Happy birthday to my little princess who turned 4 today. It looks like only yesterday I baked the strawberry cake for her 3rd birthday and she is already four. The red velvet cake has been on my list for quite sometime and I was all set to make it for my son’s birthday, but then he decided he wanted a marble cake instead. I finally got around to making this for my daughter and it worked out pretty well because she loved the color and gulped down the frosting. All my friends enjoyed the cake and K said that the cake was very moist and tasty.
I do not have the patience to apply the frosting and K came to the rescue like he did for my other cakes. I just told him that I wanted to sprinkle some crumbs and some edible pearls and left him to play with the frosting. After a couple of attempts, we got a decent decoration and I could not take my eyes off the pretty white cake with red crumbs. I was also happy that I was able to take some good pictures given that I was doing it in a panicky mode with my friends inside the house. Since it was a small party, I just had a couple of friends and they did not mind me clicking a few pictures.
I did not add the amount of red food coloring mentioned in the recipe and I used only half. We still got a pretty good color. Also, I was oscillating between buttercream frosting and cream cheese frosting and finally decided to go with the cream cheese frosting and have absolutely no regrets. The frosting was slightly tangy and the sweetness was perfect. Recipe from PinchMySalt.
Loved the crumbs and the edible pearls on the top.
Ingredients – Red Velvet Cake
- 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 oz. red food coloring (original recipe calls for 2 oz.)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature (use substitute mentioned if needed)
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
My Notes
- Original recipe uses 2 oz. of food coloring. I have used only 1 oz.
- It takes a while for the cocoa and red food coloring to mix. Keep mixing with a spoon.
- You can use buttermilk substitute instead of buttermilk.
- Allow the cakes to cool well before frosting.
- My cakes were done in 25 minutes, so check early.
1 tbsp vinegar + almost 1 cup milk.
Method – Red Velvet Cake
Take cocoa and red food coloring in a bowl.
Mix well to form a paste.
Spray (with non-stick spray) and flour two 9 inch cake pans.
To the sifted cake flour, add salt.
Add baking powder.
Sift the dry ingredients and keep aside.
Take butter and sugar in a bowl.
Beat well until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Mix well.
Add vanilla extract. Mix well.
Add the food coloring + cocoa mixture. Beat well.
Mixture ready for dry ingredients.
Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and beat well.
Add half of the buttermilk. Beat well.
Beat in 1/3 of flour mix followed by the remaining buttermilk and then beat in the remaining 1/3 of the flour mix.
Mix the vinegar and baking soda. It will sizzle 
.
Add the vinegar + baking soda to the cake batter. Mix.
Work quickly and evenly distribute the cake batter into the two prepared pans.
Bake in a 350F preheated oven for 25 – 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Out of the oven. Lovely red color .
After the cakes have cooled, apply the frosting.
Apply frosting to the first cake.
Place the other cake over the frosting and frost it.
Frost the sides. Time to make it look pretty.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients – Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick), softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- Pinch of salt
- This amount is enough to frost the top and sides. You may need more frosting if you need to do additional decorations.
Method – Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat until it is smooth.
Add powdered sugar.
Add salt.
Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Frosting ready for the cake.
Another look at the tasty rich cake.
Enjoy!
Sending to Bake Fest #7 hosted by Priya.
Yummy yummy cake!! I really want to make this cake for Christmas, can I please have the ingredients in grams i possible. Thanks
Hi! Very-very nice cake, thank you!
As for me – the red velvet was great, but my frosting was not as firm enough to cover the sides of the cake… I’d say it was liquid. What could I make wrong?
Was the butter at room temperature or melted?
Adding more sugar helps to stiffen up the frosting.
Lovely Red Velvet cake. I was wondering if u have tried the one with beetroot, i need a vegan Red Velvet so i just wonder about the beetroot mixture before baking is red but not after please help
Sorry, I have only read about it, but have not tried making it. Here is one such link I found.
http://bigbaketheory.com/2012/01/27/natural-red-velvet-cake/
nice idea.. thanks for sharing.
hi vardhini.. i made this cake yesterday..and it was yumm though i made some silly mistakes in the frosting part..i m new in baking..also the lower part of the cake was brownish and the upper half was red in color why so..otherwise the cake was soft moist and delicious..also i want to know what is the use of vineger in this cake..
