Family members love to make this red velvet cake recipe. A traditional dessert fit for the Christmas season!
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 35 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 2-layer 9-inch cake |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- ½ cup shortening
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoons red food coloring
- 2 tablespoons cocoa
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup milk
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9-inch round pans.
- Make the cake: Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar and shortening together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine red food coloring and cocoa to make a paste; add to creamed mixture.
- Mix buttermilk, salt, and 1 teaspoon vanilla together in a small bowl. Add flour, alternating with buttermilk mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Mix vinegar and baking soda together; gently fold into cake batter and pour into prepared pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen. Invert carefully onto a serving plate or cooling rack. Let cool, about 30 minutes.
- Make the icing: Heat milk and flour in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Set aside to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, beat sugar, butter, and vanilla together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add cooled flour mixture and beat until frosting is a good spreading consistency. Frost cake layers when completely cool.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 513 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 67 g |
| Cholesterol | 74 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 13 g |
| Sodium | 503 mg |
| Sugars | 44 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made it for my school activity. me and my group ended up in the first place. our principal gave it a taste and loved it. when we gave it away to other student they said they liked it. honestly the best pastry i have ever made. even the parents loved it tbh. do this if u have time!
Very good cake. Might make the icing a bit sweeter
It’s awesome! Easy to make. But I dnt know about my icing. It backfired. Had to get an alternative i.e. prestine regular whip tipping
Disappointed, absolutely the worst recipe I’ve ever used or made. I followed it to a “T”, and it came out awful. It raised too quick and collapsed. I greased the pan as recommended, and it stuck. The frosting came out absolutely terrible. It was a waste of time, money, and a birthday cake for my daughter turning 12. I have been cooking and baking for 37 years, this is the worst. I have used many online recipes, especially from allrecipes, and this was the biggest flop. Big thumbs down. poo emoji.
Not good. Tasted like a chocolate cake. The frosting was all wrong for this cake. Should have been a clean cheese frosting. My cake came out brown. Followed recipe to a T.
This is the recipe I grew up with. I’m 63 and this normally turns out perfect. This time it didn’t rise like it should but I should have bought new baking soda. After many attempts with curdled frosting, I learned you need to add the roux a little at a time and if it is curdled keep on beating. It will get fluffy and beautiful.
Delicious! The cake was amazing I have to say. Family liked the frosting. I prefer a cream cheese frosting. I may try that with it next time. Thanks!!
I think this is an easy recipe with ingredients you probably have around the house! I didn’t care for the frosting recipe, so I used my classic cream cheese recipe, but the cake was great! Thank you for sharing!!!
LISTEN UP: I really loved this cake!! It was very moist and delicious. I messed up the frosting so I just last-minute bought store made frosting. I WOULD DEFINITELY MAKE THIS CAKE AGAIN!
The flavor of the cake is good, but mine came out dry.. what did I do wrong?
I give it five if you read and follow the reviewers tips regarding methods! Another tip: cook the frosting flour paste first because it takes a long time to cool (covered), and you can have it ready to go after your cake is ready. Also, for a stunning presentation make two thicker 8” layers, split them in half horizontally, and have four thin beautiful layers! If you do this, make more frosting!
Thank you, Eleanor. This was incredibly tasty.
Fabulous! So moist and tasty.
I followed this recipe using Kristin’s suggestions. I made cupcakes instead of two cakes, which turned out with twenty cupcakes. I made a few mistakes. I didn’t get the baking soda / vinegar mixture in as fast as I wanted, and not all of the cupcakes made it into the oven in time because I needed two batches. They turned out alright anyway. As for the frosting, it ended up having little chunks in it. I may not have mixed it enough. They were not the best red velvet cupcakes and the frosting was a weird consistency, but they were good.
I left out the shortening. This has been the very first cake I ever make, and it turned out more than fantastic. It was delicious!!!!! Oh, I also changed the frosting for the Cream Cheese Frosting II and added a hint of just squeezed lemon juice, DELICIOUSNESS!!!!! I decorated it with a few unsweetened chocolate chips, it was great! Will be making this more!
I’ve never made Red Velvet cake from scratch. And now I’ve made it twice. There are a few unnecessary steps that can be combined to make it much easier. The first time I read reviews & followed it to a T. I felt like 4T of red food coloring was WAY too much, but did it anyways. It turned out good so I decided to give it another try. This time I did a little research online because I wanted to know if it was really necessary to mix the baking soda & vinegar as an extra step. It is not. Also, making a paste from the cocoa powder & red food coloring is an unnecessary step. I followed the recipe but just added the red food coloring right into the wet batter. Then added the cocoa powder a little at a time. I also added 1T espresso powder. Then I sprinkled the salt in it, added the vanilla then the buttermilk. I added the vinegar directly into the batter, mixed it then added the baking soda. When you start adding the flour, only mix it to the point that it’s mixed in. It’s very important not to over beat flour. I mixed in 1/4 cup of flour at a time, stopping each time just short of it being fully incorporated to add the next 1/4 cup. After all flour had been added, I gently folded the batter to make sure the flour was thoroughly mixed in. I made mini cupcakes, baked for 10 minutes in my gas oven. Perfection!!! Also, I used a different frosting. Just cream cheese, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar. Came out amazing!!
This is a great recipe. I would not make any changes. I just wanted to point out that it says the yield is one 9-inch layer cake, however, in the directions it says it makes 2 9-inch layers. The recipe makes 2 layers, not one!
It was okay, but forsome reason it blew up while baking and emptied out all over the pan i made it in
I JUST LOVED IT!! The cake was really easy to bake and was really tasty. I loved it.
This cake was so moist and yummy! I would definitely make this cake again! The only thing that I had to change or add was batter. I had a 9″ pan and put the batter in, but I had to use 3/4 of the batter. So I had to make more. Otherwise, this cake is delicious!
I’ve never eaten a Red Velvet Cake before let alone make one from scratch and could never figure out what all the fuss and endless raves it would get…..until now!! The recipe was so easy to follow and the taste was amazing!!! I am so glad my granddaughter talked me into making it…it is now one of my favorite cakes!!! Absolutely 5 star rating!!!!