hurt anything seeing as there is a lot of foods with food coloring in them we eat every day and not think about. Just makes everything prettier. Cream cheese icing with pecans sprinkled in make this kind of cake delicious.

another variation is making a dark chocolate hazelnut ganache frosting to echo the rich chocolate flavor of the cake. It’s so good!

The firtst and only time I tasted Red Velvet cake was forty years ago in a downtown restaurant in Toronto. I never forgot the exquisite taste and for years, I searched in vain for the cake. Now I am retired and tonight (Christmas Eve 2008) I am going to use your terrific recipe to make my own Red Velvet cake! I have all the ingredients and I am ready to go. Wishing all a happy holidy season

Just an FYI, according to my 97 year old Southern grandmother, Red Velvet Cake originated during World War II when there was a shortage of ingredients, such as chocolate, baking powder and baking soda. The large amount of food coloring is to help mimic the color of chocolate cake. The vinegar also helps with the lift and “tightens” the cake to give it a more dense texture.
When my grandma made it, she used beet juice for the coloring, but long ago switched to red food coloring.
Given the historical nature of the cake, AP flour is what it was originally used and is just fine today.

And the ONLY frosting I’ve ever heard of is cream cheese. Again, due to shortage of ingredients in the ’40s.

Made the cake for a party, and it was perfect. What is this paste you are supposed to get when you mix the cocoa powder with the food coloring? Did I not put enough cocoa in it? When I mixed it together all I got was cocoa in liquid food coloring. Rule of thumb is when measuring dry ingreidents, you level off the top So where is the paste?

I also had never heard of red velvet cake before I met my husband. Although, my husband’s family calls it Waldorf Red Cake. It’s a family favorite, and the recipe for the cake I got from my mother-in-law differs very little from yours. However, a VERY specific frosting recipe came with it. According to my hubby’s family not just any frosting will do when it comes to this cake.

Frosting Recipe

Cook 3T flour and 1 c. milk until thick. Cool completely. Cream 1 c. powdered sugar, 1 cup butter, and 1 tsp vanilla until fluffy. Fold in cooled flour and milk. *Note: if you don’t cool the milk and flour mixture COMPLETELY it won’t turn out right. Learned this the hard way.

Hello! I am very excited to make this recipe, but I would like to do cupcakes instead of the full cake. Do I need to change anything about the recipe and if not, does anyone know how many cupcakes this recipe will yield?

Thanks so much!

I’ve been making this cake for more than 50 years and can tell you the correct and traditonal frosting is not cream cheese. It is the boiled flour and milk frosting. It’s a little more trouble to make, but well worth the effort. Once you have tasted it, you’ll never use any other frosting on this cake.

To Lisa: I TOTALLY AGREE!!!!! That frosting is the best frosting ever….I could NEVER put cream cheese frosting on this cake!! I use that boiled flour and milk frosting on every type of cake I bake!!

NICOLE: You never answered my question about the paste….food coloring & cocoa. It didn’t make a paste, just cocoa in food coloring. The cake came out gooooooooood!!!!!!! I made 3 layers, and froze them. Even though 2 of the pans were dark, and were done much sooner than the light colored pan, they all came out the same color from the freezer. I was worried that I over baked the dark layers, because they were done after 20 minutes. I didn’t think I would have to look after 15 minutes. I gave them 20 minutes. So, anybody…..if you use dark pans, check the cakes after 15 minutes. I got lucky. I went out and bought my own LIGHT pans. Some people swear by the dark ones, but I have had bad experiences with them. And now, I notice that many stores only carry the dark ones. Michaels Craft Stores has the light ones. I used the Cream Cheese Frosting, because my husband likes it. So do I. Buttercream just tastes like sugar to us. And I have had buttercream frosting many times. Have to vouch for the Cream Cheese. I think it makes the whole cake. And if you use any kind of nuts….it takes away from the taste of the cake. We just could not put our finger on the taste of the cake. It was like….addiction. Now, I have to make another one. Believe it or not, I put the leftovers from the party in a plastic container, back in the freezer, so my husband and I could have it fresh in the next day or 2. It was great! Still moist. Has anybody else become addicted?

I made this cake tonight for my best friend’s birthday. Her mother in law always made it for her, but she passed away this year. I did not get her recipe before she passed, so I found this recipe and it turned out very nice. I used 1 oz of red food coloring and the color was perfect! I also used the flour, milk frosting recipe as her mother in law always used this one. This might be a favorite birthday cake recipe for my family. I made 2 round cakes and when cooled, cut them in half to make 4 thin cakes. I had plenty of icing for all 4 layers. It looks much prettier when cut. Enjoy!

just wanted to say i used your recipe and it turned out great.

as a kid i LOVED this cake and had a certain memory of how it should look/taste (namely, moist). had made it a couple times and it was dry and bland. this time - perfecto.

muchas gracias

diana

[...] for the perfect recipe for quite some time and I finally came across a recipe I wanted to try on Pinch My Salt.  Once I found the recipe I made sure I had everything and I got to mixing.  The whole process of [...]

