Favorite Red Velvet Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is a good filling for red velvet cake? ›

Elevate your red velvet cake with these mouthwatering filling ideas. From cream cheese to raspberry, discover the perfect fillings to take your cake to the next level.

Adding a bit of coffee to the batter isn't “traditional” for red velvet cakes but it adds another layer of flavor and really hypes up the chocolatey taste to perfection. Not to mention the extra liquid makes this cake do doggone soft so don't skip it!

Cocoa powder: Both Dutch-process or natural cocoa powder will work for this red velvet cake recipe. I use 3 tablespoons for a slightly more noticeable chocolate taste to the cake, but 2 tablespoons is pretty standard for most red velvet cakes.

What Kind of Frosting is Best with Red Velvet Cake? Cream cheese frosting is the classic choice for red velvet cake! Its tangy flavor complements the sweetness of the cake layers. If you'd prefer something more sturdy or want to make special cake decorations, opt for my Best Buttercream instead.

The buttermilk and vinegar give the cake that tender, light, and fluffy texture. Red velvet cake is also usually paired with white cream-cheese frosting. The white contrast highlights the lush red color, while the tanginess of the cream cheese plays off the buttermilk so well.

Flavor profile

While there are cocoa undertones, red velvet is not chocolate cake because it balances both chocolate and vanilla flavors. It contains cocoa but not the same quantity as traditional chocolate cake, resulting in a more subtle cocoa flavor and tanginess due to the buttermilk and vinegar.

The key difference between the two cakes is that devil's food cake uses chocolate and red velvet cake uses cocoa.

Red Velvet cake originates from the United States and is a red vanilla sponge made with buttermilk and cocoa to give its unique flavour and a light taste of chocolate.

The cocoa powder is used in less quantity and the taste develops by the mixing of vinegar and buttermilk with the cocoa powder. The recipe involves many ingredients in small quantity. The frosting- if used cream cheese is an expensive element in itself. It tastes wow if made at home without using any premix.

What do you put on top of red velvet? ›

A moist, classic Red Velvet Cake!! Made from scratch, and surprisingly easy when a few specific, simple steps are followed. This iconic cake has a soft “velvet” texture, just like what you get from the best top end fine bakeries, and is topped with soft, cream cheese frosting.

The Red Velvet Cake Roll boasts a flavor that is all its own, so a dairy-based dessert, like hot chocolate, will help offset the acidity in this dessert. The extra hint of cocoa from the hot chocolate creates a perfect balance between tartness and sweetness while also cleansing the palate.

The red food colouring makes the cake batter prone to splitting, and turns everything it touches red; a couple of grams over on the cocoa powder and the cake goes brown instead of a rich red; the cream cheese frosting has a tendency to turn to gloop at the very last minute for no apparent reason; and the list goes on.

In recent history, red velvet cake has become synonymous with Juneteenth celebrations. Not only does the color red symbolize the bloodshed of the enslaved people who never experienced freedom, but it's also a symbol of strength and spiritual transformation in West African cultures.

Traditionally red velvet cake is often served with cream cheese frosting or even vanilla buttercream but because we love to mix things up around here, I covered my cake in chocolate frosting. It goes beautifully with red velvet too. The frosting is creamy and luscious and made with real chocolate.

Today, red velvet cake is made by combining cocoa powder, butter, sugar, eggs, and flour as well as buttermilk, vinegar, and red food coloring that gives the cake its iconic red tint.