Ann Reardon

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

best red velvet cake recipe

Red velvet cake was the best selling cupcake at every store I visited recently in New York City.  But finding the perfect red velvet cake recipe is no easy task as there are so many variations.  Some I tried in NY were simply red-coloured vanilla cake with buttercream (which left me wondering what all the fuss was about) but others had a beautiful, unique flavour with rich cream cheese frosting.

If you’ve been searching for a good red velvet cake recipe then you’ll have read about the Waldorf Astoria recipe which has buttermilk and vinegar.  I tried that recipe too and it just didn’t have that New York taste (you can read my self guided sweet-tooth tour of NYC here).  Finally, after many experiments I discovered that morello sour cherry juice gave the flavour I was after.  Here’s my recipe.

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

1 cup minus 2 Tbsp or 150g (5.29 ounces) plain flour 
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup or 164g (5.78 ounces) sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp gelatine powder
1/4 cup or 60millilitres (2.03 fluid ounces) oil
4 egg yolks or 60g (2.12 ounces)
1/2 cup or 125millilitres (4.23 fluid ounces) concentrated morello cherry juice (made from 1 cup of juice boiled down)
1 Tbsp or 15ml red food colouring
4 egg whites or 128g (4.52 ounces)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Red Velvet Cake Directions

Preheat the oven to 338°F (170°C)
Boil and concentrate the morello cherry juice form 1 cup down to 1/2 cup and set aside to cool.
Place the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, gelatine, salt and baking powder into a bowl and whisk together.
Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolks, oil, juice and red colouring but do not stir.
Whip the egg whites with the cream of tar tar until soft peaks form.
Using the same beaters mix the egg yolk and flour mixture on low speed until just combined.
Fold in the egg whites into the cake batter in three batches.
Use a soup ladle to fill each cupcake case to 3/4 full
Bake for 11 minutes or until they spring back when lightly touched. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe can be found here

Pipe cream cheese frosting onto the top of each cupcake and enjoy.
Makes about 12 cupcakes.

red velvet cake recipe how to cook that

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My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

276 Comments View Comments

  1. I also wanted to ask, what size eggs are supposed to be used in this recipe?

    • Hi Victor I use large eggs

      • sorry is that for an Australian sized egg? I have a feeling you are Australian but I can’t quite tell.

        So large being 600g for a dozen? Could I use extra large eggs (ones that come as 700g for a dozen?

        Also I found out a friend of mine is vegetarian, how much difference would leaving the gelatin out?

  2. Hi Ann! I made this quite few times and it was a hit!

  3. Hi Ann, I just came across your video’s with the chocolate flower video. I am now hooked and love them, thank you so much! About this red velvet recipe, would this amount work for 2 round 9 inch cake pans?

  4. Hi Ann! I have a couple of questions. I tried posting on the Dalek cake as well, but I’m not sure if you’ve seen it. Also a suggestion you might not know about I found recently:
    Dutch Icing for Red Velvet Cake
    Mix 5 tbsp flour and 1 1/2 tsp salt in a sauce pan. Add 1 cup of milk and cook over low heat, stirring until very thick. Remove from the heat and cool in the fridge. In a mixing bowl mix 1 cup of white granulated sugar, 3/4 cup crisco, 4 tbsp oleo, and 2 tsp vanilla extract and beat until fluffy. Fold into the cooked and chilled mixture and beat until creamy.

    Also, I was wondering how many quantities of this would it take to make the Dalek cake? I’d love to make one for my husband for his birthday/valentines day.
    Thanks Ann! I appreciate it! <3

  5. hey ann….. how many cupcakes does this recipe make???

  6. I tried these after a long internet surch for the perfect Red velvet recipe. They were fluffy and absolutely delicious. Afterwards i tried the Magnolia Bakery recipe and another one that looked great. Yours was..BY FAR… the very best. It is definately my “go to” Red velvet recipe. Thank you! I have 1 question, in The Netherlands i couldn’t find the Morello Cherries so i used others. But i was wondering if it is possible to use cherryjuice that is meant for drinking. And boil 1 cup down to half a cup. The ingredients are almost the same (water, Sugar). Is that an option?

