Red Velvet Cake

Stop looking, this is the red velvet cake recipe you need in your life!  Plus, prepare to be shocked by more than just the recipe today :).


I have made this recipe so many times since I've found it, and it has yet to fail me!  Every time I make it I get a ton (yes, a ton!) of compliments on it.  I'm not a red velvet fan (I know, make your shocked face now!), but when it comes out of the oven it just always looks so crumbly and moist.  

At first, I thought the secret ingredient was the buttermilk, but after making 2 other velvet cakes (blue velvet and white velvet) yesterday, I think the secret ingredient is the coffee (this also works as the secret ingredient in the chocolate cake recipe I make - also, not the biggest fan of chocolate cake - insert second shocked face here - I warned you about being shocked, lol).

My first go at this recipe was for my sister's wedding cake.  It was then I knew I found a recipe to keep in my cake book.  Everyone loved it!  Since then, any time a red velvet cake is requested, I pull out this recipe and get to baking.


You can find the actual recipe here.


Here is how I went about it :)


First things first, always mix your dry ingredients separately -

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened, cocoa powder
• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• 1 cup of vegetable oil

TIP to measure out flour, use a spoon and spoon it into the cup measurement.  NEVER pack in the flour, this will make a more dense cake, and we don't want that.  The lighter the flour, the better :)

These are all the dry ingredients before being whisked together

After whisking all the dry ingredients together.  You can see the little specks of cocoa powder.

Normally, at the same time I'm gathering the dry ingredients, I have my kitchen-aid mixing the oil and sugar together.  I have this at about speed 4 with the whisk attachment.

• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• 1 cup of vegetable oil

Oil and sugar before it was mixed (forgot to get the after : /)

Once I have that going and/or done, I mix the buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, and vanilla extract in my nifty 2 cup Pyrex measuring unit :).  

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 2 oz of red food coloring
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract

Mix slowly and carefully, otherwise, it may look like you had a bloody massacre in your kitchen when cleaning.  This is what mine looked like, oops!

See the "bloody" paper towel?  I used two 1 oz bottles of red food coloring (Kroger brand)

I then get my coffee and vinegar mix ready.  

• 1/2 cup of plain, hot coffee
• 1 tsp of white distilled vinegar

I normally have little pouches of instant coffee in my baking supplies for these type of recipes.  I use the whole pouch of the 1/2 cup.  Nice and strong - but, you can't taste it in the finished product.  I pour the instant coffee powder in the measuring cup, pour in hot/boiling water to the 1/2 cup mark, add in the vinegar, and stir. I don't ever leave it too hot - fearing it may "cook" the batter, so I blow and stir to cool it off some.

I always switch up the brand with what I have at hand.  Haven't really stuck to one flavor.

Lastly, mix the dry and wet ingredients a little at a time.  

I mix all the wet ones first (with the oil sugar in the kitchen-aid) slowly.

All the wet ingredients combined.

Then I add the dry ingredients slowly.  About 3-4 batches.  Again, do this slowly.  This is a very "runny" batter so if turned up fast it will splatter!

This is how it should look at the end.  See the nice, red color?

Finally pop into the oven (preheated at 325) and bake for about 30 min for 8" or 9" pans.  If it isn't done after 30 minutes, I put it in for another 5 minutes, checking each time.  Here is the finished product:

Some of the leftover cake

The final "flag" cake.

Enjoy!! Leave comments below with your experience.  Also, don't forget to check out the other "velvet" cake recipes (blue and white) for this cake, along with the original recipe and recipes at Divas Can Cook!