What Kind Of Frosting Is Best For Red Velvet Cake
I know so many of you prefer your red velvet with cream cheese frosting, but Im ALL about the Heritage Frosting on this cake, that I linked to above! BUT you can also use:
- Cream cheese frosting, which is a classic on Red Velvet Cake!
- Buttercream Frosting, because its an easy option for those who dont want to go to the trouble of Heritage Frosting or dont like Cream Cheese Frosting
- Chocolate Frosting! It might seem crazy, but chocolate and red velvet go together perfectly!
With All The Testing I Have A Few Tips To Get You The Best Results
- Cake flour We tried this version with both all purpose/plain flour and cake flour, and the cake flour version resulted in a softer, velvety cake, fooling everyone into thinking we had purchased it from an expensive baker! You can certainly use all purpose though if thats all you have. You will still get an incredible cake.
- Oil This addition guarantees a moist sponge. Mix it together with your cocoa powder and red dye so the three incorporate really well into the cake batter. This ensures the cocoa powder is mostly dissolved before being mixed through.
- Buttermilk OR milk with vinegar We tried one version using buttermilk plus vinegar and one version making our own buttermilk, souring full cream milk with 1-2 teaspoons of vinegar before starting. Both worked INCREDIBLY well!
What Gives Red Velvet Cake Its Flavor
The distinct flavors of red velvet cake come from the buttermilk, vinegar, cocoa powder, and cream cheese frosting. Some red velvet cake recipes use only a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder, giving virtually no chocolate flavor. This leads some people to think that red velvet cake is simply a white cake dyed red. A true red velvet cake is a distinct chocolate flavor in addition to a slight acidic flavor.
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Red Velvet Cake Recipe Tried And Tested Favourite
This Red Velvet Cake has been taste tested and given a big thumbs up by many people because its a rather large cake and Ive made it 5 times in the last two weeks.
FIVE TIMES??!!, I hear you exclaim . Youre MAD!!
If getting this cake exactly to my taste, as close as I can get it to the cakes you get from posh bakeries, and ensuring it works using both US and metric measures means that Im a mad baker, Ill take that title.
Besides, Im really enjoying baking at the moment. There is something so satisfying about making something as pretty as Red Velvet Cake.
To tell you the honest truth, the reason I made it so many times in recent weeks is because my original recipe got a so-so response from the two toughest taste-testers I know: my mother and brother.
The sponge is zara-zara, my mother declared on first bite.
What the.?? Zara-zara? What on earth does that mean??
Zara-zara means rough in Japanese. The Japanese language has a handful of words which sound like what it means. Zara-zara being a perfect example. Usually it cracks me up. Not that day.
I gasped, indignant, and grabbed a spoon to shovel a bite into my mouth, ready to argue. And I realised she was right. It was not as velvety as it could be. As it should be.
NOT HAPPY.
So I improved it.
How To Make This Red Velvet Cake
To make this red velvet cake, youll start by whisking together your dry ingredients: cake flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. I suggest using cake flour because it has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour which creates a softer, lighter cake. When it comes to cake flour, two of my favorite brands are Pillsbury Softasilk and Swans Down.
Theres also 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder in this cake so the cake isnt super chocolatey, but it has a hint of chocolate that is expected in red velvet cakes. Once youve whisked together the dry ingredients I suggest sifting them as well to remove any lumps of cocoa powder and help keep the cake light.
Then, mix up the wet ingredients starting with some unsalted butter and granulated sugar. I suggest creaming the butter and sugar together for about 4-5 minutes. Why? Creaming the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy incorporates more air into your cake batter creating a softer, lighter cake.
Once the butter and sugar are creamed together, youll beat in two eggs until well combined. Then mix in the rest of the wet ingredients: some oil, red food coloring, vanilla extract, and distilled white vinegar. The oil helps to keep the cake incredibly moist, so I use a combination of butter and oil in this cake.
Then, just level your cakes and frost it however you like. I used the Wilton 1M piping tip for the swirls on top of this cake.
