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Pink Velvet Cake

Last Updated On: February 29, 2024 | Published: August 03, 2023 by Melissa Diamond | 6 Comments
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We love this Pink Velvet Cake recipe because it is super moist with a fine crumb, wonderful vanilla flavor, and because it is Pink!

Sliced Pink Velvet Cake on a white cake pedestal.

This delicious cake is based on our popular Vanilla Velvet Cake, but we thought it would be fun to have a pink option!

Keep this recipe in mind for Baby Shower Cakes, Barbie themed parties, and birthday cake recipes for your pink-loving friends.

Why we Love it

Ingredients for Pink Velvet Cake

Here are our star ingredients for the Pink Velvet Cake!

Ingredients for Pink Velvet Cake.

Ingredient Notes

Here are a few additional notes on some of our Pink Velvet Cake ingredients. You can find the full ingredient details in our recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Cake Flour is great in cake recipes as it is made from soft wheat which has a lower protein content. This makes for a softer, more tender cake.

Unsalted Butter: We like to use unsalted butter so that we have more control over the amount of salt in the recipe. The butter should be softened but not completely soft through and through. It should easily dent when pressed.

Buttermilk's acidity softens the strands of gluten in the batter, making for a more tender cake.

Pink Coloring Gel: Use your pink color of choice. We used Americolor Deep Pink.

How to Make a Pink Velvet Cake

This delicious cake is sure to please a crowd. You can find the full recipe card further down in this post. Here is a quick look at our steps!

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch pans, adding a circle of parchment paper to the bottom of each pan.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds and set aside.
Bowl of dry ingredients for cake.
  • In another bowl, add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
Wet Ingredients in a measuring cup.
  • In the bowl of your electric mixer, add the butter and cream cheese and mix at medium speed until smooth (using the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer.)
Cream Cheese and Butter Mixture in a mixing bowl, with paddle attachment.
  • Gradually add the sugar and mix at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yellow of the yolk has blended.
Adding eggs to cream cheese and butter mixture in mixing bowl.
  • With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (We did 3 additions of the dry mixture, 2 additions of wet). During this time, add the pink coloring gel to desired amount of pink.
Pink Velvet Cake Batter in Mixing Bowl.
  • Mix the batter just until well combined- be careful not to over-mix. Divide the batter between the three pans.
Pink Velvet Cake Batter in three pans.
  • Bake at 325 degrees F for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack before turning out.
Freshly baked Pink Velvet Cake Layers, in pans on a cooling rack.
  • This recipe makes 7 ½ cups of batter. Works for cupcakes also (although there will be little to no dome).

Whipped Cream Filling

We often use homemade whipped cream filling in our cakes. It is so light and creamy with just a touch of sweetness from the powdered sugar in the recipe.

However, when it comes to vanilla cakes like this Pink Velvet Cake recipe, anything goes! Feel free to experiment with your favorite fillings and frostings (from lemon cream cheese frosting or lemon curd, to white chocolate buttercream or a simple vanilla buttercream.)

The sweetened whipped cream filling is made by whipping heavy cream in a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, along with a bit of confectioners' sugar until it reaches stiff peak stage.

Bowl of whipped cream

Assembling the Cake

We chose our Classic Vanilla Buttercream for our frosting today. This is a very easy, delicious American buttercream which combines confectioners sugar, softened butter, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and a splash of milk.

To assemble the cake, place the first pink velvet cake layer on the pedestal.

If using a soft filling like our whipped cream filling, it is best to pipe a dam of buttercream around the edge of the cake layer (about ¼-1/2 inch from the edge). You can do this using a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away.

Then, fill it with whipped cream, and repeat for the second cake layer. Top with the third cake layer.

Pink Velvet Cake on white cake pedestal.
Frosting the three layer pink velvet cake with vanilla buttercream.

Decorating the Pink Velvet Cake

We decided to add a little texture to our frosted cake. For this technique, pipe dots of buttercream using piping bags with the tip snipped away. Then, spread with a small offset spatula. (We used a tapered offset spatula).

This is the same technique that we used in our painted buttercream cake with chocolate spheres tutorial!

Adding texture to the frosted cake.

We repeated the texturing on top of the cake also, starting with the outer edge of the cake and working inward.

Decorating the Pink Velvet Cake.

Recipe FAQs

Similarly, Red Velvet Cake also contains coloring. However, Red Velvet Cake is different in that it contains cocoa powder, resulting in a light chocolate flavor.

Pink Velvet Cake is simply a vanilla cake that is tinted with pink coloring gel.

Yes, because of the whipped cream filling, this cake needs to be refrigerated in an airtight continer.

However, for best flavor and texture, remove the cake from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving. This will allow the cake and frosting to warm and soften.

Yes! Just as with most of our cakes, (from almond cake to orange cake, marble cake and more) these cake layers freeze beautifully.

You can bake the pink velvet cake layers in advance, tightly wrap them individually in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, and freeze for up to three months! We often wrap and freeze our cake layers while the layers are still slightly warm.

For additional support, you can place each cake layer on a foil-wrapped cake board before wrapping.

