This Valentine’s & Galentine’s Day, treat yourself to this ultimate RED VELVET CAKE 🍰💌💘✨

This beauty is everything you’ll need! 💘 So soft, tender, frosted with luscious cream cheese frosting and topped withcrunchy toasted red velvet crumbs. It’s finally decorated with fresh strawberries + white chocolate-coated strawberries 🍓🤍

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This cake has a beautiful red colour along with a gorgeous velvety texture! The amazing red velvet flavour is achieved by having a perfect balance between the acidity and the chocolate. Cocoa powder, buttermilk and vinegar were added to give it a lovely tangy taste and velvety texture.

This cake is so irresistibly good that it’s guaranteed to steal hearts (and taste buds) 🤭❤️

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WHAT YOU'LL NEED FOR THIS DELICIOUS RECIPE!

The whole recipe, including the ingredients with their exact quantities is mentioned in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Here's the list of ingredients required to make this cake.

FOR RED VELVET CAKE

• Plain flour/all-purpose flour
• Cocoa powder: It is added to add a hint of cocoa flavour.
• Vegetable oil: It gives a softness to this cake when cold. You can make them in advance and they will stay moist and softer for several days in the fridge if stored in an airtight container or properly wrapped in cling wrap.
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Baking soda & Baking powder
• Salt: It balances the sweetness and enhances the flavour of chocolate.
• Buttermilk: It's an important ingredient in this cake. It helps the leavening agent and makes the cake light and fluffy. I used store-bought but you can use homemade buttermilk. To make homemade buttermilk, take 1 cup of milk at room temperature and add 1 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar. Stir to mix and set aside for 10 minutes before adding to the batter.
• White vinegar: It is added to make this cake light and tender and to preserve the red colour. Red velvet cake has a perfect balance between acidity and chocolate flavour with a beautiful red colour. Although we are using buttermilk and cocoa powder here, the addition of vinegar provides a little extra acid that helps the baking soda to work better. The cake will rise better and will have a light, fluffy and velvety texture.
• Red food colour: I used red food gel colour here. Don’t use liquid colour because gel colour works better here. Liquid colour will make this cake batter more liquidy and the colour will be less vibrant.

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FOR CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• Full-fat Cream cheese: It should be COLD. Always use full-fat cream cheese as it gives the frosting a creamy consistency. I used the Philadelphia original.
• Unsalted butter: Softened to room temperature.
• Icing sugar/powdered sugar (sifted): This sugar is great for frosting. It is light and fine, blends into the cream cheese easily and makes the frosting fluffy.
• Lemon juice: It is used to balance the sweetness and gives a tangy flavour to this frosting.
• Salt

FOR DECORATION

• Few fresh strawberries
• White chocolate + vegetable oil (1 tsp)
• Toasted red velvet cake crumbs

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED

• Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• Two 7” round cake pans
• Mixing bowls
• Spatula

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PRO TIPS!

• Always use room temperature ingredients to keep an even consistency of the batter like eggs and buttermilk.
• Measure your flour correctly! The best way to measure the flour is by using a digital scale. If you don’t have a scale, use proper measuring cups. Fluff the flour with a spoon into a measuring cup. Scrape a knife across the top of a measuring cup to level the flour without packing it in. Too much flour will lead to a dry, dense or crumbly cake.
• Sift your dry ingredients before adding them into the wet mixture. That helps to combine everything evenly.
• Don’t forget to add a little bit of vinegar to the batter. A little extra acid helps the baking soda work better. The cake will rise better and have a light, fluffy and velvety texture.
• Don’t over-mix the batter! Once the dry ingredients are combined into the wet ingredients, stop mixing too much, or you'll end up with a dense cake.
• For the best cream cheese frosting, use softened butter (which means it should be softened enough that when you press it with light pressure, your finger leaves a dent) and COLD cream cheese, straight out of the fridge. Just change the mixing order of the ingredients to get a stable and dreamy cream cheese frosting.

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FAQ

WHAT DOES RED VELVET CAKE  TASTE LIKE?

Red velvet cake has a mild chocolate flavour with a slight tartness. A more important thing of a red velvet cake is its velvety texture that is achieved when baking soda reacts with vinegar, buttermilk and cocoa powder.

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CAN I MAKE RED VELVET CAKE IN ADVANCE?

Yes! You can make it a day ahead of frosting. But tightly cover them in plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge. It’sbetter to make a day ahead of serving because they are easier to assemble when cold.

CAN I MAKE THIS CREAM CHEESE FROSTING IN ADVANCE?

To get the best results, use it right away after whipping. It will stay stable in the fridge for 2-3 days but keep it in an airtight container. If the frosting looks grainy or separated before you frost the cake, give it a short whip and it will be fluffy again.

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HOW TO STORE IT?

Keep any leftover cake (if it will last that long) in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.

You can also freeze it without frosting for up to 1-2 months. Separately wrap them in cling wrap then put them in a zip-lock bag and freeze. Take them out to thaw for 1 hour to bring them to room temperature before frosting.

I hope that you'll try this recipe and you'll love them as much as my family and I do! If you make this recipe then be sure to tag @kaotickrunch on Instagram. We'd love to see your creations!

Happy baking and eating! 😊