Servings : 10-12 people
My beautiful and delish Red Velvet Cake with cream cheese frosting.
Recipe courtesy of Joy of Baking
Ingredients for Cake
- 2 ½ cups sifted cake flour (250 grams)
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder (15 grams)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (113gm)
- 1 ½ cups granulated white sugar (300gm)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk (240ml)
- 2 tbsp. liquid red food coloring
- 1 tsp. white distilled vinegar
- 1 tsp. baking soda
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 - 8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature (227 grams)
- 1 - 8 ounce tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature (227 grams)
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted (115 grams)
- 1 ½ cups cold heavy whipping cream (double cream) (35-40% butterfat) (360 ml)
Instructions
For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter two – 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.
Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 – 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or overnight). (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth. Using the whisk attachment, gradually add the heavy cream and whip until the frosting is thick enough to spread. Add more sugar or cream as needed to get the right consistency.
Assemble: With a serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting. Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish the cake with sweetened or unsweetened coconut.
How to make Buttermilk
A tablespoon of lemon or vinegar mixed in a cup of milk then set aside for 10-15mins and used as directed. Try and use whole milk and make sure it’s at room temperature before adding the lemon/vinegar.
AOA Fauzia, can I use 1/2 cup of oil instead of 1/2 cup butter ?
& another question not related to this recipe,I have read at so many places about mustard powder in making mayonnaise so do you have any idea about it ? can I omit it or any other alternate for mustard powder?
Thank you so much, well I like your recipes a lot and have tried also some and got expected results too :)…..
W/Salaam, best to use butter for this recipe. Sorry but am not really sure about the mustard powder in mayonnaise although I believe you can leave it out if you don’t want that flavour.
Hi fauzia,wnt to do dis for eid,if i use a whole cret of eggs,wat measuremnt should i use for the others?.wont the eggs be to much?.tnx
Number of eggs is mentioned in the recipe. If you are using more eggs, multiply the amounts of all the other ingredients accordingly.
Sorry,forgot 2 mention,wnt to do cupcakes.tnx
hw much red powdered food color can we use instead of liquid.thnx
Hard to say, first mix the powdered colour in a few drops of water or milk and then add to the batter and mix until the desired colour is achieved.
thnk you.il do tht n try
pls can i have the self raising flour and butter milk
jazakallahuhira
resp
Butter milk recipe is posted under this recipe. You do NOT need SR flour for this cake. But here is the way to make it: 1 cup plain flour plus 1 and a half tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt sieved together.
Can I make the icing without whipped cream my friend is allergic
Yes you can.
hi Fauzia,
i wanted to know, which brand of whipping cream do you use for the cream cheese frosting? and can we use butter in place of the whipped cream?
Hi, depends on where you are located. Different countries have different brands. And no you cannot use butter in place of whipped cream, those are two very different things.
which brand of whipping cream should i get if i am in dhaka? and thanks 🙂 i saw this other recipe on the internet for the cream cheese frosting and they used almost the same ingredients but not the whipping cream but butter, so thought of asking you to make sure.
Unfortunately I am not from Dhaka so cannot know which brands are available. I personally have not tried with butter so that concept is new to me, but maybe it can be an excellent combination. You can give it a try if you like, do let me know how it turns out. 🙂
can u plz tell me the brand name of cream cheese u used?? is Philadelphia spreadable n the block one cheese both can b used?? and wat abt the triangle cheese pieces is tht also cream cheese??
Philadelphia cream cheese is best. Not the spreadable version, the slightly solid block. Definitely not the triangle pieces.
Can I know any alternate to use instead of cake flour for the red velvet cake.
And if I’m doing a smaller one than this, should I take all measurements equally half of the recipe.
Eager to know ur reply. 🙂
Cake flour is really easy to make, recipe is included. And yes you can halve the ingredients to make one 8″ cake.
Slm !pls fauzy can I use baking powder instead of the soda
W/Salaam, no the two should not be substituted, each works differently.
please tell me how to make butter milk
Recipe for buttermilk is included in the recipe dear…please re-check?
tanx shd i take out the fat and use or directly
can be used sorry since i dnt know much abt butter milk
Give it a mix and use, do not take the fat out.
Hi, I was going through your red velvet cake to make it for this valentine. I just wanted to know that we should use cake flour and the recipe of cake flour is there on the site. I am surprised isnt there any baking powder needed for this cake ? And secondly can you plz put some fondant icing and some other easy icing for cake . I have tried butter milk icing but it come out good. So looking for fresh cream with fruit and some fondants thanks
Hi, no baking powder is used as there is baking soda that has been used in the recipe…which reacts with the vinegar to help the cake rise. 🙂
what other frosting will be best for red velvet cake beside this cream cheese frosting ????
Whipped cream works beautifully too.
i don’t have an electric oven how can i set with a microwave oven
Sorry but I never use the microwave for baking/cooking.
salams Fauzia, I tried this
salams Fauzia, I tried this cake was good but experienced one problem it turned out to be dry…please could you tell me what my mistake maybe so I can improve on that. Thanks
W/Salaam, could be that the
W/Salaam, could be that the cake was overbaked? Try baking it for slightly less time next time. 🙂
i followed all the
i followed all the ingredients accurately except salt, just addedd a pinch of it as we dont add much salt in our food. the cake texture came out perfect. the problem is i dont why it came out to be very salty to an extend its not edible. can u help me with the reason?
Hmm that is strange! Did you
Hmm that is strange! Did you use salted butter? And was the baking soda fresh?