Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Feb 01, 2016, Updated Jul 20, 2021
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Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – Moist, spongy, lightened-up Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, Birthdays, or any time you need a foolproof recipe for this American classic!
Red velvet and that little boy smile
Red velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that’ll bring her to your knees
Red velvet if you please
I know that the correct version is Black Velvet, but I couldn’t help myself. The entire time that I was making this cake, I sang that song. Like, the whoooole time. I was so annoying.
Buuuut. HAPPY MONDAY! There went another weekend AND another month. Hope it was a great one for you all!
January is special because that is my birthday month. I turned 21 for the upteenth time and it was a blast! I celebrated in sunny Punta Cana with my little family and lots of cake. SO. much. cake.
When we got back, I wanted to continue the celebration with my parents, thus I made this Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, 4 times. Did you hear that? 4 times. I was going to shoot meself. Words from the wise; DO NOT try to make a cake while your little kids are around. Just don’t. All the fails I had were because of all the distractions. God Bless them both, but man, they can really get on my nerves. Don’t tell them I said that.
SO. The next best thing? Make a cake at midnight.
I took my KitchenAid mixer downstairs because all the bedrooms are upstairs, and made this cake in my basement. HA! Except for the baking part. I came back up to the kitchen to do that. Obvi.
Best part of it all? The next night, I went back downstairs and played around with my cake-tips and frosting, and I created one ugly lookin’ cake. Fo’ reals. It was so ugly that I had to cover it all in raspberries, chocolate shavings, and currants. In case you didn’t know, I have ZERO patience for cake/cupcake/cookie decorating. That’s out of my league. Should have just stuck with the naked cake method like I did for my Strawberry Shortcake Cake.
Nevertheless, the cake was damn good. Moist, rich, crumbly, and sweet.
In trying to cut around some calories, I decided to make it just one layer, I did not add a filling to the cake, either; I also threw in only egg whites, and used fat free cream cheese for the frosting. Although, I have to admit, I think full fat cream cheese will taste waaaaay better. Duh.
But I’m here to tell you that rules were made to be broken, and if you feel like using full-on-fat cream cheese, g’ahead. I understand.
ENJOY!
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Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 2 cups cake flour, (I've made this with all-purpose flour, as well, but the cake flour works best)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2- teaspoon salt
- 3 large egg whites, , at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons red food coloring
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, , at room temperature
- 1/2- cup buttermilk
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 8- ounces (1 package) Fat Free Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, , room temperature
- 3 tablespoons superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
FOR THE TOP
- fresh raspberries
- chocolate shavings
- fresh red currants
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Line the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper and spray the pan with baking spray; set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt; set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine egg whites, food coloring, and vanilla; whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Using your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the oil and butter; continue to mix for about 1 minute, or until smooth and creamy.
- Set the speed to "low" and gradually add in the flour mixture.
- Add the buttermilk and continue to mix on low until just combined.
- Increase speed to medium and continue to mix for another minute or two, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times.
- Reduce the speed to low and mix in the egg mixture in two parts, beating between each addition for 30 seconds.
- At this point, you can also add one more drop of food color if you feel that your batter isn't quite the red that you want, and continue to mix until all is combined.
- Pour the batter into the previously prepared cake pan.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Turn out the cake on a wire rack and let completely cool before frosting.
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- Combine all ingredients in your mixer's bowl and beat until creamy and smooth.
- Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cake, using an offset spatula.
- You can also reserve about 1/3-cup to 1/2-cup of the frosting, place it in a piping bag and decorate/garnish the cake to your liking.
- Continue to garnish the cake with raspberries, chocolate shavings, and currants.
- Place in the fridge for a couple of hours.
- Cut and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
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Hi! this looks so so so delicious as is, but I am wondering do you think I can make this as cupcakes?
This is so pretty! I love the cream cheese frosting and all that gorgeous fruit on top.