Hey all! OK… about the flour thing… there is a magic flour out there that is WHOLE WHEAT and light enough to make brioche out of! King Arthur Whole Wheat White Flour is a godsend for folks that love the idea of whole wheat and the light fluffy-ness of their fave cinnamon roll. Another suggestion is whole wheat pastry flour… again, less gluten. Basically winter wheat has more gluten, spring wheat is better for pastries.

Also my version did use all purpose, and it was GREAT!

And that frosting using milk and flour? YUM!

1 cup milk
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of butter

Whisk flour in milk in a saucepan. Put over heat and cook until it thickens. It’ll be kind of like pudding. While it’s cooling, cream the butter and sugar together. Cream the dickens out of it. Like forever. Until you think it’s just about as creamy as creamy gets. Seriously… beating the living daylight out f this is key. I think I whipped mine for over 5 minutes. Once you get it so it’s soft-soft-soft, you’ll need to wait for the milk. make sure it’s 100% cooled. I tucked mine in the freezer for just a bit to make sure. Once cooled, whip it into the butter mixture, until you can’t taste the sugar granules. It’ll look like whippy frosting.

YUM-YUM-YUM!!!!! This stuff is gold!

I made this cake for Christmas. This is a perfect recipe. I’ve tried others in the past and the cake either turned out too dry or too dense. This one is perfect. Thanks for sharing. For the icing, because I didn’t have confectioners sugar on hand, instead I whipped together 8oz Cream Cheese with 1 cup of Cool Whip and 1/2 Cup of Sugar. I thought it was actually better than the cream cheese frosting because it was much lighter and less of a mess to deal with.

I couldn’t find sifted cake flour in the supermarkets. So I used Gold Medal All Purpose sifted flour for all your baking needs. The cake didn’t come out as moist as I would have liked. Is there a difference between cake flour and all purpose flour? If yes, where can you find cake flour.

Thanks

Nicole,

Thank you so much for your advise and flour suggestions.
Have a good weekend.

Just wanted to tell you that I’m a college student who has never baked anything, ever! I followed your recipe, it was super easy and I made a beautiful cake that all my friends loved (even though they didn’t believe i made it). Thanks a ton!

Beautiful photos! I’m new to your blog, but I’ll be watching it now!

I am going to make this cake tonight . my daughter requested a red velvet cake for her baby shower ( second one and it’s another boy for her). We all love chocolate- and cream cheese frosting - I want to try marscapone if I can find it- I’ll let you know if they eat it or not.

Wow!! What a fun cake to bake and share. It turned out great and your directions made it easy. Thanks! My family and neighbors thank you too.

[...] realized how much I missed cake and cupcakes after not having them for a while. My favorite cake is Red Velvet Cake - you guys better know it! It’s a Southern specialty apparently, but even us Northerners are [...]

I made the cake for my daughter’s baby shower, but didnt get a real piece of the cake, just little crumbs. I thought it could have been sweeter- expecting a more chocolatey flavor, next time I would like to add another tablespoon of cocoa powder making it 3 tablespoons in total-and I only used 1 oz of red coloring and it came out a decadently lovely color red- and that cream cheese frosting was heaven!

My oven won’t hold two nine-inch pans at the same time, is it okay if I let one rest out while the other pan is baking? Or will the baking soda+vinegar added to batter make it bad? I’m just wondering because you said to work quickly during that step. Thanks.

[...] I graciously nabbed that recipe and made these beauties! Thank you Nicole for the perfect recipe and congrats Kim, James, Renee, and [...]

Once again Nicole- you are my baking queen! This recipe was amazing. Thank you.

I read on some other site that some people use only one ounce of red food coloring, and then fill up the bottle with water to make up the 2 ounces of liquid…has anyone done that? Does it change the color of the cake a lot? I too am not that happy with all that food coloring, although this is by far my favorite cake and it doesn’t seem to concern me too much when I am eating it! :o)

First, on the cocoa debate, Red Velvet Cake should always be made with Dutch process cocoa. Red food coloring began to be added to this cake because the reaction of the vinegar with Dutch process cocoa creates a red clay color, and a baker decided adding it was an odd color left on its own.

If you use Dutch process cocoa, you can use far less red coloring. Also, for those like me who particularly prefer to NOT use artificial coloring, you can use beet coloring or even add beet shavings (sort of like a carrot cake) for a more earthy red cake.

Oh! And, as a kid, ours always had three HEAPING tablespoons of cocoa!

