Today I’m sharing a moist and flavorful Red Velvet Cake recipe from scratch that is truly the BEST!
I remember being fascinated by Red Velvet Cakes as a child. My grandmother often had one sitting under a cake dome on her kitchen counter, and those red velvet cake layers slathered in cream cheese frosting just called to me!
I loved the moist and chocolatey, cream cheese-filled layers, but I think that it was the dramatic RED that I loved the most. There’s nothing boring or ordinary about a slice of red velvet cake!
Red Velvet Cakes have long been the dessert of choice for Christmas and Valentine’s Day celebrations, and have been especially popular in the south, but in recent years Red Velvet Cakes have experienced an explosion in popularity!
Everywhere I turn, I see red velvet cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, cookies, brownies, pancakes, and more! I’ve even set up a Pinterest Board for Red Velvet Desserts because I just cannot help myself. I can scroll for hours just looking at cakes, but that’s another story.
We were determined to find the BEST red velvet cake recipe from scratch and I’m happy to say that after lots of experimenting and taste tests (I love a good taste test), we have found THE ONE!
This Red Velvet Cake recipe will give you a luscious cake that is ultra moist without being overly soft or crumbly, it has just the right amount of cocoa, and the sour cream in the recipe makes it stable enough to withstand the weight of fondant, or a thick coat of cream cheese frosting.
Just as with carrot cake or Italian cream cake, red velvet cake is one of those good old fashioned southern cake recipes that pairs amazingly well with cream cheese frosting. I wouldn’t use anything else! Unless of course, you aren’t a fan of cream cheese….but for me, only cream cheese frosting will do!
In the photo above, you can see that we’ve piped a generous amount of Cream Cheese Frosting with a 2D fat star tip. I love this quick and easy technique but really, there’s no wrong way to apply a delicious coat of cream cheese frosting!
Red Velvet Cake is the perfect dessert choice year-round, but if you are making this for a Christmas or winter gathering, you may like to make the lovely white chocolate candy coating trees as in the photo above!
I love the these sweet decorations, and they are so simple to make! You can find out how to make them in our quick step by step cake tutorail here: White Chocolate Candy Coating Trees.
We hope that you love this amazing scratch Red Velvet Cake as much as we do! We have tried many, many scratch Red Velvet Cake recipes in our search for the perfect cake, and for us, THIS is the one! The search is over. This is now our go-to recipe. Hooray!
**This Recipe calls for the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing, which yields a very moist and slightly denser cake. Many of our favorite cake recipes call for this method. We explain the steps in our recipe below, but if you are unfamiliar with the Reverse Creaming Method, please watch our quick, free video tutorial: Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing. If you prefer the fluffier texture of the conventional method of mixing, click over to our Red Velvet Cupcake (and cake) Recipe!
*If you are looking for a fantastic doctored cake mix Red Velvet cake, we have you covered! Scroll on down to the bottom of this post to find a link to our favorite “almost homemade” Red Velvet Cake!
Enjoy!
*We love this recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting. If you are a fan of peppermint, add a little extract (start with 1 tsp. and adjust to your liking from there) for peppermint cream cheese frosting! It’s a great combination.
As we mentioned above, this Red Velvet Cake recipe calls for the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing which creates a slightly denser, velvety texture.
If you prefer the more traditional Conventional Method of Mixing, which yields cakes and cupcakes with a fluffier texture, hop over to our Red Velvet Cupcake (and cake) Recipe linked here!: Red Velvet Cupcakes!
Red Velvet Cake - {Scratch Cake Recipe}
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon (12 g) vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons (24 g) red liquid food coloring
- 1 cup (242 g) sour cream
- 1/4 cup (54g) vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup (73 g) milk
- 2 1/2 cups (285g) cake flour
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 4 Tablespoons (19 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ( 3g) salt
- 1 Tablespoon (15 g) baking powder
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 T) (170 g) unsalted butter softened (Do not soften in microwave). I cut the butter into 1/4 inch slices onto waxed paper so it will soften quickly
Directions
- {*This recipe uses the Reverse Creaming Method.}
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 x 2 inch pans.
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs, vanilla, red food coloring, sour cream, veg. oil, and milk. Whisk to blend and set bowl aside.
- Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and blend with the mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds until the dry ingredients are well blended.
- Slowly add the slices of butter a few at a time while the mixer is on medium speed. Mix until the dry ingredients are moistened by the butter. It will look like coarse sand, and all the dry ingredients will be moistened by the butter. If you pinch some of the mixture between your fingers, it will stick together. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Method is important when using the Reverse Creaming Method. With the mixer on low speed SLOWLY add approximately 1/2 of the egg mixture increasing the speed to medium and mixing for 1 1/2 minutes - the batter will be thick and fluffy. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, scraping the bowl and beating for 20 seconds after each addition .
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pans 10 minutes then turn out.
- Makes 7 cups cake batter
If you love all things red velvet, you’ll LOVE our Red Velvet Marble Pound Cake! This is an easy-to-make, ultra moist pound cake recipe that is sure to bring rave reviews! The slices are so beautiful with their swirls of red, and around the holidays, we love to add a simple peppermint glaze. This one’s a keeper!
Finally, we have even more Red Velvet Cake deliciousness to share with you if you are looking for a great doctored cake mix recipe! This red velvet doctored cake mix recipe has a flavor and texture very similar to scratch red velvet cakes. As far as box cake recipes go, we prefer this recipe to a box red velvet cake mix.
Hop on over to check it out!: Red Velvet Cake (Doctored Cake Mix Recipe)
Hi Nosayaba, You could substitute the sour cream with 1 cup of plain yogurt.
Thanks @Bebe
I am making this cake foe my daughter’s small wedding. The problem is the cream cheese, she doesn’t like it. What would be a nice substitution?
Thank you;
Big G.
Hello ladies,
I am looking the cake and cupcakes ingerdients.. You have mentioned 2,1/2 cup or 254 gms in this recipe and same cup measurement but 285 gms in cupcake recipe.
Is it so?
Hi Tisha, The gram weight should be 285g in both recipes. Thanks for noticing that, I have made the correction.
Hi, please any alternative for sour cream? I cant find sour cream over here
Hi Sweetpalms, You can use yogurt as a substitute.
Could I please ask if you think this recipe would be a good one for carving something out of. I would normally use a choc Mud cake but the lady I am doing it for does not like mud cake ( or chocolate ) Thank you for your reply
Hi debn, You could some simple carving with the Red Velvet recipe (scratch). As you probably know it is easier to carve with a partially frozen cake. To add additional stability you could cover the cake in ganache, you say your client does not like chocolate so that might not be a possibility.
Hi Mellisa, I simply love your cakes. Quick question, can I use powdered food colouring instead of the liquid and if so would I add the colouring to the dry ingredients? Also what would be quantity? Would it be 2 TBS like the liquid?
Your recipes and videos are really simple and easy to follow. I tried the reverse creaming method after watching your video and will never go back to the conventional method again. Thank you for stirring up my love for baking. Cheers!
Hi Bessie, I’m sorry but we have never used powdered food coloring so I am not able to give you an answer. I found the following information online so click on the link below, I hope it will be helpful.
link to thekitchn.com
Oh my, thank you so very much for your quick response and the little link to the article, very informative
Hi Bessie- thanks so much for your kind words about our site! So happy to hear that our videos have helped & that you enjoy the reverse creaming method too! xo
Hi can i use buttermilk as substitute for sour cream?
Hi Janella, I have read that to substitute buttermilk for sour cream you would blend 1/3 cup softened butter into 3/4 cup buttermilk. If you substitute just buttermilk your cake will lose some of the moistness that sour cream provides. I have not tried the substitution so I would like to know your thoughts if you give it a try.
Hi, i have noticed in your ingredients that it doesnt include vinegar which a regular red velvet cake recipe has, may i ask why? BTW, I’ve made your vanilla cake and it was really delicious! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jessica, This is a recipe that we have used for many years and I actually have not looked at many other red velvet recipes. I did a quick search tonight and most red velvet recipes use baking soda because of the acidic ingredients of the recipe(sour cream, buttercream,etc). The acidic vinegar in a recipe will give an extra boost to the baking soda to ensure that the cake will rise properly. Ours uses only baking powder