Red Velvet Cake is a timeless and elegant dessert – just in time for your holiday baking. Cake flour provides a very delicate crumb, and the buttermilk and tablespoon of vinegar lend just the right amount of tanginess. Topped with cream cheese icing and toasted pecans, this cake is the perfect balance of textures and flavors.
Mama always loved it when I baked a red velvet cake. After the first bite, she’d always say “mmmm, that is money!” It was always a favorite for us. When I was little, Mama always made me red velvet cupcakes for my birthday. I actually used to hate the icing, so she always made a separate batch sans icing – just for me.
Y’all, let’s go ahead and clear the air. Red velvet is not just chocolate cake or vanilla cake with red food color. It breaks my heart for folks who think this, because they’ve clearly never had a proper red velvet cake. Even the fanciest of bakeries have left me underwhelmed and disappointed with their rendition.
Red velvet, if done correctly, is one of those flavors you can’t quite put your finger on, but you know it’s buttery and deliciously tangy. It’s a symbiotic balance of butter, cocoa powder, buttermilk, vanilla, and vinegar (yes, vinegar). The tablespoon of vinegar at the end is what truly gives the cake that signature tangy flavor.
Mama’s Favorite Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 eggs (room temperature)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 oz. red food coloring (4 tablespoons)
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
Cream Cheese Icing
- 2 8 oz block cream cheese (at room temperature)
- 1 stick unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4+ cups confectioners sugar
- 1 cup roasted chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each egg. Beat for several minutes until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the cake flour and salt then set aside.
- Make a paste with the food coloring and cocoa powder. Add to the creamed butter mixture. Measure the buttermilk in the cup used for the food coloring.
- Slowly add some of the flour and buttermilk alternately to the creamed butter mixture until everything is combined. Add the baking soda on top of the mixture then pour the vinegar on top so it bubbles. Mix together until just combined.
- Bake in two 9 inch cake pans (greased and floured) and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the cake pans for about 5 minutes, then flip the cakes onto cooling racks. Allow cakes to cool completely before icing. **You can also use this recipe for cupcakes.
Cream Cheese Icing
- While the cake is cooling, roast the pecans in the oven for about 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. Keep an eye on pecans, as they can burn easily. Allow to cool completely.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until creamy and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until icing firms up. Once the layers are completely cool, ice the cake. Top with roasted pecans. Enjoy!
Notes
- For best results, I highly recommend using cake flour, which is found in almost all groceries stores on the baking aisle.
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before baking. Room temperature ingredients blend together more quickly and easily than chilled ingredients.
- Use buttermilk – you cannot substitute this ingredient. Buttermilk is an integral ingredient for both moisture and flavor. If you must, you can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a 1 cup of whole milk and stir, then let it rest for at least 5 minutes until the milk “sours” slightly.
- Grease and flour your cake pans before you add the batter! Using my finger, I spread a small amount of vegetable shortening all around the inside of my baking pans, making sure to get every nook and cranny. Next, I toss in a tablespoon or two of flour to coat the pans. Simply tap the flour around in the pans until its covered then shake off the excess flour. This keeps the cake from sticking to the pans and provides a nice “crust” on the cake layers.
- Make sure you use the 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese for your icing and not the tubs.
Here’s to savoring the sweetness in life.
With love, from Asheville,
-Shug
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