Who doesn’t love red velvet cake? So sinfully delicious and moist, topped with luscious cream cheese frosting. But actually making one? That seems so hard right?! I’m not going to lie, when my husband requested a red velvet birthday cake with cream cheese frosting for his birthday I was disappointed. Why? Well let’s see…
- I’ve never made one before.
- They all look so boring! Everywhere I looked on the web they are usually just decorated red and white. And sometimes garnished with nuts. (whoopee!)
- I wanted to try to make my first naked cake. To which he replied, “It’s my birthday and frosting is the best damn part!”
Ok…no naked cakes for Mr. Grumpy Pants. Check.
So I scoured the internet looking for the best red velvet cake recipe I could find using butter, not vegetable oil. (I’m a butter fan.) I really liked this one from Mr. Chow. I’m not going to attempt to type up the entire recipe, but the good news was I had all of the ingredients on hand, minus the entire bottle of red food coloring. I will however share a few things I learned that are pretty important while making this lovely cake.
tips for making a simple red velvet birthday cake!
- Always double sift the flour, especially if you are using all-purpose instead of cake flour.
- Sub white vinegar for water to make the red velvet cake light and fluffy. (Think a science experiment when it mixes with baking soda!)
- Red velvet cakes are anything but boring – especially if you put the swirl on top!
Oh and making the swirl is super easy! Just get a cake decorating turntable, dig your spatula in gently, and spin. Voila…you have a lovely spiral! It only took us two tries to make the above. (If my 5 year old can do it, so can you!)
Not bad for our first try! It tasted delicious, looked festive, and was fun to make. Now if only Mary Poppins would just come and snap her fingers and clean up the dishes. Happy Birthday to my hubby!
Not sure red velvet is your thing? Why not try a gorgeous rosette cake instead?
For more baking tutorials, please follow along on Facebook and Pinterest!
I’ve never heard of a naked cake, so of course I thought you wanted to make one while naked (which I’m guessing your hubby wouldn’t oppose. Next time you want to make one, try that angle, lol.) The one you made looks yummy! I’ll have to try your vinegar trick.
Google naked cakes – they are all the rage! Eventually I get to make one…clothed!
This cake looks so good and I don’t usually like cake with sprinkles. I’m definitely going to try out your “tips”, especially the vinegar one. I’m super curious now!
I especially love the spiral! Don’t you love it when Hubbies and Kids think we can make anything just because we have a blog – well, mine do anyway. Glad you went to the trouble to make and share this one. I found you on Tasty Tuesdays and I would like to invite you to bring this lovely cake to my recipe link party The Yuck Stops Here. You’ll find us on my blog, Hot Momma’s Kitchen Chaos, I hope you’ll swing by to check it out and share! HUGS
It was worth it for sure! And I’ll stop by soon…thanks for the invite!
my daughter loves red velvet. Need to try this. Pinned to the Creative K Kids Tasty Tuesday board. Thanks for linking up.
Thank you Dina – hope she likes the cake!
Please come bake for me! Please!
This looks like the perfect birthday cake!
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
Red velvet is my favorite, and I love that you didn’t go the traditional route for decorating it 🙂
Thank you! I loved the design too!
I LOVE the sprinkles swirl, so simple, so fancy looking. I am definitely borrowing this idea! Thanks!
I can’t wait to see how it turns out Julie!
Wow this cake looks amazing! You have a great blog 🙂 Saying hello from happiness is homemade and that is true of this great cake!
Cathy
Thank you! Nice to meet you!
I am horrible with icing and your looks so perfect! I actually love red velvet cake. Personally, I use red dye paste rather than the food coloring. I find the food coloring can sometimes leave an aftertaste and the concentrated version doesn’t because you add less and still get brilliant color. Thanks for linking up to Merry Monday! Pinning this so maybe, just maybe I can improve my decorating skills, lol.
My sister’s birthday is coming up next week. I think this is very timely. She would love this!