To thaw, place the wrapped cake layers on the kitchen counter. Keep wrapped for 30-45 minutes and then unwrap once condensation has stopped forming. Thaw to desired amount before assembling the cake. Some bakers prefer to assemble their cakes while the layers are still partially frozen.

We love to use softened cream cheese as an ingredient in our cakes! We find that it adds richness and a uniquely soft, creamy texture.

Some of our favorite "velvet" cakes with cream cheese as an ingredient include Lemon Velvet Cake, White Chocolate Velvet Cake, Coconut Velvet Cake, Almond Cream Cake, and more!

Buttermilk is another star ingredient in this Pink Velvet Cake. The buttermilk adds more richness and the extra boost of acidity softens the strands of gluten in the cake batter, making a more tender crumb.

Some of our popular cakes that contain buttermilk are our buttermilk pound cake, lemon buttermilk cake, and yellow cake from scratch.

Pink Velvet Cake, sliced on a white pedestal.

More Pink Cakes

In addition to today's Pink Velvet Cake, we have other great fruit flavored cakes that are pretty shades of pink as well. Some of our favorites are our Strawberry Cake, Cherry Cake Recipe, Raspberry Cake, and Pink Champagne Cake.

Also, don't miss our full collection of Velvet Cake Recipes!

Thanks so much for stopping by! We'd love for you to check out our other Cake Recipes, including our favorite cake recipes from scratch and cake mix recipes.

You can also find all sorts of fun cake decorating tutorials in our Cake Decorating section!

Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!

Sliced Pink Velvet Cake on a white cake pedestal.

Pink Velvet Cake

BY Melissa and Bebe
This moist Pink Velvet Cake is a delicious vanilla cake with a velvety soft texture! Perfect for baby showers, birthdays, and more!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 15
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Ingredients

  • 1 8 oz (226g) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 ½ sticks (168g or ¾cup) Unsalted Butter, softened
  • 2 cups (400g) sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 cups (342g) cake flour (See notes for substitution if needed.)
  • 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon (3g) baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
  • 1 cup (242g) buttermilk (See notes for substitution if needed.)
  • ¼ cup (54g) vegetable oil (We use Canola oil.)
  • 1 Tablespoon (12g) vanilla extract
  • Pink Coloring Gel (We used Americolor Deep Pink)

Whipped Cream Filling

  • 1 cup 240g heavy cream
  • ¼ 29g cup powdered sugar
  • 1 4g teaspoon vanilla

Vanilla Buttercream

  • 3 sticks (339g) unsalted butter, softened (Should be slightly softened but cool to the touch and holding it's shape)
  • 7 cups (690-805g) confectioners' sugar (Adjust amount based on desired consistency.)
  • 2 tsp. (8g) vanilla extract (If you prefer a lighter frosting, you can use clear imitation vanilla.)
  • ⅓ cup (72)g whole milk or cream, more if needed
  • ½ teaspoon (3g)salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch pans, adding a circle of parchment or wax paper to the bottom of each pan.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds and set aside.
  • In another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and cream cheese and mix at medium speed until smooth.
  • Gradually add the sugar and mix at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
  • With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (We did 3 additions of the dry mixture, 2 additions of wet). During this time, add a drop or two of coloring gel- start with less than you think you will need and adjust as needed.
  • Mix the batter just until well combined- be careful not to over-mix. Divide the batter between the three pans.
  • Bake at 325 degrees F for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack before turning out.
  • This recipe makes 7 ½ cups of batter. Works for cupcakes also (although there will be little to no dome).

For the Whipped Cream

  • Chill the mixing bowl and beaters/ whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes.
  • Pour the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla into the chilled mixing bowl, begin beating on low speed gradually increasing to medium high speed.
  • The cream begins to thicken (approx. 1 ½ minutes) and soft peaks form....peaks that slightly bend over. Watch closely as this happens quickly.

For the Vanilla Buttercream

  • Cream the (slightly softened) butter until smooth. Blend in the vanilla.
  • Add half of the powdered sugar and most of the milk. Beat at medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
  • Add remaining powdered sugar and milk and mix at medium speed another 3 to 4 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. I slow down the mixer to very slow. (#2 on the Kitchenaid) for 1 to 2 minutes. This will help eliminate air pockets in the buttercream. The texture will become very smooth.
  • This recipe can be doubled or halved.
  • Yields approximately 4 ½-5 cups of frosting. Enough to frost a 3 layer 8 or two layer 9 inch cake.
  • If your buttercream is too thin, add more sugar. If the consistency is too thick, add a bit more milk

Notes

Substitution for Cake Flour: Using all purpose flour (plain in UK) to make Cake Flour: For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend
Substitution for Buttermilk: Add 1 Tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup. Add milk to the 1 cup mark, stir. Wait 5 minutes and it is ready to use.

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6 Comments

  3. 5 stars
    Great cake. I made it without the cream filling though, in a 9 inch cake pan. I am making it for a gender reveal party. Turned out very moist with a great taste, not dry or spongey.. I am not a fan of dry sponge cakes.

    Reply

    1. Hi Cathy! The cake should still be good with AP Flour, but cakes with cake flour have a softer, finer crumb. We have a substitution for cake flour listed in the Notes if you'd like to try it!

      Reply