Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups (254 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons red gel food coloring, plus more if needed
- 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 cup of plain hot coffee (or water)
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 16 ounces (454 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 to 4 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups (500 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
Directions
For the cake:
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Preheat the oven to 325°F.
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Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
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In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and vegetable oil. Add in the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and food coloring. Whisk in the vinegar and coffee. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir with a spatula until completely incorporated. The batter will be thin.
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Divide the batter equally between the two prepared pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Place the cake pans on cooling racks. When the pans are cool enough to touch, run a thin knife around the edges of the pans to loosen the cakes. Invert onto the cooling racks. Let cool completely.
For the frosting:
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n the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until very light, creamy, and smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure no clumps remain. Add in 2 tablespoons of the cream and vanilla and beat until combined. On low speed gradually add in the sugar and beat until fluffy. If the frosting is too thick, add the remaining cream to thin.
To assemble:
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Lay one cake layer flat side-up on a cake plate. Tuck in strips of baking paper under the cake edges to keep the plate clean.
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Use about 1 cup of frosting to fill the bottom cake layer then top with the other cake layer, flat side-up. Use the rest of the frosting to ice the whole cake. Serve.
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The cake can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
For best results use gel food coloring, such as Wilton or Americolor.
Adapted from Adora's Box
I love that Cons= none!
This looks perfect! I make red velvet cupcakes all the time, but I haven’t made them with coffee. I like that idea. I think coffee belongs anywhere that chocolate does!
I too am not a fan of red velvet–and i HATE how much red food coloring it always uses!
My friends have always asked me to make them a red velvet… something. I will give it a try with this recipe 🙂 It looks great!
I’m not the biggest red velvet fan either (it’s always crumbly!) but this does look super moist, and I love how red it is! So pretty. Next time I need a red velvet cake, I’ll try this! Pinned 🙂
I have never made red velvet anything! can you believe it! So i NEED to make this!
I want to make this for my boyfriends birthday.I dont understand the fraction 11/4 cup of confectioners sugar?Also 12 ounces of greek yogurt? I dont have a scale in my house. Maybe its the diffrent metric systems because im canadian.
Sponge cakes are thought to be the first of the non-yeast-based cakes and rely primarily on trapped air in a protein matrix (generally of beaten eggs) to provide leavening, sometimes with a bit of baking powder or other chemical leaven added as insurance. Such cakes include the Italian/Jewish pan di Spagna and the French Génoise. Highly decorated sponge cakes with lavish toppings are sometimes called gateau; the French word for cake..
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Hey Tessa! i tried this cake and it was absolutely amazing! the only thing is my icing was runny and i had a hard time icing the cake as i didnt have the stiffness. i left it in the fridge as well for about an hour and it was still runny. What did I do wrong? 🙁
Hmm… maybe the cream wasn’t whipped enough?
My mum used this recipe for my birthday cake and it turned out terrible. There was too much sugar and the no lining in the tin made it stick even more. And it wasn’t my mums baking as she has been baking for over 40 years and ran a cake business. Shame.
Hi Elizabeth,
If you look at other red velvet cake recipes you’ll find that 2 cups of sugar (what’s called for in this recipe) is about the average for the cake as it is meant to be sweet. Same with the icing, you need sugar to balance the tang of the cream cheese. You could try reducing the sugar by a 1/4 cup or a 1/2 cup to suit your flavor profile. As for the cake sticking… using butter and flour to coat the pan always works perfectly for me.
Hi Tessa
What brand of red food gel did you use in this recipe.
Hi, How much tsp of coffee will I use for half a cup of water if I’ll be using(powdered or instant coffee). Thank you.
you make your coffee with milk or water?
This cake has turned out perfect for me every time 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe I have been looking forever for one to come out completely red and this one is perfect!
As for people who are Canadian 1 1/4 cup is equal to 300 ml or 300 grams
And 12oz is roughly one package of cream cheese
I am Canadian but I studied to be a baker and know metric and imperial measuring systems
Found your recipe through Pinterest – and so glad I did! It was wonderful and has actually gotten better after being in the fridge a day.
I just wanted to say thanks for the great recipe!
Oh – the one tinnny problem I had was my cream cheese frosting was a little lumpy, but I’m guessing that was because it wasn’t very softened when I mixed it up! Rookie mistake. Still tasted deelish though and let’s face it, that’s all that matters! Thanks again 🙂 happy holidays!
Yes, sometimes too cold cream cheese can create lumps. You should be able to beat the heck out of this cream cheese frosting with an electric mixer until the lumps are gone, though. Glad you enjoyed the recipe otherwise!
I made this Red Velvet Cake this pass weekend and I must say this truly is the very best I have ever made. Every one said it was great! I too have been looking for a moist Red Velvet Cake for a long time and I have found it.
I did not try the Cream Chees Frosting becasue I alread have one I love.
Love this cake. I am trying the Chocolate Cake next week and will let you know on that one as well.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with all of us!
Merry Christmas!
Kathy
So glad to hear that!! Hope you enjoy the chocolate cake. Merry Christmas!
I’d like to try this recipe, but 2 cups of liquid (1 c. oil, 1 c. buttermilk) sounds like too much in comparison to 2 c. flour. Just wan to make sure it’s not a misprint. Thanks.
Nope, no misprint. Feel free to read some of the comments above yours, this is a crowd pleasing recipe!
Hello! This cake looks delicious and I plan on making it very soon. I live in Colorado, so I was wondering if you had high altitude adjustments.