Nicole…this is kind of ironic/funny. I have been wanting to try your recipe ever since I saw it. I bought all the necessities… and cupcake liners. I came home to review your site before I started, then I read the comments and started to worry…’this is a cake recipe, I’m making cupcakes, will there be a big difference?’…anyhow, I realized I was not the only one, and finally, I read your last comment, and noticed that you posted it yesterday. PLEASE post pictures and tell me how it goes.

That is the most stunning Red Velvet Cake I’ve ever seen, and I’m from the South! Am making cupcakes for work, but after seeing your recipe and going to reconsider. Brilliant job!

I can’t wait to try the cupcakes! I think I’ll make mini’s for a Valentines party we’re having next week. Thanx for the feedback on time and temp on the larger cupcakes, this will definitely help!

[...] you probably know, I have already written about my husband’s family recipe for a gorgeous Red Velvet Cake.  But when I noticed that lots of readers were asking questions about how to turn the cake recipe [...]

I thought I would let everyone know that I made mini-cupcakes using this recipe. The only thing I modified was I used AP flour and only 1 oz. of red food coloring. I live in Canada and got the oz/mL conversion confused. I baked them for 10 minutes at 350 and they turned out perfect. I have about 32 mini-cupcakes. They look more pink than red, but they will still be perfect for Valentines Day next week.

okay, so I made the cake and the color came out nice, and then I spot something in the corner…. I forgot to put in the vinegar!!!! Will that alter the taste or anything? I’m making this for a birthday party and I don’t want to disappoint!

[...] and ices a red velvet cake. She got her recipe and tips from PinchMySalt.com, where you can see more lovely photos of the cake and get a ton of more delicious info. For more photos of the cake in-progress, see the set on [...]

Thank you so much for posting this! My husband is from Georgia and always talks about this infamous red velvet cake, which being from Washington I have never tried. I’m surprising him tonight and making it for Valentine’s Day. Thanks again for sharing your recipe and pictures! It is so helpful. Can’t wait to try it!

Nicole…

This recipe was out of this world!

I made it this morning for my wife and she absolutely loved it! It’s the first time I baked a cake from scratch, and it turned out great.

Refrigerating between layers was the key to not getting flecks in the icing…

Thanks for sharing!

mike

I am taking this cake tonight to a Valentine’s dinner party. The layers came out looking just beautiful! So glad I used ALL the red food coloring. I tasted the batter before I cleaned the bowl and it was delicious. I’ve made the cream cheese frosting and it too is delicious. The only thing left to do is frost my layers once they cool. This was a fun cake to bake and I’m sure I’ll do it again. Thanks for the recipe.

Note: I did use the cake flour but almost didn’t find it at the grocery store. After 10 minutes of staring at the shelves I stopped a woman and asked for her help. I didn’t know that cake flour came in a box, I was looking at the more traditional flour bags. The brand was Swan’s and it’s a red box. Hope that helps.

I’m from the UK and I tried this recipe. The colour hasn’t come out properly- I used natural red food colouring though, so maybe that’s why. If I make this again I’ll use the synthetic stuff. Also took a lot longer to cook, though I suspect that’s my oven rather than the recipe at fault! Shame the colour didn’t turn out well as it’s supposed to be a Valentine’s day present for my sweetheart, but never mind- I’m sure he’ll still enjoy eating it!

Looks absolutely delicious…. wouldn’t recommend it to my clients though

I’m from South Africa here we’ve never heard of this cake before. After seeing the cake in movies and talkshows from the US, I decided to google the recipe and yours is the one i’m definetely trying

OK, after seeing this cake on Food Network over and over, I have decided that I want to attempt it. I have one problem though, where do I buy that much red food coloring? Actually, while out shopping today, I couldn’t even find any red liquid food coloring. I ususally color with paste, so I haven’t even been looking for liquid for a long time. Any suggestions?

[...] Done. And it was delicious, by the by. This isn’t my recipe, I got it from Pinch My Salt, and she does a much better job at explaining the process [...]

Hi! I just wanted to stop by to let you know that after doing my research on red velvet cakes, I chose your recipe because of all the great reviews from the readers (your pictures helped a lot too)…I baked one today, and let me tell you, it came out EXCELLENT! BEAUTIFUL! DELICIOUS!

I goofed on the recipe a little when I added the baking soda to the flour, baking powder, and salt and sifted the 4 of them together. When I read down to the vinegar part I was like OH OH! but I added the vinegar last, without fizzing it w/ the baking soda and it came out better than okay!

