How To Make A Simple Red Velvet Cake
Today I’m sharing how to make a simple red velvet cake. I mentioned in a post I couldn’t find my mom’s recipe for the cake or the cooked frosting. June K. came to my rescue for the frosting. Mare shared her recipe, so I’m putting it on the blog today! The funny thing is, I finally found my mom’s recipe, but it was missing the temperature and time, and it called for 2 bottles of red food coloring.
Related Topic: Easy To Make Chocolate Covered Oreo
My mom’s cooked frosting matched June K.’s and Mare’s recipe. So it’s a win-win for all of us. I have been waiting so long to make this recipe so I could share it with you. It wasn’t until I started mixing the ingredients that I realized the recipe called for vinegar. I knew about buttermilk, cocoa, and red food coloring.
Secret To A Moist Cake
Use buttermilk and freeze the cakes before you frost them. My mom taught me these tricks growing up.
The reason this cake is so moist and yummy has to be the butter, lots of butter. One cup in the cake and one cup in the frosting. Buttermilk also makes a cake really moist as well. I substituted my bread flour for the cake flour. I never buy cake flour and the cake turned out great! Thank you, Mare, and June K. for sharing your recipes with me.
I used two 9-inch pans for this cake, be sure and grease them well. Do you wonder why this vintage cake isn’t made a lot anymore? Is it because of the red food coloring or people don’t want to eat carbs or sweets? Well, I made it today, and I’m going to share it with my neighbors. Now that the kids have grown and moved out, Mark and I can’t eat a whole cake anymore.
I crumbled some of the cake (very little) to sprinkle on top of the frosting. The inside of the cake is red and delicious, just as a Simple Red Velvet Cake should be.
Simple Red Velvet Cake by Mare
- INGREDIENTS**Red Velvet Cake**
- 1 cup butter (2 cubes, at room temperature)
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1- oz. bottle red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2-1/4 cups flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- **Cooked Buttercream Frosting**
- 5 tablespoons cake flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup 2 cubes butter, at room temp
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
-
INSTRUCTIONS
-
**Red Velvet Cake**
Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
-
Add cocoa powder and slowly add food coloring to butter mixture while mixing on low speed until well combined.
-
Mix salt, vanilla, and buttermilk together. Add to butter mixture alternately with flour until well combined.
-
Mix baking soda and vinegar and fold into batter by hand until well combined.
-
Pour batter into two 9-inch greased and floured cake pans. Bake at 350ºF for 30 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
-
**Cooked Buttercream Frosting**
-
Add flour to a small saucepan then whisk in milk*. Heat over medium heat and stir until boiling. Continue to cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
-
Cream butter and sugar (if not added to milk mixture) with an electric mixer until fluffy and sugar is no longer grainy (about 5 min). Add vanilla and cooked flour mixture and continue mixing until fluffy and creamy.
-
*Can add sugar to a saucepan and cook with flour and milk, so it completely dissolves. This works especially well if it’s humid and sugar doesn’t dissolve well when creamed with the butter.
Final Word
Do you love old cookbooks as much as I do? We need to hand them down to our loved ones. I love this Simple Red Velvet Cake that has been made for 50 plus years. Please make sure you share your recipes with your loved ones so the recipes stay in the family from generation to generation. May God bless this world. Keep on prepping.
More Cake Recipes
- The Best Texas Sheet Cake
- Baked Cake Donuts
- Easy To Make Lemon Cake Recipe
- Texas Sheet Cake Made Smaller
I love your idea of crumbling a little of the cake to top it! It looks so festive that way! I’ve used red sprinkles, but never thought of cake crumbles. I usually bake the cake in a 9×13 baking pan. It just makes it easier to share, because like you and Mark, I can’t eat a whole cake myself. I don’t use cake flour in the cake, but, as you noticed, I did list it in the frosting. I keep a small bag of cake flour in the freezer just for this frosting. The cake flour just makes it a bit lighter and fluffier. I have made it with AP white flour, though, and it still turns out well.
I’m glad you enjoyed the cake. I make it frequently, because everyone really likes it. I hope you and Mark are doing well. Big hugs, Mare
Hi Mare, oh my gosh, this recipe is so yummy! Thanks again for sharing it!!! Big hugs, Linda
A couple of years ago I purchased a counter top toaster oven. It didn’t work well for me and took up too much counter space in my tiny kitchen. I thought the idea was great so I wouldn’t have to turn on my big oven! Well, after a couple of attempts to make small cakes, pies, etc., I got rid of the thing! Perhaps I didn’t purchase the right one?! Anyway, I kept the small pans and use them ALL the time for tiny desserts and other baking. I absolutely love the small round cake pans – I can make 2 small layer cakes out of one recipe and share a cake with a neighbor!
Something that I have gotten into the habit of doing since I am single but want goodies occasionally is to make mixes that can be whipped up on a whim. I have a number of cake/brownie/cookie mixes in quart jars. This recipe wouldn’t work well in a pre-made mix, though, because of the creaming of the butter and sugar. But if a recipe doesn’t require any special mixing, making these up has been a great way to save time when I want a tiny dessert.