If you’re looking for the best red velvet cake recipe, I tested 9 popular recipes in search of the most soft and flavorful cakes with creamy cream cheese frosting! Full reviews of all 9 cakes and links to each recipe can be found below.
This post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar! I’ve used Imperial Sugar for years and I am thrilled to be partnering with them. Thank you for supporting the partners that keep the bake offs coming!
Is red velvet cake simply a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting with food coloring? In this bake off, we set out to find out.
Per Wikipedia, red velvet is “traditionally a red, red-brown, crimson, or scarlet-colored chocolate layer cake, layered with ermine icing.” Traditional recipes actually do NOT use food coloring! Wikipedia also notes that some believe devil’s food cake may have ties to red velvet (the main difference is that red velvet uses cocoa, the former uses chocolate).
Given this definition, we strayed quite a bit in this bake off, skewing towards more modern red velvet cakes that generally use food coloring and cream cheese frosting. To me, my best red velvet cake recipe would have a moist, close crumb, a light and tangy cocoa flavor and a fairly sugary cream cheese frosting. If I’m being honest, a deep red color is part of the appeal to me. So let’s see which cakes rose to the top!
PARTNER NOTE: I’m delighted to be partnering with Imperial Sugar on this bake off as I’ve consistently used their consistent, high-quality pure cane sugar products throughout my bake offs. Imperial Sugar is non-GMO verified, allergen free and gluten-free!
For more sweet inspiration, you can visit Imperial Sugar to find more than 4,000 expert-tested recipes, free downloadable vintage cookbooks, sugar scrubs and bath products at the Sugar Spa, and lots of helpful guides on their blog. You can also check out their Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram for even more recipe inspiration!
Real red velvet always comes out a doughier consistence which pairs well with cream cheese frosting which is what made it a staple, but then some bakeries half ass if now and just mix vanilla and chocolate together with red food coloring.
African Bites: a tight, finely crumbed cake with a muted flavor and sugary frosting
Like McCormick, this cake uses a combination of butter and sour cream. But it also adds oil, buttermilk instead of milk, and cake flour! Imma also adds a dash of vinegar and uses a lower ratio of eggs than McCormick.
It was surprising to me that both cakes that used sour cream had fairly similar cake textures–a tight, close crumb that still managed to be light. This felt like the literal definition of a velvety cake. One of my favorite cakes texturally!
I wouldn’t describe the crumb as moist, but it also wasn’t dry–just a very neutral, melt-in-your-mouth consistency. Flavor is where this cake fell short for me. I wanted more cocoa and tang from this cake, but I did get some tang from the frosting (yet another delicious sugary buttercream). I would happily make this cake again and perhaps try bumping up the cocoa slightly!
Taster comments:
- I’m glad I can taste chocolate with this one! Love how fluffy it is. Cake is a win but frosting is a no. I don’t like a frosting that’s so sugary that it’s crunchy
- Moist bright red cake with tight crumb and spongy texture; I liked the frosting on this one–light with a good cream cheese flavor but not overpowering, does crystalize in hard sugar layer on top
- Tight crumb, a little dry. Great cream cheese flavor, cake has a more muted flavor
- Frosting not very cream cheesy and too sweet for me
- Shorter cake with a bouncy texture, and underwhelming flavor
Bakerella: a moist, almost brownie-like cake with a very sweet frosting
Bakerella was one of three oil-based cakes in this test, and it had the highest ratio of oil. It’s similar to both Divas Can Cook and Chelsweets (another popular recipe) but has more oil. In fact, it’s very similar to the Divas recipe except that it uses slightly more flour, slightly less cocoa, no baking powder, and no coffee.
This was the first of our moist cakes! I loved the deep, rich color on this cake. Though it didn’t have an especially high ratio of sugar compared to others, I felt like this cake tasted especially sweet with sugary, crunchy edges and a plush, spongy texture. Given its overall similarity to Divas’ recipe, I think this demonstrates the importance of coffee to enhance the overall cake flavor.
In combination with a sugary cream cheese frosting, this felt like a pretty traditional, pretty delicious red velvet cake. It did feel a tiny bit greasy/oily and the sweetness felt a little one-dimensional, but I think this cake would be popular with a crowd!
Taster comments:
- Very chocolatey cake, moist, chewy, dense and almost brownie like
- Pretty burgundy cake color with a moist yet tight crumb. Palatable aftertaste; frosting with light with cream cheese flavor, sugar crystalizes in solid layer on top of frosting
- Very moist, nicely colored red cake with a light cocoa flavor. I enjoyed this! Frosting was more buttercream like with less cream cheese tang. I’d add more cream cheese if I were to make this frosting.
- Cake was rich and moist, frosting was thicker and sweeter but not much flavor complexity.
- Frosting is too sweet, like sugar icing–no flavor
RED VELVET CAKE RECIPE with Cream Cheese Frosting
FAQ
Why does red velvet cake always have cream cheese frosting?
What is a good substitute for cream cheese in red velvet cake?
Does red velvet have cheese?
What filling goes best with red velvet cake?
How to make red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting?
To make the cream cheese frosting to spread on top of this cake, you’ll need two packages of cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. To make this red velvet cake, the first step is preheating the oven to 350°F. The oven needs to be fully heated before you put the cake layers in.
What is the best red velvet cake?
This Red Velvet Dream Cake is the best recipe for a moist and delicious cake! It’s covered in a traditional homemade cream cheese frosting and is full of red velvet flavor! If you love all things red velvet flavored, then you have to try this Red Velvet Mug Cake and Red Velvet Cream Cheese Bundt Cake too! Want to save this recipe?
What does red velvet cake taste like?
Not only is the flavor outstanding, red velvet cake’s texture is worth writing home about. It’s dense and soft with a moist and velvety crumb. However, the absolute best part about red velvet cake is the cream cheese frosting. Slathered on thick, my cream cheese frosting recipe is delicately sweet and undeniably creamy.
What frosting goes with red velvet cake?
When it comes to choosing a frosting to pair with red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting is a popular choice. The tangy sweetness of the cream cheese frosting pairs perfectly with the hint of tart tanginess in the red velvet cake. Red velvet cake could also be topped with classic vanilla frosting or a rich chocolate frosting.