This is the most beautiful cake I’ve ever made, and my son told me that it’s his new best favorite. The flavor is exceptional and it tastes like chocolate but the red color throws people off so they have a hard time figuring out the flavor. It’s psychological; marketing has always used color to fool people. But it tastes like pretty red chocolate (to me, anyway). I am totally happy w/ this recipe. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT and thank you again!

i made this cake a couple of nights ago and it sunk while it was in the oven. didnt cook fully,. what did i do wrong? ive been baking for a while now, I would appreciate any help as I would like to try this cake recipe again.

i wanna try it

Hi Ana,

maybe these links and answers might help..good luck

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-causes-cakes-to-fall.htm
http://www.cooks.com/rec/story/89/
http://easysoutherncooking.com/perfect-cake.html
*http://askville.amazon.com/SimilarQue…

Q. What Makes A Cake Fall

A. *A cake is, essentially, a foam, where bubbles suspended in the batter set when the protein in the cake structure solidifies by cooking. Getting it to do that is a rather complicated process, with tricky timing. There needs to be enough time for the bubbles to form, but the mixture must set before the bubbles get all the way out. The cake must rise, but not rise so high that the protein structures can’t support their own weight. So, with all these factors, here are some things to look for:

1-Check your oven. Oven thermostats can get wonky over time. If it’s either high or low, that can cause the cake to fall because the timing of the reactions is different.

2-Don’t overcrowd. If you’re making more layers at once, that changes the way the cakes heat up and set. That can throw off even a reliable recipe.

3-Your flour may change. The setting of flour depends on precisely the protein makeup of the flour, and manufacturers can change their formulas. In fact, just the switch from winter to summer wheat harvests can affect it. Try substituting 1/4 cup of cake flour into your cake and see what happens.

4-Don’t over-mix. Over-mixing develops the protein too much, causing it to constrict.

5-Check your baking powder. A new can will probably have the exact same formula as your old powder, but old powder will get weaker. It can even be that you’re used to older powder, and a new batch is causing your cakes to over-rise, then fall.

6-Use magi-cake strips. These are available at baking stores. They keep the sides of the pan cool, which lets them rise higher. But since the cakes don’t dome as much, they somtimes sink back a bit. (I personally find this tip optional).

7-Measure by weight, not by volume. This is something professional bakers do. Flour is very difficult to measure by volume: some days it’s dense, others it’s soft. You can minimize that by sifting, but that often yields a lower density than the recipe expects. The way to ensure that you’re getting the exact same amount of flour each time is to use an electronic scale.

8- Be careful. A cake isn’t fully set when you pull it out of the oven. It will continue to cook from its own heat. This is designed into the recipes. But if you jostle the cake while taking it out, you can collapse the foam before it’s finished cooking.

9-If ingredients (especially eggs) are too cold; dry ingredients incorporated too quickly into wet; eggs not added one at a time; opening the oven door too often or too soon.

10- and finally, use the proper size pan. if it’s too deep or wide, the cake won’t successfully “climb” the pan to rise. Pyrex (glass) isn’t really recommended.

There are so many factors you have to check, but if any of them ring a bell as something you’ve changed lately, you know where to start.

Thought I’d update as my sweetheart has now had plenty of time to try this cake, and despite the colour not being right he absolutely loves it! I made it on Sunday morning and it’s still moist and springy today- way longer lasting than most cakes I bake, and that’s without even storing in an airtight tin! We particularly like the texture- simultaneously dense and light (no, I’m not sure how that works either) and springy. Also the taste is lovely- it’s not too sweet, just delicious. I tried the milk and flour icing, but we’re not overly keen on it- doesn’t set hard so you need a fork to eat the cake, and it’s rather sickly if you eat a whole piece of cake. Will probably ice using buttercream or cream cheese icing next time. But there will definitely be a next time!

Hey, I was just curious what the vinegar and water added at the end does to the cake?

I followed the recipe excactly. I doubled it and used 3 10″pans. I have a large oven…i put all 3 pans in at once. one on top and two in the middle. I did use the cake strips around the edges of my pans. I love them, the cake rises so evenly.
My family loved this cake. I was moist and the flavor was wonderful. I used the cream cheese icing. I did one egg at a time and I added the dry ingredience very slowly. The cake came out perfect! Thank you this is a keeper!

I was looking for some Cake ideas for my soon-to-be official teenage daughter. I was thinking about a Twillight theme: A grey-black marbled fondant covered cake. What better cake to go with it than a Red Velvet. I have tried to make Red Velvet Cake in the past, and i failed.Either the texture was wrong, or the food color aftertaste or the cake “exploded” in my oven. I was really hesitant to make my own, but i was determined. RVC is the only cake that all of us like. So I went looking online and found your website with the absolutely gorgeous pictures. Your cake looked so good and last night i compared 6 different recipes and yours looked and sounded the best. Most other recipes called for too much oil and butter. I have made a “trial” cake today, just to see and i liked it so much that i made another cake today, that i wrapped and froze (daughters birthday is on Thursday). I followed your directions fairly well, except the following:
- I used half all-purpose flour and half cake flour
- I used Wilton Red No Taste ( I can’t stand the taste of food color)
- I used about 1 vial of food color and since it is a gel i mixed it with the buttermilk. (hey, it worked) The buttermilk had turned the color of red nail polish.
- I used dutched-cocoa, that i mixed with the dry ingredients.
I measured my ingredients by weight. And i used 2 9inch pans, since that is all i had.
The cake came out marvelous. No taste of food color and a nice chocolate taste in the background. I believe the cake is sturdy enough to hold the weight of frosting and fondant.
I have found a recipe for a boiled milk frosting that uses cream cheese and butter, and i really like the texture of it. For my real cake i will have to use a bit more cream cheese than specified on that blog (visionsofsugarplums).
I will try and send you a picture of the finished cake, but it won’t be as good as your pictures.
I fell in love with RVC 13-14 years ago when i was pregnant with my soon-to be teenager.
Thank you and your family for sharing the recipe

