This red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting is so delightfully moist and sweet that it is sure to wow all of your guests! You'll taste hints of vanilla, cocoa, and butter as well as the traditional tangy flavor from the buttermilk! It is a classic cake that everyone knows and loves!
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175 °C) and grease and flour your cake pans. I used 3 8-inch cake pans.
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, sift or whisk together the dry ingredients (cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt) to combine so that the cocoa is evenly distributed throughout the flour.
In a separate large mixing bowl beat the softened butter until creamy, smooth, and light in color. Add the sugar and cream together with your butter until you have a crumbled texture and the butter and sugar are evenly distributed.
½ cup butter, 2 cups sugar
Add vegetable oil to the creamed butter and sugar and combine until fairly smooth (with a few small lumps is OK). Next, add the vanilla extract and eggs, then combine until smooth again.
1 cup vegetable oil, 2 tablespoon vanilla extract, 4 large eggs
Once the wet ingredients are fully combined, add the red food coloring and distilled white vinegar, then blend again until smooth. *Use as much food coloring as needed to achieve your desired depth of red color in the cake - I used 2 tablespoons of liquid food coloring in the video demonstration. Gel food coloring works best.
red food coloring, 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
Mix in the buttermilk until smooth then make a well in the mixing bowl of dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and mix to combine until your red velvet cake batter is smooth.
1 cup buttermilk
Transfer the batter to your prepared cake pans and bake at 350°F (175 °C) for 25-30 minutes. Remove the cakes from your oven when an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean from the center of the cakes. *They should spring back to the touch as well.
Place your baked cakes on a wire cooling rack and allow them to cool slightly in the pans for 5 minutes before removing them to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream together the 2 bricks of softened cream cheese with the 1 stick of softened butter until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and mix until well distributed.
16 oz cream cheese, ½ cup butter, 3 teaspoon vanilla extract
Next, mix in the confectioners' sugar, then start adding heavy cream, a drizzle at a time, until you reach your desired frosting consistency. Your frosting can be a bit softer if you plan on simply spreading it on your cake, or make it a bit more firm if you would like to pipe your frosting.
4 cups confectioners sugar, 2-4 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
Level your cake layers out before assembling your layer cake. Reserve the trimmed cake pieces for decorating.
Layer the cake with cream cheese frosting filling, then frost the sides and top of the cake. Pipe a border and decorate with red velvet crumbs reserved from trimming your cakes if desired.
Video
Notes
Use a hand mixer or some elbow grease if you don't have a stand mixer. The cake will still be amazing!
Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of your mixing bowl when you're combining the wet and dry ingredients.
Cakes should be cooled for about 2 hours or more (chilled in the refrigerator is best) before frosting.
To store: Place red velvet cake into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To freeze: You can freeze your cake for up to 3 months. Simply allow it to thaw overnight before serving.