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So What Makes A Red Velvet Cake Different From A Chocolate Cake
“It’s not necessarily a chocolate lovers cake, it’s a red lovers cake,” says Kaija Knorr, private chef on Nantucket, Massachusetts, and owner of Cook in the Cottage. “It’s a one trick ponyif you wanted an amazing chocolate flavor, you’d go for a death by chocolate cake or similar cake.”
Although red velvet cake recipes call for cocoa powder, the cake is a far cry from chocolate cake. Red velvet cake has a lighter chocolate flavor than chocolate cake because it uses a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder instead of full-flavored chocolate bar squares.
Additionally, the red cake usually includes acidic ingredientseither buttermilk or vinegarsomething you don’t find in a standard chocolate cake.
And most obviously, red velvet cake isn’t brown like a rich chocolate cake is. Typically, a red velvet cake is topped with a cream cheese-based frosting rather than a chocolate frosting, says Knorr, so that’s the most obvious difference between the desserts besides the color.
How To Make Red Velvet Cake
This article was co-authored by Mathew Rice. Mathew Rice has worked in restaurant pastry kitchens across the country since the late 1990’s. His creations have been featured in Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and Martha Stewart Weddings. In 2016, Eater named Mathew one of the top 18 chefs to follow on Instagram.There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 95% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 256,417 times.
A red velvet cake can be a delicious dessert for almost any occasion, and it doesn’t have to be a hard cake to make either! Simple and full of flavor, this is a showstopping dessert worth sharing with friends.
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What Is Red Velvet Cake And How Is It Different From Chocolate Cake
Some of the ingredients may surprise you.
Red velvet cake sounds so luxuriouslike a soft, creamy, and expensive version of a regular cake, but so much better. Despite red velvet cake’s popularity in recent years, most people have no idea what the dessert really is, assuming it’s chocolate cake with lots of red food coloring added. Although a traditional red velvet cake has elements of a chocolate cake, there are a few key ingredients that make it so distinctly different from other cakes. The list of those ingredients might surprise you!
Products I Use To Make This Cake
9-inch cake pans these high quality cake pans help my layer cakes bake beautifully. Some of you asked me on Instagram how come my cakes are so flat. There are a few tricks for it, and you can read about it in this helpful guide, but Ill be honest that I dont bother with this. I get good results with these cake pans, and if the cakes have a dome, I slice it off with a sharp knife. Its less trouble, and no one would notice.
Red food coloring I always prefer using gel than liquid. Ive tried many and this one has the best vibrant red color.
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Tips For Making This Red Velvet Cake Recipe
- The recipe as-is will work in either two 8 or three 6 pans. The layers will be thicker than in the recipe above though, so youll need to increase the baking time.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time start checking at 15mins or so.
- I used Americolor Super red to color the cake layers because it is concentrated and does not leave an after-taste. If you want to use liquid coloring, youll need to use about 1-2 oz.
- The frosting recipe below makes enough to fully frost the cake. If you only want enough to do a naked cake like I did, use 2/3rds of the recipe.
- The crumble is optional, see post for details. I did it solely for aesthetics.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my Flat Top Cakes post!
What Is Red Velvet Cake
Red Velvet Cake is not just a chocolate cake with red food colouring added. This cake is softer than most, velvet-like, and the chocolate taste is actually quite mild. Its more like a cross between a vanilla and chocolate cake with a very subtle tang from buttermilk. And it is generously smothered in a fluffy cream cheese frosting.
Its wildly popular in America and theres a cult following in Australia. Give it a few years, it will become a firm favourite soon!
The cake tastes buttery and moist, because it has butter in it for flavour, and oil for moisture. Yes, you need both, I promise you. It is not the same if you use only one of them.
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What Kind Of Frosting Goes With Red Velvet Cake
Traditionally, ermine frosting is the frosting of choice. Cream cheese frosting has recently replaced old fashioned ermine as the top option and this slightly tangy frosting is a great complement as well. I recommend either of those for a classic cake, but Swiss meringue buttercream or classic buttercream frosting would also work as less-traditional options.
