There’s nothing better than this incredibly moist red velvet layer cake coated in a rich white chocolate cream cheese frosting. A Southern classic, a red velvet cake delivers homestyle results in a little over an hour. Two moist layers of cake give you plenty of room for a creamy rich white chocolate frosting. Add some crushed peppermint on top for a nice contrast in flavors.
Traditional Southern Red Velvet Cake
What gives this cake that velvety texture is the buttermilk, which reacts with the baking soda. As for the rich chocolate flavor, that comes from coffee and cocoa powder.
And the classic red hue? That comes from just a teaspoon of red food coloring and the cocoa powder reacting with the acidity of buttermilk.
While the cake is incredibly moist, the best part for me is the frosting. While you could go with a traditional cream cheese frosting, this one is finished with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting. The sweetness from rich white chocolate combined with tangy cream cheese is perfection.
Try adding some crushed peppermint to the top which adds a nice contrast and just a little peppermint flavor.
Traditional red velvet cake began its origins during the Victorian era and became extremely popular in the South. You probably have a mom or grandma who made one for you growing up.
If you’ve ever had red velvet cupcakes and want to take on the challenge of making a layer cake, this recipe will break it down for you.
Why You’ll Love This Red Velvet Cake Recipe
- Amazing Flavor: This red velvet cake is the perfect mix of sweet, tangy, and chocolate.
- Looks Incredible: Its bold red color and moist layers will steal the show at any celebration.
- Easy to Make: It may look fancy, but the recipe uses basic pantry staples and simple steps to craft the perfect red velvet cake.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
- Pantry staples: You’ll need unsalted butter, sugar, large eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt.
- Hot coffee: Coffee helps deepen the flavor of the cocoa powder.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: Use natural cocoa powder and not Dutch process cocoa.
- Red food coloring: You can use liquid food coloring or red gel food coloring, I prefer the gel.
- Cake flour: This gives the cake a lighter texture and a tender crumb, it will still work with all-purpose flour.
- Buttermilk: This helps activate the baking soda to make the cake nice and fluffy. If you don’t have any on hand, you can learn how to make buttermilk at home.
- Crushed peppermint (optional) – pull out some of those leftover candy canes.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Butter and cream cheese: This is the base for the frosting. Use full-fat block-style cream cheese.
- Powdered sugar: Thickens and sweetens the frosting.
- White chocolate: Use any brand of white chocolate bars you like, but don’t use almond bark.
- Vanilla extract and salt: Vanilla deepens the flavor, and salt cuts through the sweetness.
How to Make Red Velvet Layer Cake
Step One: Prepare the Cake Batter
Cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then stir in a mixture of coffee, cocoa, and food coloring. Add your dry ingredients alternating with buttermilk until just combined.
Step Two: Bake the Cake
Pour the batter into round 9-inch cake pans and bake in the oven until the cake is set and springs back when touched. Let it cool on a wire cooling rack before removing from the pans.
Step Three: Make the Frosting
Melt the white chocolate and let it cool slightly. Then, beat the butter and cream cheese together, adding powdered sugar and the white chocolate until smooth and creamy.
Step Four: Assemble the Cake
Once the layers are cool, spread the frosting between each cake layer, on top and around the sides. Top it off with crushed peppermint if desired.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- Room temperature ingredients: For the smoothest batter and fluffiest cake, make sure your butter, eggs, and buttermilk are at room temperature. If you run out of time, learn how to soften butter quickly and how to soften cream cheese.
- Scrape: Occasionally scrape the sides of the bowl so all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
- Scale: Use a kitchen scale to weigh the batter amounts when poured into the cake pans so they’re even.
- Check doneness: Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake to check for doneness. There should only be 1-2 crumbs when the cake is done.
- Yield: This recipe is for a 2-layer cake made with 9-inch round cake pans. In addition, there will be plenty of frosting to cover the cake completely. I made it a naked cake so you could see the red layers peaking through. and had plenty of frosting left over.
- Level: Use a serrated knife to level off the tops of the cakes so it makes a flat cake.
- Cool: Allow the layers to cool completely for a neat and professional finish.
- Frosting: If you’re not a fan of white chocolate, you can stick with a classic cream cheese frosting.
How to Store Red Velvet Cake
Since this cake contains cream cheese frosting, it’s best to store it in the fridge. You can pop the cake in a large, airtight container or lightly wrap it in plastic wrap. It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To freeze, cut the cake into individual slices and store them in airtight containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. When cravings strike, let a slice thaw on the counter. It even tastes good slightly cold.
Make-Ahead Instructions
- Cake: Bake the cake layers as directed and wrap them in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for 1-2 days before assembling the cake. You can also freeze the cake layers for up to 3 months, wrapping them in plastic wrap and foil.
- Frosting: You can make the frosting up to one week ahead of time. Make sure to beat it to get it fluffy before frosting the cake. You can also freeze the frosting for up to 3 months. Make sure to let it thaw in the fridge overnight before using.
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons butter room temp
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup hot coffee
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon crushed peppermint optional
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup butter room temp
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temp
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 5 ounces white chocolate
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Butter and flour two 8 inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Add butter and sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed until light and creaming, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time.
- Add coffee to a small bowl or measuring cup. Add cocoa, food coloring and vanilla and stir until smooth. Add to the butter mixture and beat on low until it is combined.
- In a separate bowl whisk the flour, baking soda and salt and add to the butter mixture alternating with buttermilk at low speed, starting and ending with the flour mixture and beating just until combined.
- Pour into the cake pans, using a kitchen scale to make sure they are even.
- Bake until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and the cake springs back when touched. A toothpick will have a few crumb. 28-30 minutes.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run an offset spatula around the edges and inver, then invert again and allow to cool on the rack.
Frosting:
- Break up white chocolate into pieces in a measuring cup and microwave on 50% power for 2 minutes stirring every 30 seconds until just melted. Let it cool while you prepare the frosting.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add butter and cream cheese and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Put the mixer on low and gradually add the powdered sugar, once incorporated, add the cooled white chocolate and vanilla and increase the speed to medium-high and beat until smooth and creamy, about 2 more minutes. It will be very thick. If it is too thick to spread, add a little milk.
To assemble:
- Place 1 layer on a cake plate and even the top with a serrated knife. Pipe a ridge of frosting around the outside of the top and then fill in with more frosting. Even out the second cake layer with a serrated knife and flip it so that the bottom of the cake layer is facing up. Place most of the frosting on top and use an offset spatula to spread it down the sides. Once the sides are covered, spread it evenly across the top.
- Sprinkle the crushed peppermint around the edges of the cake if desired.
