Red Velvet Cake
- 23 hours ago
- 4 min read
There’s just something about a classic red velvet cake.
Soft, velvety, with a hint of cocoa and that perfect tang - it’s one of those cakes that never goes out of style.This recipe gives you a super moist crumb, rich flavor, and that signature red velvet texture that pairs perfectly with cream cheese buttercream.
Whether you’re baking for a birthday, Valentine’s Day, or just because… this is one you’ll want to save.
A red velvet cake is one of those timeless classics that’s always in demand and always worth having a go-to recipe for. This scratch recipe creates a soft, velvety crumb with just a hint of cocoa and the perfect balance of richness and tang. It uses both buttermilk and sour cream for extra moisture, along with a touch of vinegar to enhance that signature red velvet texture — and here’s why!
Using buttermilk with vinegar and sour cream adds a super rich and moist texture to your cake, however, you may use regular milk if that is all you have, but if you can get some, I would highly recommend it! You may also try making your own, which I have a step-by-step blog on how to do so, here. You may be asking why sour cream, but I promise you it is a game changer in the baking world. Adding sour cream along with buttermilk adds the perfect amount of flavor and in my opinion, gives it an additional boost of moisture.
What is Yellow Cake?
Red velvet cake stands apart from classic vanilla or chocolate cakes with its unique combination of ingredients that create its signature flavor and texture. A touch of cocoa powder, paired with buttermilk and a bit of vinegar, gives it that subtle tang and incredibly soft crumb. It’s a popular choice not just for its flavor, but because it pairs beautifully with a variety of frostings, especially a classic cream cheese buttercream.
Tools You'll Need
Here are some kitchen tools I like to suggest for making my cakes. These are the exact products I use every time:
Electric Mixer or a Bowl and Silicone Spatula
Cupcake or Cake Tins
Cupcake Liners (if making cupcakes)
Parchment paper cut to cake tin (if making cakes)
Recipe Questions
Why Sour Cream?
It is the same reason for buttermilk! Sour cream similar to buttermilk adds a boost of moisture, without affecting the vanilla, but it also adds more richness. Sour cream has a higher fat content, giving that ultimate rich flavor, and adds a bit of acidity to your cake, giving it a nice and tender texture. Trust me, no one will know that there is sour cream in it...well unless you tell them. The secret is between us!
What If I Only Have Salted Butter?
You may absolutely use salted! Just opt out of salt from your dry ingredients.
Recipe Tips
Be sure to check your baking powder and soda expiration date. If you end up having dense layers that did not seem to fluff up at all, expired or over-mixed batter is usually the culprit.
Use parchment paper for easy cake removal. By cutting a circle to fit the bottom of your cake pan and then a strip around the inner side, before pouring in your batter, you can always ensure a super clean and easy removal with zero sticking.
Scrape the sides! During the batter mixing process, be sure to do these steps slowly and scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl 1-2 times to ensure there are no ingredients that do not get mixed in properly. Skipping this can result in chunks of butter, flour, etc ending up in the middle of your cake.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 2 - 8" cakes
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature) (salted is okay, see notes)
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 egg yolks (room temperature)
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sour cream (room temperature)
1 cup (245g) buttermilk (room temperature)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon (4g) salt
2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1-2 tablespoons red food coloring
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line your cake or cupcake tins accordingly
In a bowl, whisk together your sour cream and buttermilk until smooth and fully combined. Then add in the vegetable oil, eggs, egg yolk, vinegar, and vanilla. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
In your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in your eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides as needed. Then mix in your red food coloring.
With the mixer on low, slowly add in your dry ingredients. The mixture will look slightly sandy, that’s exactly what you want.
Gradually pour in your buttermilk mixture and mix until just combined.
Bake for about 25 minutes, adding additional time as needed, until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs and the cake has no jiggle in the center.
Recipe Notes
Freezing Your Cakes
Once your cakes are out of the oven, try to wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in the freezer until frozen and/or you are ready to decorate them. This little hack helps trap the moisture in and does not let the cakes to continue to bake in the tins.
Once you are ready to use your cakes, you may trim them while chilled (which makes it easier) and then stack or frost as you normally would once they have thawed out just slightly but not at room temperature. This makes it easier to crumb-coat, decorate, etc.
Buttermilk vs. Milk
Buttermilk is not needed, but it adds just that right amount of extra moisture and flavor that my customers enjoy! Buttermilk has a bit of a higher fat content than regular milk. You may use regular milk any % will work or try making your own buttermilk substitute from the options in my Buttermilk Substitutes blog!
Butter
You may use unsalted or salted for this recipe. I normally have a lot of unsalted butter on hand due to my sugar cookie recipe, however if you just have salted, opt the additional salt in this recipe.
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