Red velvet sponge
Cream cheese butter frosting
Preheat the oven to 175°C.
Red velvet sponge
Cream cheese butter icing
Assembling the cake
TIP: You can choose to ice the final layer of your cake in two rounds. Ice the cake with a thin layer and leave it to set in the fridge before completing the final layer.
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Red velvet cake is soft, moist, fluffy, and absolutely delicious with its velvet texture and beautiful red colour. It can be compared to an ordinary chocolate cake, but despite certain similarities the red velvet cake is in a league of its own.
It is obviously characterised by the red sponge cake, but the taste is also exceptional. It is a unique flavour that is:
Many red velvet cakes are made with oil, but the butter takes the moisty velvety texture to a whole new level. For this recipe we recommend Lurpak® unsalted butter for the sponge cake as well as the cream cheese butter frosting. It enhances the different tasting notes in the unique sponge cake, and it completes the cream cheese butter frosting perfectly so the cake can be encircled by a silky, cloud-like frosting with a round and balanced taste.
A red velvet cake is perfect for any occasion. The taste makes everybody happy and you can decorate it to match any event. The deep, red colour is vibrant and festive and will without any doubt impress any guest.
Whether you like a simple design on your cakes or you prefer an extravagant look with lots of details and different elements, a red velvet cake is a perfect option. Tone it up or down to fit your personality and the occasion.
In this recipe we make a three-tier red velvet cake, but you can adjust this to your needs. Three tiers make room for an extra layer of frosting, but you an easily make a two-layer red velvet cake as well. If you do so, reduce the amount of frosting or make the frosting layer between the two tiers thicker – clearly the best option if you are into smooth, tasty buttercream frosting. A two-layer cake also leaves you with more frosting for the top and the sides of the cake.
If you want to make a red velvet birthday cake you can try to make it in the shape of numbers indicating the birthday boy or girl’s age. It is also a good option for anniversaries. A red velvet number cake is a very beautiful cake, and the taste will certainly please the crowd.
Because of the sophisticated looks of the cake, it is very popular to make a red velvet wedding cake. The cake is beautiful with the contrasted colours and you can make your own personal design by piping the frosting elegantly on the top and/or the sides. You can also add additional decorations or add a bit of colour to the frosting to make decorations in your favourite colours.
If a traditional red velvet cake is too big for your needs, you can make mini versions in the form of red velvet cupcakes. Just keep an eye on them during the baking as the smaller cupcakes will need a shorter baking time.
The distinctive red colour is perfect for red velvet Halloween cupcakes. Make a dramatic design playing with the deep red cake and contrasting colours of the frosting and other decorations such as sprinkles formed as monster eyes or the like. You can also give the frosting a colour for an even more creative look on your scary red velvet Halloween cupcakes.
Red velvet frosting is easy to make. All you need is cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and icing sugar. Go to the top of this page to see how to make red velvet frosting.
This recipe is for red velvet cake with cream cheese butter frosting. Cream cheese frosting and buttercream frosting are very common frosting on red velvet cake. The soft, buttery cream cheese frosting is the perfect companion to the spongy, velvet texture of the cake.
In addition, cream cheese frosting can be arranged in many different ways so you can create whatever look on the cake you want. The white colour is beautiful together with the red cake, but as mentioned previously, you can also add colour to make a different look on your cake.
In this red velvet cake recipe, we guide you to a clean, sharp look of the cream cheese butter frosting, but you can also pipe a different decoration with the frosting. If you want to do so, leave the prepared frosting in the fridge for about 20 minutes. It guarantees the creamy frosting will hold its shape, so you do not end up with a big mess on top of your otherwise beautiful cake.
The ingredients in red velvet cake are very similar to an ordinary chocolate cake except for the vinegar, colouring, and buttermilk. Basis ingredients such as sugar, eggs, vanilla, and flour are used as in many other cakes, so even though a red velvet cake looks sophisticated and flashy the list of ingredients is not.
If you want to make a gluten free red velvet cake, just replace the plain flour with a gluten free alternative such as almond flour or oat flour.
The red colour occurs naturally from the ingredients in red velvet cake. A chemical reaction between cocoa powder, vinegar, and buttermilk creates the famous red-tinted colour. However, it is not a very bright or clear red colour, so today people usually add food colouring in the form of gel colouring or icing colour to get the characteristic look.
Apart from the mesmerising red colour, the texture of the sponge cake is what really defines and characterises a red velvet cake. If the cake is not spongy, soft, and moist, it is basically just a normal cake added red colour.
We have gathered a few tips to obtain the distinctive texture:
It is almost impossible to whisk the butter and the sugar too much. The longer you whisk, the more air is incorporated into the dough, which lifts the cake when it bakes – and this results in a moist and spongy cake. It starts in a yellow shade and you should continue whisking until the mass is white.
When mixing the wet and the dry ingredients make sure not to whisk it. Fold it gently until all is well mixed. If you whisk it, all the air bobbles in the wet mixture will disappear resulting in a dense and not very velvety texture.
It is obviously always a good idea to give a cake the appropriate time in the oven. Some cakes can handle a bit over baking better than others. If you bake your red velvet cake for too long it gets dry, which is not very velvety. Check the cake regularly when you come closer to the stated baking time. Stick a skewer into the cake and when no dough sticks to it, the cake is done.
If you want an even more fluffy cake, you can split the eggs, so you have the yolks and the whites separately. Mix the egg yolks with the rest of the wet ingredients and whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until you have a white, fluffy substance. Then fold the whisked egg whites gently into the other bowl before folding the dry ingredients in.
Now you are ready to venture into the amazing world of red velvet cakes. Follow our recipe slavishly or add your own touch to make the cake fit your preferences. Enjoy!
