How to Make Red Velvet Cake

Easily one of the most popular cakes, the Red Velvet Cake is always sure to please a crowd! While its origin is shrouded in mystery, velvet cakes have been around since the 1800s. The "original" Red Velvet cake was claimed by Adam's Extract Company in the 1920s and was also a favorite dessert item at the Waldorf Astoria in the 1950s. We scoured the web to bring you the best Red Velvet cake we could ever hope to bake, and inspired by , we'll show you step-by-step how to make your own.

• • ½ cup butter
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons red food coloring (or substitute 1tsp gel coloring)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 ½ cups flour, sifted
  • 1 cup whole buttermilk

1 tablespoon vinegar

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. You can make 2 large layers, or 3 thin layers of cake. Prepare desired number of pans by coating with butter and a thin layer of cocoa powder, set aside.

• Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla.

• In a separate, small bowl, mix cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons red food coloring together to make a paste. Once thoroughly mixed, add this to your butter and sugar mixture. NOTE: Instead of liquid color, we used 1tsp of #120 Americolor Super Red Gel and 1-1/2 tablespoons water.

• Sift together dry ingredients, then add half to the butter and sugar mixture, followed by half of your buttermilk.

• Add remainder of dry ingredients, then add vinegar to the remaining half of buttermilk and pour into your batter. Mix until fully combined.

• Divide batter equally into baking pans and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool before assembling.

• You can use any frosting you want, but we suggest our Best Frosting Recipe for this one! Once you've whipped that up, spread the Ermine Frosting over the top of the first layer.

• Repeat process with remaining layers, then spread the rest of the frosting on the top layer of cake and around the sides until completely covered.

• That's it! Display your red velvet cake on one of your favorite stands and enjoy! We put this cake on our vintage style White Metal Stand 10in.