    • Hi Jabou, sounds good, I didn’t find it here isn the shops but if you’ve got it go for it

  7. Is it possible to substitute the gelatin with agar powder? I’m not sure whether agar can act as emulsifier

    • Hi theang i’d just leave it out

  8. Hey Ann,
    I cant get hold of cream of tartar so do I have to use it or is there another option? thanks!

    • hi ashley it stabilizes the egg whites, you can use a teaspoon of lemon juice instead or leave it out

  9. Hey Ann, how do you get the ‘dome’ on your cupcakes, the round top? My cupcakes do rise, but they never rise above the paper case… It looks so good when it does… I’ve heard you have to put the oven higher at the beginning of baking the cupcakes, is this true? Please, I really need help 🙂

  10. Hi Ann,

    I was just wondering if I was able to exclude the morello cherry juice. Would that make a difference to the taste? If so how big of a difference?

    • Hi yes you can swpa it for cold water instead of the juice then it will not have the cherry flavor.

  11. HELLO ANN I AM A HUGE FAN OF YOUR VIDEOS, I HAVE A LITTLE QUESTION. CAN I MAKE THIS CUPCAKE WITHOUT THE CONCENTRATED MORRELLO CHERRY JUICE? BECAUSE MY BIGGER SISTER IS ALERGIC TO CHERRY AND I DON’T LIKE CHERRYS.

    • hi minicookinggirl,
      yes you can but you’d need to swap it for something else like raspberry juice

  12. Hi Ann! I made these cupcakes today and they shrank. The first sheet was in the oven for 11 minutes, the second for 20 minutes and both of them shrank. The taste is grteat, though!

  13. Hello Ann.
    I tried this recipe today and the taste was delicious, though I had a problem with the frosting, I couldn’t find the blocked ones of cream cheese so I had to try the tubs, but it kind of was runny not as thick as yours, I was wondering if there’s something I can add to thicken it? Thank you! You’re amazing.

  14. Hola, I want you, thanks. I’ve tried several recipes for red velvet, and so far I tried a really delicious. Thanks, thanks, thanks.

    • 🙂

  15. what kind of colouring did you use
    soft gel,liquid food colouring and what exact colour of red if
    you used gel

    • hi maia i used red liquid colour

  16. Hi Ann,
    Will do, thanks so much.
    I also need some advice from you. I want to make a Red Velvet Cake for a cake order I’ll be making soon but I don’t want to use cream cheese frosting. I’m thinking of using chocolate ganache layering and and as an undercoat and then finally topping up with fondant. Do you think it’ll taste good? I don’t want to ruin the final taste. Please advice.
    Thanks a ton!
    Aliya

    • Hi Aliya if it is for an order I would ask the person who wants it, most people associate cream cheese with red velvet so they may be disappointed it is not there. You could always do cream cheese between the layers and ganache around the edges and top.

  17. I tried these, the flavor was good but the cupcakes flopped. They did not spring. What would cause that? I set my oven to 350

    • hi shayla, did they flop after taking them out of the oven? If so then possibly undercooked.

  18. Can i use wine instead of the morrello cherries

    • Hi Emi, yes you can, you will need to experiment with how much you use, keep the total amount of liquid the same but water it down if it is too strong.

  19. Hi Ann, I’m planning on making this for a school convention, I just wanted to know how make they make

    • Hi Joanne it makes 12

      • Hi Ann,
        Hope you’re well. Can 1 cream cheese frosting recipe cover 2 velvet cake recipes, or will i need to double the frosting as well?
        Secondly, I’ve subscribed to your site many times but I still don’t get any e-mails. Is there a problem with it? Please let me know as I’d love to receive new recipes from you.
        Thanks,
        Aliya

        • hi allya, you would ned to double the cream cheese frosting. The subscriptions are run through google feedburner so to make sure you are a real person they will send a follow up email saying something like you recently subscribed to howtocookthat is that what you want to do? You need to click yes in that email, if you are not getting that email check your junk email box.

  20. Hi, Ann.
    Thank you for your great recipe. I tried your recipe but i used concentrate raspberry juice instead of morello cherry juice because i don’t really like cherry. It turned out great. And I like your gelatin tips. It really improves the texture of the cake. It is not as red as your cake because i reduced the food coloring as well. I post it on my blog with your youtube channel’s link on it. Thanks again. You’re awesome. 🙂

    • Yumm sounds lovely with the raspberry

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