Merry Christmas!
Nadiyah
Could I omit the coffee?
I made this cake and it turned out really oily and tasted odd to me. Also, an two tablespoons of vanilla seems like entirely too much, are you sure that’s right?
Hi Megan, I’ve fixed the vanilla amount to 2 teaspoons. I once made red velvet cupcakes that had a weird oily taste and when I did some investigation to figure out why it was because my vegetable oil had expired. Maybe the same thing happened to you!
Can’t say I’ve ever seen anything call for 2 Tbsp of vanilla ~ before I add that much, is this correct or should it read 2 tsp.?
Thanks!
Hi Shannon, thanks for pointing that out! It is 2 teaspoons NOT 2 tablespoons – I fixed the error 🙂
I made this cake and it turned out terrible! I’m not a novice baker either. It just had a very very oily, greasy taste to it. Not sure what the problem was, but it was definitely not a success over here 🙁
Sorry Tessa, I hate oil in cakes 🙁 . It is absolutely nothing compared to the rich melt-in-your-mouth feel of butter. Can I use melted butter instead of oil in this recipe? Or just creamed butter and sugar?
I’ve never tried this recipe with butter instead of oil so I can’t say for sure. I’d definitely try creaming the butter and sugar together if you give it a go.
I have a question for you – if I were to make these into cupcakes, do you know what the adjusted cooking time should be?
About 15 to 20 minutes.
Is you red Velvet cupcake cupcake recipe better or is this one better?
They’re both great in their own ways!
Dear Tessa,
I only began to learn to bake one month ago. This cake was my first try. I have since made 10 cakes using this recipe. I have a long waiting list of people who want one. I quote “this is the best red velvet cake we have ever tried”
I also have a friend who doesn’t like red velvet but she loved this cake. Thank you so much for putting this recipe together. I know you will appreciate this comment as much as I have appreciated all the comments from friends and family.
My wife also loves this cake (and that the fact that her Husband is baking it)
Thank you so much.
If I were to add more cocoa powder, and ditch the food coloring, baking powder, and vinegar, would that for sure make a chocolate cake?
i have made this cake a couple of times and it is THE BEST VELVET CAKE i have tasted…i don’t even like red velvet cake but this just melts in mouth…i got so many compliments when i made this…..i have one question about the colour though..i wanted to make a reddish red velvet instead of dark red so should i omit coffee and just use hot water or should i reduce the amount of colour…i get exact colour you have..i use sugar flair extra red…im making it in a day so please reply if u can thank you very much
Hi tessa
I tried to make this cake but it’s color was brown more than red i didn’t know why 🙁
Exactly what kind of food coloring did you use?
Not a real red velvet cake… icing is cream cheese… true red velvet has a european butter cream icing.
Dear Tessa,
I saw your recipe and immediately recognized it as my all time favorite red velvet cake by “Divas Can Cook”. I notice you said “adopted from Adora’s box”. She mentioned in her post that she got it from ” Divas can cook”. I thought you might not have known this. Just thought I should let you know, so you can give the right person credit for creating such a wonderful cake 🙂
If I substitute the oil with butter should I use the same amount? I don’t reckon the butter would do anything but improve the taste?
I don’t like coffee so I don’t own any. Is there a substitute for coffee and still taste good?
Tessa, how do I get the cream cheese to look at smooth? Don’t we require butter for it?
Hi Tessa, This cake looks amazing, and although I am not a fan of red velvet, my best friend is and I wanted to surprise her with a cake on her birthday! I was wondering how the frosting holds up, and if you could keep it out of the fridge? I’m just concerned about the cream in it. Thanks 🙂
Ive been baking alot of times and i tried different variations or chocolate cake..your recipe is really good in chocolate cake i have good compliments..Now im going to try ur recipe in red velvet cake!!!
Hi Tessa, Thank You for all of your wonderful recipes. I live in Sweden, I was wondering what kind of measuring cup you use in your recipes, is it a metric cup or a US cup or is a UK cup?
Hello ! I made this as my birthday cake. For my first velvet cake ever I was sceptical of the vanilla/chocolate/coffee mix but I’m glad i followed the recipe for once because it is scrumptious ! But since I can’t follow a complete recipe to a T to save my life, I replaced half the cream cheese by greek yogurt (it was too much cream cheese for me) and it still tasted amazing !
Thanks for this recipe (and all the others) !
Do you use King A AP flour?
This became my go to recipe from the first time that I made by it. Nothing but rave reviews! I even converted a few people who swore they didn’t like red velvet cake. I like using LorAnn’s red velvet baking emulsion in my recipe. Uses very little color. Gone are the two ounce bottles of food coloring! Thanks so much for sharing.
I been making this same Red Velvet Cake recipe for over 4 years from Diva can Cook. This is the same recipe!!!!!
Hi Tessa! I’m dying to try out this recipe, but here in Spain there is no buttermilk. Using a substitute would make a lot of difference in the cake? Which one would be the best to use?
hi
can i use caster sugar instead of granulated sugar…if yes how many grams?
great for cake i ever taste. thanks for sharing this recipe.
The best red-velvet cake there is. Not too sweet at all like many are. my entire family ADORE this
what if i wanted to add walnuts how much would i add??
Fantastic Red Velvet cake, not too sweet! The frosting recipe is yummy! I will make half the frosting recipe next time, as it was too much for my preference and I ended up having extra.
So glad you enjoyed this cake!
this made the most unbelievably moist cake! it was not too sweet and friends and family raved!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake recipe!