The infamous red velvet cake. Rich in colour and even richer in taste - this cake is a luxurious slice of heaven, smothered in cream cheese frosting, and perfect for any occasion.
How to make a red velvet cake red:
When baking our simple red velvet cake recipe, we recommend that you use red food colouring gel as opposed to liquid food colouring to achieve the classic bright red sponge. The coloured gel will hold its colour better when baked; simply add as much or as little as you need to reach your desired colour.
If you'd rather make red velvet cupcakes, then this recipe can be simple adapted to muffin cases; just bake them at 180c for 20-25 mins, and pipe with cream cheese frosting once completely cooled.
How to make a pink velvet cake:
To achieve a baby pink colour (see our recipe images for inspiration), the cocoa powder is omitted from the recipe. To counter this, the flour is increased from 300g to 330g.
It’s best to use a pink gel or oil-based food colouring to get a baby pink colour. Red food colouring will create more of a pinky-orange colour. We used about 2 teaspoons of pink food colouring.
14 ingredients8 steps
Vegetarian
Method
Step 1
Preheat your oven to 180°C (fan 160°C, gas mark 4). Line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins, with baking parchment.
Step 2
Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon or in an electric mixer until combined. Add the eggs one at a time whilst still mixing, until both the eggs are incorporated and the mixture is lighter and smooth.
Ingredients for this step
120gUnsalted butter (softened)
300gSilver Spoon White Caster Sugar
2Free range large eggs
Step 3
Seive the cocoa powder into the mixture and add the vanilla extract.
Ingredients for this step
50gCocoa Powder
1 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
Step 4
Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the salt. Slowly add half the flour to the chocolate mixture, then half of the buttermilk. Mix well then add the other half of the flour and the last of the buttermilk, continuing to mix.
Ingredients for this step
300gAllinson's Plain White Flour
1 tspSalt
240mlButtermilk
Step 5
Add two teaspoons of red food colouring gel to the mixture, making sure it is mixed in well.
Ingredients for this step
2 tspRed food colouring gel
Step 6
In a small mug combine the white wine vinegar and the bicarbonate of soda, then add to the mixture, stirring until combined. This will foam so make sure your container is big enough.
Ingredients for this step
1 tbspWhite wine vinegar
1 tspBicarbonate of soda
Step 7
Split the mixture between the two lined sandwich tins and place in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. Your cake is ready as soon as a toothpick or knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool.
Step 8
For the icing, place the butter, cream cheese and icing sugar in a food mixer and beat until smooth (or do by hand, beating quickly until thick and smooth). Cover one layer of the cake with icing, then sandwich the two pieces of cake together. Cover the top and sides of the cake with icing then decorate with spare cake crumbs.
Ingredients for this step
100gUnsalted butter (softened)
600gSilver Spoon Icing Sugar
250gFull fat cream cheese
Ingredients
MetricImperial
For The Cake
120gUnsalted butter (softened)
300gSilver Spoon White Caster Sugar
2Free range large eggs
50gCocoa powder
2 tspRed food colouring gel
1 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
300gAllinson's plain white flour
1 tspSalt
240mlButtermilk
1 tbspWhite wine vinegar
1 tspBicarbonate of soda
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
100gUnsalted butter (softened)
600gSilver Spoon Icing Sugar
250gFull fat cream cheese
Utensils
2x 20cm/8in round cake tins
Nutritional information per 200g serving
Energy 844cal
Fat 32g
of which Saturates 20g
Carbohydrates 127g
of which Sugars 101g
Protein 9.7g
Salt 1.2g
37 Baker Ratings
Brilliant recipe, I use it every time I make a red velvet cake. Good taste, texture and everyone loved it 💖