Alex

[...] Saturday, I spent the afternoon making a Red Velvet Cake. I’d found the recipe online and it looked yummy, but I wasn’t about to make an entire cake for myself. I really [...]

I recently became a fan of Red Velvet Cake! I was really excited to find a recipe and try it out for myself. I finally made it last night and I must say, that I was a little let down! My cake turned out a tad on the dry side and it was a little crumbly. It also wasn’t as flavorful as other cakes that I have tasted. I am not sure how this happpened. I omitted sifting the dry ingredients together - as I did not have one of those handy! Was this really an essential step to this recipe or could you really do without??!! Could I of added more chocolate powder to this recipe to make it taste more chocolatey? I baked the cake for 26 & 1/2 mins - which was with in the time frame listed on this recipe. I would like to know what I could of done wrong here, to improve upon in the future. I am looking to find a really faboo Red Velvet Cake recipe to use for years to come!!!

**Thanks!**

If you don’t like the idea of beet juice as a coloring there is also beet powder. I don’t think it gives off a lot of flavor. I made my first red velvet cake yesterday but it was the Duncan HInes box mix. I wanted to try that first then try one of the many homemade recipes I’ve seen. I was a little terrified because I could tell mixing the batter that it was LOADED with food coloring. Next time I’ll try it homemade and with the beet powder and let you know how it goes.

Laurie, it sounds like you cooked it way too long. Red Velvet cake isn’t suppose to taste “chocolatey” necessarily, it’s suppose to have it’s own flavor, which isn’t strong, but it does taste much better when it’s moist.

I’ve only attempted a few homemade cakes and I’m glad I tried this one–it was YUMMY! I made this cake for my mother-in-law’s birthday, AFTER I did a trial run a couple of weeks earlier using the flour/milk frosting. It’s really a delicious frosting but my mother-in-law likes cream cheese, so I used that instead. Both frostings are good, but I prefer cr. ch. with this cake. I used Dutch-processed cocoa and cake flour instead of AP. A box mix doesn’t even come close to this wonderful cake!

I love this page! The photos are great, the recipe sounds like it has enough cocoa, and wow have you gotten a lot of comments! Well, I’ll have you know that this cook, photographer, blogger and Twitterer has linked to this page from his Flickr account, will link to it from his blog, will add you as a contact on Flickr, and will follow you on Twitter! Wee. Fun with technology.

[...] it has cocoa. Then I Googled ‘red velvet cake enough cocoa’ (again no quotes) and found this fabulous recipe with photos that calls for a full two tablespoons of cocoa! Now we’re [...]

I made this cake for my co-workers on my last day of work. They absolutely loved it! The frosting was a big hit. How do I prevent from getting so many crumbs? They were everywhere when I made it, even though I followed the instructions and added a light coat and then refrigerated. Did I overcook it? I’ve been getting into baking cakes a lot lately. Do you have any recipes for poppy seed cake? I would love to try baking your version of it after this great treat!
Thanks

Hi!

this is such a wonderful recipe, thank you for sharing it! i just tried it today and the texture was lovely and it rose wonderfully however, it wasn’t red! maybe my food colouring was the wrong kind? or i think i might have used a tad too much cocoa powder! would either of these two things cause it? and is the food colouring you use liquid or powder? thanks!!

Hi there,

I was recently bitten by the cake baking/decorating bug and am an enthusiastic novice. It occurred to me that I wanted to learn how to make a red velvet cake w/ cream cheese icing and then I found your recipe. It looks great! I’m going to make it in a heart shape, decorate it with strawberries and raspberries on the outside and present it to my mom and grandmom on Mother’s day. Plus, that gives me time for some trial runs with hubby, son, neighbors and co-workers.

Actually 1 ounce of food coloring is enough to make this cake bright red..

To prevent crumbs you must make sure the cake is cold (not just cool). I make my cake layers the day before and freeze them. Or you can apply a crumb coat of icing, then refrigerate the cakes. Again, the cakes must be COLD when you ice them. These tricks work for me.