Baking soda and vinegar react to release carbon dioxide – this causes the batter to rise and expand while baking. Did you use the mentioned amount of food coloring? Was it mixed all the way through. I have read about brown cakes when the amount of food coloring used was less.
may be i used less amount of color..but it was mixed properly..anyways thanks for the answer and wish i could make cakes like u..u r superb..
may be i used less amount of color..but it was mixed properly..anyways thanks for the answer and wish i could make cakes like u..u r superb..
Beautiful cake…even I made a red velvet cake and cupcake recently…I’m a total fan of the cake now
Regards,
Manju
http://manjuseatingdelights.blogspot.com
I am not a huge fan of red velvet but this does look delicious – Cream cheese frosting is a yummy idea
Ooooo La La!!!!! That’s your best creation!! Red + White = amazing!!
Will be using your frosting! 
I just got edible Red Color while coming back from exams today! What a coincidence!
what is cream cheese..where can i get it..plz do let me know ..
It is a fresh and soft cheese. This is how it looks.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Philadelphia_cream_cheese.JPG. Where are you located? In the USA, you will find this cheese in pretty much every supermarket.
Stunning cake! Red and white,ready to fight!
Yup,even I remember seeing your strawberry cake last year. Days are flying! Belated birthday wishes to your sweet little Princess!
That is a beautiful red velvet cake. Sure enough seems like the red colour you used was plenty. Nice frosting too.
I need to try this it has been on my list toooooooooooo.Wishing your lil 1 A very Happy B’day
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Awesome cake..looks delicious..my wishes to your daughter!!
So pretty! I absolutely love red velvet and this sounds awesome!
So pretty! I absolutely love red velvet and this sounds awesome!
So pretty! I absolutely love red velvet and this sounds awesome!
OOH LA..LA..now that is something really really pretty!!..not that I have forgotten the strawberry cake which u baked last yr!!..really fallen in love with this beauty!!..and loads of love and wishes to u r little one ..God Bless her….I am wondering what r u going to bake next year?…ehehe…..looking fwd!!
A very happy birthday to your lil girl, cake looks fab, beautiful clicks
wow, perfect and lovely! Love the colour! Hope she enjoyed the cake
Happy birthday to your little princess… Cake looks so tempting..
the frosting s breath taking…. and the cake looks relish
Beautiful cake… love the decoration
happy birthday to your lil princess…she is absolutely lucky to have an amazing mom like you..
cake is looking excellent, fab & inviting..:)
Tasty Appetite
Belated birthday wishes to your daughter. Cake looks so beautiful. I am sure she might have loved it..
Wowwww looks so delicious…made it perfectly
Belated Birthday Wishes to you lil’ one…Red Velvet cake looks so gorgeous n loved your decoration
will bake it sometime with the help of your pictorials..,Thanks!!
Its in my List tooo
Looks real pretty vardhini, your daughter must have enjoyed it a lot!!!!
Happy birthday to ur lil darling, velvet cake with cream cheese frosting looks absolutely elegant,gorgeous and stunning.
Awww how pretty. Cant wait to try
Belated Birthday wishes to your lil princess!
The cake looks awesome.
Many many happy returns of the day to your daughter ,cake looks gorgeous,,,,
The cake looks very pretty. Hearty wishes to your lil princess!
Wishing ur little girl a very happy B’day…I too made had made red velvet cake recently & I must say the bright color itself is such a joy to see…and urs looks fab with the pretty decor on top..I’m sure she must have been real glad!
beautifully decorated cake
Happy Birthday to Neha and what a treat for the Birthday Girl. The cake looks scrumptious and loved the crumbs on the frosting.
Happy Birthday Neha Darling! God Bless!!!
Wow!…Gobble-licious!!!
… Magic Hands & Magic Hands…all the way!
what a pretty bake; birthday wishes to your lil angel and must say your hubby has quite an eye on making the cake look picture perfect !