I learned how to make this amazing red velvet cake from my grandmother. made with a buttery, light icing as opposed to the customary cream cheese. It takes a little time, but it’s completely worth it!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 1 to 9 – inch cake |
Ingredients
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon butter flavored extract
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ ounce red food coloring
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup shortening
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons butter flavored extract
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 10 inch round pans.
- Cream 1/2 cup of shortening, 1 1/2 cups of white sugar, eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1 teaspoon of butter flavored extract in a large bowl. Make a paste of cocoa and food coloring in a small bowl and add to shortening mixture. Pour in 2 1/2 cups flour alternately with the buttermilk, mixing until just incorporated. Mix 1 teaspoon of salt, baking soda, and vinegar in a small bowl, and while fizzing fold into the batter; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Pour the batter into prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
- To make frosting: Cook 3 tablespoons of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and milk in a skillet over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Let cool completely. Cream butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup shortening in a separate bowl. Stir in 2 teaspoons each of vanilla extract and butter flavored extract. Then add flour mixture to bowl and cream together. Frost cooled cake.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 390 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 49 g |
| Cholesterol | 40 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 369 mg |
| Sugars | 33 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made this for the first time and threw it out. The batter is WAY too dry to even spread in the pans. It pulled away from the sides. Started over and doubled the buttermilk. We will see, but I don’t give this a 5 star. Maybe a 3
This is a very good recipe. I agree that the color is better with 1 oz of red food coloring. Also, using cake flour keeps the cake from becoming too chewy.
Delicious Cake! I did use more red food coloring but other than that I didn’t change anything. Baked beautifully in my Alabama climate.
I made this cake this evening for my husband’s 60th birthday. I omitted the red food coloring. Baking this cake was easy. I’ll let you know tomorrow what my family thinks of it.
Personally I was not a Red Velvet cake fan until I made this cake. I made the cake for a friend at work who loves Red Velvet cake. The contributor is absolutely correct, it might take time but it is totally worth the time it takes and I am sold on the butter cream frosting. It was a hit at the office! Thank you for sharing.
I think the butter flavoring threw it offand it wasn’t as moist as I would have liked.
Yes.
This is the first red velvet cake I have made. I made it for my husband’s birthday and was hoping for a great cake. Unfortunately, even after adding in some oil, since a lot of reviews claimed it was so dry, it was still dry and dense. The tops and edges were a bit hard/crunchy. I cooked it at a little lower heat and did not overcook. Not sure what went wrong here – if it was the recipe, or me. Also, I think it has too much of a chocolate taste. It is basically red chocolate cake. Something is missing for the true red velvet taste.
i like it
i like it
Soooo disappointed!!!! The frosting looks like oatmeal and yes I thoroughly chilled and whipped it. I was able to salvage it by adding about 3 cups of sifted powdered sugar and 3/4 cup of sifted dark cocoa. The positive is that my family said it was very creamy frosting!
What makes an exceptional Red Velvet Cake is the frosting.This is what makes the cake,not a cream cheese frosting ( which by the way I love) So if you see a recipe for the R.V.C. with cream cheese for the frosting, run hard and fast!! This is the ONE!
I have been looking for this recipe since my mom died. I’m going to make it today. I just hope its taste like my moms.
Best Recipe
This was ok. The actual cake part was really good, and it was pretty moist, but I followed the recipe exactly, and the frosting came out really watery. The cake just absorbed it and it ended up soggy. Not pretty.
Wow! This brings back so many memories. My mom made this exact recipe for my dad every year for his B-Day, it was his favorite cake. I never got the recipe from her, so I knew when I read this, this was it! After she made the icing I always got to lick the beaters, the icing is what makes this cake. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Very bland and dry.
My son requested red velvet for his birthday. I searched several recipes and ran across this one. YUMMY!! We decorated with white chocolate shavings. Everything was delicious – cake was moist, icing was not your typical sweet-icky. Will definitely make this again!
This is an exceptionally moist and tasty cake that I liked even better than the red velvet cupcakes at our most esteemed cupcake shop in town. I really think that the success lies in the method… follow it exactly and it will turn out. I read the other reviews and made sure to really cream the butter and sugar well (adding air helps with leavening) and was very careful not to over-mix once I started adding flour. And that vinegar and baking soda combo… loved it. But you have to work fast! The frosting was a very interesting change from cream cheese frosting… I like both, so whatever suits your mood and taste. Again, though, the method was critical, and it took me 10 minutes of beating the butter and sugar together to get rid of the grainy-ness. The result, however, was worth it!
The cake was good but the frosting was so runny. The flavor of the frosting, however, was great. I tried to add powder sugar but it didn’t help.
This icing is a variation of my grandmothers: 1 cup butter or margarine, 1 cup sugar, beaten until light and fluffy. Cook until thick 5 Tablespoons AP flour and 1 cup milk. Cook completely. Add cooled four mixture to creamed butter and sugar. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until stiff, about 5 minutes.