Using cake flour produces a much lighter cake as the flour is milled finer. I prefer to use Sofasilk cake flour. I also use White Lily AP flour. It’s the absolute best flour. Unfortunately I can’t buy i tin NJ as it’s more readily available in the south. So, having friends who either live in the southern states and those who travel theire frequently, I get my supply that way. Or…you can order it online from White Lily’s website. http://www.whitelily.com. There those who swear by King Arthur flour as well. But I normally use that brand when making breads.

Made it today exactly according to recipe (except the ingredients weren’t quite room temperature when mixing and weren’t quite cold when frosting… next time I’ll be more careful). It turned out great! Three of us loved it. I’ll take it to work tomorrow and I bet it’ll be a big hit. Thanks for sharing the recipe and those beautiful photos. I took a photo of my creation tonight and posted on Flickr.

Yay!
I’m in year 12 in Australia and i’m doing this for my summative (=
Thanks so much, I can’t wait to see how it turns out
<3 xo

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I’ve been wanting to make a good red velvet cake for some time, and your wonderful recipe, thorough descriptions, and great photos were everything I needed! I made it for a work party and everyone raved. This is a keeper.

Just a quick question..I made this recipe today and the batter came out pretty thick..Is this normal or was I just used to the texture last recipe which had one and a half cups of vegetable oil?

And the eggs and butter werent quite room temperature, does that make a difference?

After a lot of research on the web and sifting through many many different red velvet cake recipes, I decided to make this recipe yesterday for a dinner party and it turned out beautifully. Thank you for the great photos and for walking me through the recipe step by step and for warning me not to wear white. As predicted, my hands were red for the evening!..Everyone loved the cake and the frosting. I will make it again.

I’m not a baker but I do love red velvet cake and have always wnated to try making it from scratch. My sister loves red velvet cake as well and I decided to make it for her B’day. I followed your instructions exactly. Even had my son help me mix while I added the ingredients. Since I only have a hand mixer having the extra pair of hands really came in handy. So I took the cake to the birthday dinner and I can tell you it was a hit. I was a little worried because like I said this is the first time I have made a cake from scratch. i usually buy the cake mixes at the market (simple and fast) but I know it does not compare to the home made versions of baking from scratch. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I already have requests to make another one for Easter so definetly going to be baking again. By the way, I had a presentation to do at a meeting today so I wore latex gloves when handling the red food coloring. Really came in handy, though my son did get it on his hands.

I am making a wedding cake for a good friend of our daughter’s. She has requested Red Velvet Cake. To be honest the only time I had it (or what this gal called it) was several years ago. But I think she only made a choc box cake and added lots of red food coloring. It was awful. I make all my cakes from scratch so I decided to search for a recipe for this so I can try it and see if this is what she wants.
As for the frosting I can’t do the creamcheese frosting for a tiered cake since I cannot refrigerate that large of a cake. Do you think a buttercream frosting will be okay with it? I guess I can make a small cake for the bride to be and see how she likes it with this frosting??? I have to admit it does sound like a LOT of food coloring.

my dad used to make it but now i dont to get to see him

I just made this in Giant cupcake cups. It came AMAZING even though I unintentionally made a few errors…I used twice the amount of butter (because I took the second stick out of the fridge to become room temp for the frosting and didn’t realize that’s why it was out, so I used it) and I forgot to add the Vanilla…oops

Hopefully it’ll come even better when I actually follow the recipe!

But you never mentioned your hubby’s reaction to the taste after your modifications to the original… THAT to me is the most important information if a modification is made. Don’t just tell me that you changed it, tell me WHAT CHANGED (especially in the flavor) after you changed it. Making changes willy-nilly without having a basis for comparison does no good.

Hi, I baked cake this for the first time ever!!! I used all purpose flour using 2 1/4 cups and only 1 bottle f food coloring. The cake came out delicious, my husband loved it!!! Thank you

Oh, never seen this cake in my country. It really looks yummy to me. Would follow your recipe to bake myself one. Thanks for the recipe.

My daughter requested a Red Velvet cake when she came home from college for Spring Break. I found your recipe and the cake turned out great!! I followed your recipe to the letter and didn’t have any problems. I’m making another one tonight for a company luncheon. Hope they enjoy it as much as my family did. Thanks for sharing your recipe - we’re adopting it as an all time favorite Red Velvet Cake recipe!

I will participate in a bake sale and I was planning to bring a Red Velvet Cake, I would love to use your recipe (thanks for sharing). The cream cheese icing sounds great, but the organizers request all participants not to bring anything that requires refrigeration, then my question is: can i still use the cream cheese icing? I do not want to poison anybody (that would not do any good to the bake sale!).

[...] (Adaptado de Joy of Baking, The Way the Cookie Crumbles (receita de Apple a Day) e Pinch My Salt) [...]