Best Southern Red Velvet Cake Recipe
Easy, moist red velvet cake recipe full of Southern charm with a secret ingredient! Frosted with Cream Cheese frosting!
Watch me make this Easy, Moist Red Velvet Cake from start to finish!
There is something so elegant about a red velvet cake. Maybe its the name or that beautiful, bold red color. Or maybe its the delicate crumb and light chocolatey flavor with a tad bit of tang from the buttermilk.
Whatever it is, Im totally present for all things RED VELVET!!! Red Velvet Pound Cake anyone??
Ive been getting a lot of requests for red velvet cake. Being from the south my recipe options were endless. I swear everybody in my family has their way of making red velvet cake and to them, it is the best!!
Hooooowever, I still knew that the perfect red velvet cake was still out there somewhere.
I have been on the search for the best homemade red velvet cake recipe for a while now actually. I wanted one that was easy, super moist, melt-in-your-mouth soft with that signature light chocolatey buttermilk red velvet flavor.
Ive tried a few recipes that wereOK. Nothing that really blew my heels off though. Until I played around with merging three recipes and out came THE MASTERPIECE!!! Or at least we think so in my house!
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What Is The Difference Between Chocolate And Red Velvet Cake
This red velvet cake is based off of the recipe for The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake so there are some similarities, but there are also several key differences that gives Red Velvet Cake its unique flavor and texture. Red velvet cake has less cocoa powder added to it so the chocolate flavor is much more mild. Both our chocolate cake and red velvet cake use buttermilk, but buttermilk is a required ingredient for red velvet cake. It also has vinegar and red food coloring added to it to add acidity and the classic red coloring.
Best Red Velvet Cake Recipe Ever This Red Velvet Cake Is So Moist & Fluffy I Can Never Get Enough
I love red velvet cake, but I dont love everyones red velvet cake recipe! Some people claim to have the best red velvet cake recipe, but I truly think mine is the best This southern red velvet cake is so unbelievably moist! Like seriously, its amazing.
I top my red velvet with super creamy cream cheese frosting, which by the way is homemade. The cake & the frosting are out of this world!
Again This has got to be one of the most moist and fluffy cakes that I have ever made- Point- Blank- Period. When you make this cake be sure to not over mix the batter. Over mixing causes the gluten in the flour, to form elastic gluten strands. That will result in having a dry, bread like cake You dont want that ..So make sure that you mix the cake batter just until everything is well combined Youve been warned!
Whenever I make cakes, I make sure that ALL of my ingredients are at room temperature. That means that I take out the eggs, and buttermilk at least one hour prior to mixing the ingredients. Room temperature ingredients are easy to incorporate, which means less mixing.
I use Cream Cheese Frosting for my red velvet cakes. I wanted my red velvet cake to look pretty, so I decorated the cake with rose swirls! I used a 1M Wilton tip to create the rose swirls. I decorated my vanilla rose cake the same way, however for that cake I used buttercream frosting.
Keep in mind that if you dont want to decorate the cake with rose swirls, you dont have to.
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Red Velvet Cake Isn’t As Southern As You Think
When you think of some of the classic cakes popular across the southern section of the U.S., you probably add red velvet to the list. But you might not want to say that in the company of someone who hails from the south, as Southern cookbook author Virginia Willis had this to say to The New York Times: “I find it insulting on some level culturally. It’s kind of a weird Southern cake anyway, and it’s bizarre the way it’s been appropriated.” After all, there is a very famous hotel in New York city that claims credit for the cake’s invention.
Red velvet along with other types of red food is an important part of the Juneteenth and Emancipation Day celebrations, too. It’s connected with the end of slavery in the US, and when Adrian Miller was researching his book, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time, he decided not to include it when the people he interviewed didn’t talk about ever having it. In fact, he found it was a “latecomer” to the celebration, and was originally made as a Christmas cake, not as a celebration of freedom.