Red Velvet Cake
The American layer cake with a soft, faintly cocoa crumb dyed deep red, made tender by buttermilk and vinegar and covered in tangy cream cheese frosting. Gel colouring gives the red without thinning the batter.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 300 g plain flour
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 300 g caster sugar
- 240 ml sunflower oil
- 240 ml buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp red food colouring gel (not cochineal)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 450 g cream cheese, cold
- 115 g butter, softened
- 400 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract, for the frosting
Nutrition (estimated)
high confidenceRecipe total: 10285 kcal · P 79.5g · C 968.3g · F 698.8g
Estimated from 15 of 15 ingredients
Approximate estimate, calculated from the ingredients.
Video
Steps
Steps
- 1Heat the oven to 175°C (155°C fan). Line two 20 cm round cake tins with baking paper.
- 2Whisk the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
- 3In another bowl whisk the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food colouring, vanilla and vinegar until evenly red.
- 4Pour the wet mixture into the dry and whisk just until smooth, then divide between the tins.
- 5Bake for 30–35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean and the tops spring back. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then on a rack until completely cold.
- 6For the frosting, beat the butter until creamy, beat in the icing sugar, then add the cold cream cheese and vanilla and beat only until smooth: overbeating cream cheese makes it runny.
- 7Level the cakes with a serrated knife, keeping the trimmings. Sandwich the layers with a third of the frosting and cover the top and sides with the rest.
- 8Crumble the trimmings over the top or around the base, then chill for 1 hour to firm up before slicing.
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Questions and answers
How long does Red Velvet Cake take to make?
About 65 minutes: 30 min prep and 35 min cooking.
What ingredients do you need for Red Velvet Cake?
14 ingredients: plain flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, caster sugar, sunflower oil, buttermilk, eggs, red food colouring gel, vanilla extract, white wine vinegar, cream cheese and 2 more.
How many servings does this Red Velvet Cake recipe make?
12 servings. The servings buttons above the ingredients rescale every amount.
How many calories are in a serving of Red Velvet Cake?
About 857 kcal, with 6.6 g protein, 80.7 g carbohydrate and 58.2 g fat. This is an estimate from the ingredients, not a lab analysis.
Which diets does this Red Velvet Cake recipe suit?
It is vegetarian.
What cuisine is Red Velvet Cake?
Red Velvet Cake comes from American cuisine.
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