Thanks for the great site, I’m looking forward to making this cake, since a friend has requested it for Easter. I have never made or tasted a Red Velvet Cake.

HELP–I can only find Presto Cake Flour with salt and baking powder already added. Do you think I can use this and just omit any other call for salt or baking powder in this recipe? I feel uncomfortable using a product with this already added, especially since I don’t even know what it should taste like.

Do you feel I should continue my search for plain? I’m an experienced baker but not expert. Thanks everyone!

Hi Jeanie,
I won’t hesitate to use all-purpose flour instead–just adjust the amount a bit. My box of Softasilk cake flour says: I cup plus 2 tablespoons cake four equals I cup all-purpose. I hope this helps : )

I had never made or tasted a Red Velvet Cake until my husband’s birthday (April 7th). I wanted to try making a different cake other than his favorite (dark chocolate cake).

The recipe for the Red Velvet Cake was not difficult to make and I can’t believe I didn’t have a ‘red’ kitchen!!! Everyone loved the cake ~ it was a hit. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Thanks to those of you who tried to help me with my question re cake flour. I’m known as being a really good baker (not expert) but was scared to try a Red Velvet recipe after doing lots of research, I’ve never had any trouble making cakes but read so many negative comments and disasters (on other sites). Anyway, I intuitively chose this recipe and just want everyone to know that (although I’d never had Red Velvet before), this cake was really good and the people who did know Red Velvet cake complimented it also. I’ll make it again. Thanks very much!

i am so excited to try this cake. i’m about to make it! thank you so much for putting something as sacred as your family recipe up on the internet! holy crap! thankyou thankyou! i’m so excited!!! CAN YOU TELL?!!

wao whats nice cake. mouth watering.i would like to try it

these beautiful red velvet cakes look so delicious!!!!!! please give out a recipe!!!

i am 14 years old i think these are so delightful!!!

i just wanted to let you know how the cake turned out… it was gorgeous, moist… a wonderful recipe. i added a touch more cocoa because i wanted the cake to taste more chocolate-y and i saw a recipe somewhere with actual melted dark chocolate in the batter, so i might try that. but apart from that, a great recipe. i used a funny food dye from a gourmet place that a slightly bitter after-taste, so i won’t use that brand again. and i also added a packet of vanilla jello (instant) which i know sounds weird but it made it incredibly moist.

if you wanna check out pics, see here! http://www.aartilla.blogspot.com

thankyou so much for the recipe. you’re an angel!!!!!!!

-x-
aarti

actually, this is the link:

http://aartilla.blogspot.com/2009/04/red-means-stop.html

I am making this cake for my daughter’s 10th birthday…her request.
It looks delicious!!! Can’t wait!
Thanks for the recipe, and story!

I made this today and it came out FABULOUS! Everyone loved it! I used 1oz of red food coloring since that was all I had. and it was still a deep red. I also used all purpose flour and deducted 2 tablespoons of flour for each cup since I didn’t have nor find cake flour. And I used cider vinegar. ohhh I forgot to add the pinch of salt to the cream cheese and it still tasted great!

Thank you so much for the recipe. It is definately a keeper =) Btw…I would like to post the recipe on my blog. Can I use your pics. I would have taken my own but the crumbs were all over the frosting. I was having a hardt time leveling the cake and crumbs were everywhere. Any tips?

Jeannette

I’m so excited, I just went to the store and got the ingredients that I needed for this red velvet delicacy. I’m even more excited to make this because I’m doing the cupcakes and trying the beet thing (yesssss, i’m a tree huggin hippy) I just cut up my huge beet and it’s simmering now. ooooo i can’t wait to taste the earthiness it brings to the dish. I’ll keep you posted. cheers, Nichole

looks awesome! sounds like it tastes super as well. think ill try it with cream cheese frosting (as i love cakes done with it) and see how it goes down with some guests. hopefully people in scotland will appreciate it as much as americans

Hi just made this cake yesterday….I was abit cautious but I should have known better…it came out great…so great that I only got to taste the crumbs this morning..!!! Now am planning on making it for my son’s 3rd birthday next weekend and shape it into a car Flash McQueen from the movie CARS..(might be a bit too red..;) but am sure he wont notice that detail)…lol. Will keep you posted.Thanks for a great recipe..!!

Great idea;and have you heard about the coca-cola cake*Just add coke instead of the amount of water and you will have a very springy and great cake. Thanks LH.Florida

i thing its very very intesting and delicious cake

Hi, I made this cake and I loved the fact it was strong enough to be handled as I put on fondant. My only gripe is that this cake came out too dry for my taste. I plan on adding some instant vanilla pudding mix to make it more moist, and subtracting 1/2 cup of flour, while making sure not to overbake it. I might add a couple of tablespoons of oil too. Otherwise it’s a beautiful looking cake, and I’d always add 2 oz of food colouring.

