Most of us can’t resist a slice of red velvet cake, so it’s high time we learn to make it ourselves. With creamy cheese icing, a red velvet cake has to be one of the most decadent cakes around.

What is red velvet cake?

These velvet-style cakes became popular during the 1800s when cocoa powder was used to make cakes softer.

The term ‘velvet’ is actually used to describe the cake’s finer crumb – a fine-textured cake covered in cream cheese icing. Between the 1920s and 1950s, red velvet cakes became an incredibly popular cake to serve at parties.

Traditionally, the mix between cocoa powder, vinegar and buttermilk would have given the cake its dark, crimson colour. But during World War II, ingredients such as butter and sugar were sparse, so people began mixing beets or beet juice into their cake to create the red colour we know today. When cake makers stopped using beets, major cake companies began creating mixes that contained red food colouring.

What flavour is red velvet cake?

Red Velvet cake has a slight chocolate taste. That’s because the cocoa powder mixed into the cake batter. You’ll probably taste the cream cheese icing more than the cake crumb. When making red velvet cake, beat your cocoa powder mix with your flour and eggs, so the mix is evenly distributed. If you’ve mixed your eggs and flour right, you should have a reddish, fluffy mix.

Red Velvet Cake recipe

Is red velvet just chocolate cake?

Many believe red velvet cake is a red chocolate cake, but that’s not the case. Red velvet cake is a scrumptious cocoa powder and buttermilk cake that is layered with cream cheese icing. If you’re a fan of sweeter or stiffer icing, add more icing sugar into your cream cheese mix. This will lessen the cream cheese taste.

Who invented red velvet cake?

Although there is no definitive answer for who created the first red velvet cake, we know who created the first red food-coloured red velvet cake. In Texas, during the 1920s, the use of food colouring was popular. Adams Extract Company was the first to create a red-coloured, red velvet cake mix. In the 1950s, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York was the first to begin serving the cake. The mix would go on to be used in households across America. From then on, red velvet cake became people’s favourite.

How to make a red velvet cake

If you’re looking to ditch the box and make red velvet cake from scratch, then grab some buttermilk, cocoa powder and vinegar. These three heroes are going to put the red in red velvet cake. When mixed together, these ingredients make a chemical reaction creating the strong reddish-brown colour we see today.

Try making our red velvet cake recipe below.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups plain flour sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbs cocoa powder
50 ml red liquid food colouring
120g Lurpak* Butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk room temperature
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Cream cheese icing

450 g cream cheese softened
120g Lurpak* Butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 pinch salt

Method

Cake: Preheat oven to 180C. Butter and flour two 23cm round cake pans, or three 20cm round cake pans.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix food colouring and cocoa powder to form a thin, smooth paste. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl frequently with a spatula. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk.
Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Add it to the cake batter and stir well to combine.
Working quickly, divide batter evenly between the cake pans and bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. To remove the cakes from the pan, place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, then gently lift the pan. Allow cakes to cool completely before icing.
Cream cheese icing: With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Reduce speed to low, and blend in icing sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Increase speed to high, and beat until light and fluffy.