Can anyone comment on how I can make this cake less dry? Would my suggestions be tampering too much with the original recipe?

hey. i really wanted to make this after seeing how delicious it looked and after following the directions perfectly, it turned out tasting really bitter. i thought i did something wrong so i did a whole other cake and it turned out bitter again=( could you let me know what i did wrong? i consider myself to be an experienced baker. i haven’t had this problem with any other red velvet cakes i’ve make in the past. i still want to make this one, i just don’t know what went wrong. thanks so much!

mccormick’s food coloring. you know what? i’m so sorry. i actually got this site confused with smitten kitchen and there’s is the one i tried and got the bitter taste. so sorry about that. i’m going to go ahead and try this one tonight!

It’s Kathy again! I’m making this cake again tomorrow for a birthday.. i’ll let you know if it still turns out dry after adding 1/2 c. pudding mix, 1/4 c. oil and subtracting 1/2 c. of flour. *Hopes and Prays*

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you posting the recipe for the RED VELVET cake. This was my first time making a cake from scratch and it came out FANTASTIC. I shared some with my neighbor and gave brought some to my dentist office. I also passed on your recipe to the person that cleans my teeth. His wife wanted to try your recipe and make the red velvet cup cakes. The cream cheese frosting was soooooooo yummy too and fluffy. I added some multi-colored sprinkles to mine just to jazz it up a bit. Thanks again for sharing that wonderful recipe.

THANKS SO MUCH NOW MY MOM CAN MAKE A CAKE YAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a fantastic recipe, I’ve made it as cupcakes & as a 3 layered cake (I also opted for the Cream Cheese Frosting instead of the traditional Roux Frosting), both versions turned out great.

For anyone who can’t find cake flour (I live in Dublin and unless you go to a specialty store, you won’t find it) you can use an easy substitute.

Found on Joy Of Baking:
For 1 cup Cake Flour -> 3/4 cup (105 grams) all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch

Other substitutions at Joy of Baking

A tip for anyone new to baking (I noticed a lot of people mentioning a dry cake result in the comments): Although every recipe is given with baking times, it always depends on your own oven. The best thing to do is to get an oven thermometer so that you’re sure that you’re baking at the correct temperature. If the recipe tells you to check early, then do it! Don’t wait for the full amount of suggested time to be up, start checking 5 minutes before the suggested time. (Although importantly, don’t open your oven for the first 15mins to give your cake/cupcakes enough time to get structural strength) Get to know your oven, does it have hot or cold spots? Is it heating under or over the set temperature? It’s such an important part of successful baking.

Nicole, you have a fantastic blog, thanks for all the effort you put into your posts

[...] a Red Velvet Cake. This is mom’s favorite cake, so I wanted to make it for her. I found this recipe online, and went to work. I did have to modify the recipe a bit, because I couldnt find the right [...]

Loved the photos and the love that went into this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing your family recipe. Since it is a family recipe, I made it for my family, too. It got rave reviews from all. I, too, was hesitant about using 2 oz of red food coloring, but went with it after reading the reviews. The color was elegant and added to the celebration! The cake itself was very moist and delicious. Thanks again. I will add it to my family recipes to make again!

Mary C

Which food coloring brand did you use?

I would love the recipe for fondant and instructions on how to apply it to the cake.

I used a combination of Betty Crocker Classic Gel Food Color and Mccormick’s red food coloring. That was all the store had, and I was crossing my fingers that the gel would work. It did. Of course,2 bottles of Mccormick’s would be fine. And now I feel challenged to use up the other 3 food gel colors in the box. I don’t usually use food colorings. Help! What do I do with glue, green and yellow leftover gel?

You can use the other food colors to make your own frosting. I got the recipe for frosting off the powdered sugar box and just add some coloring to make it fun.

I’ve also used food coloring when making apple salad with whip cream. Makes your dish and frosting festive looking.

This is a WONDERFUL recipe!! I made it for my family’s father’s day celebration and it was a hit!! Red velvet cake is my husband’s favorite and he said it was the best he’d ever tasted. The cake didn’t last long at all - I was hoping to have a little left over, but it was gone!! The only changes I made were to use regular flower and sift it through a colander (didn’t have a sifter) and used Beet Red Color instead of food coloring. The color was more of a pinkish, but it tasted fantastic and was super moist!

This cake was such a joy to make! Your recipe was amazing and I love how moist the cake turned out. My family just cant get enough of it and my daughter wants me to make this as her Birthday cake. My boyfriend said it was the best he had ever tasted. Thanks so much for posting this terrific gem of a recipe. I am an author but in my spare time when I am not writing I love to bake. This red velvet cake was such a wonderful experience to make. Thanks again!

[...] Red Velvet Cake [...]