Baby showers are so fun, aren’t they? You ooh and aah over the cutest baby clothes in pastel shades, ogle over the new-fangled baby gear and how much it has changed since your baby showers, and then play shower games that can get just a wee bit crazy when they involve guessing how many inches around the pregnant belly is. They also always have a mighty impressive spread of food.
Cake is always a favorite part of any shower and I wanted it to have a surprise inside when you cut it.
Unexpected, vibrant, and perfect for a little boy.
Blue Velvet Cake has all of the great taste of the more traditional Red Velvet Cake, but with such a fun twist that everyone will remember it.
Blue Velvet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup (92 g) shortening
- 1 ½ cups (297 g) sugar
- 2 large (100 g) eggs
- 1 ounce (28 g) royal blue gel paste food color
- 2 drops (0.2 g) violet gel paste food color
- 2 tablespoons (10.5 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 ¼ cups (270 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 scant teaspoon (2.6 g) kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon (4.7 g) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (227 g) buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) baking soda
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) distilled white vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease and flour 3 8-inch round cake pans.
- Cream Crisco and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add eggs one at a time, completely incorporating after each addition.
- In a small bowl, make a paste of food coloring and cocoa powder and add to mixture.
- Stir together flour and salt in a separate medium bowl, set aside.
- Pour buttermilk and vanilla into a measuring cup, set aside.
- Alternately, add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture into Crisco/sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl to ensure all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Reduce speed of mixer and stir in baking soda, making sure incorporated into batter. Then, stir in the vinegar, taking care not to beat hard or over mix.
- Distribute cake batter evenly into the three cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until cakes have gently pulled away from the edges of the cake pans and a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.. You can follow my tips for how to tell when your cake is done.
- Cool cake thoroughly before frosting.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Notes: I used Americolor Soft Gel Paste in Royal Blue and Violet. You may also want to try a natural-based food coloring.
When you say soda do you mean baking soda? Also does this cake taste like dye?
Yes baking soda. I would guess it tastes even better than the red version as the red food coloring is rather pungent.
Can I use Butter instead of Crisco?
I would stick to the recipe as posted. HTH
Hi Robyn! I hope it’s not too late to post this question. 😀 I’ve been asked by a cousin to bake her wedding cupcakes and to turn red velvet ones to teal (her motif). I was quite successful making a blue velvet cake but not quite sure on how to mix the colors to create a teal velvet cupcake. Americolor and Chefmaster is available in my country so should I just use teal then add a dab of violet? Or just the teal? Hope you can make some suggestions. Thanks!
Hey..I know it’s a little late to reply for the wedding..but I’ve learnt the hard way that teal would be almost impossible if you start out with a chocolate cake batter..you would stand a better chance getting teal if your base was more white than brown
Hey! I just wanted to ask you whether I can use 1/2 cup of butter instead of Crisco.
You can use butter instead of Crisco, but it will change the structure of the cake slightly. The cake will not be as moist, etc. If you don’t want to use Crisco, you could use coconut oil instead.
Im a hobby baker and I have tried several of your recipes.
This one is not quite so good. I found the taste lacking that “velvet” also a bit dry.
I’m sorry it wasn’t to your liking. Thanks so much for your comment. xo
Hi Robyn,
I came across your blue velvet cake recipe on Pinterest, I’m planning on using it for a friends upcoming wedding, theme being seahawks. But I had a couple questions I was hoping you could answer for me.
-it says to use gel paste, what kind of food coloring do you use, americolor or wilton? -what kind of cocoa did you use?
Thank you.
Can I cover the blue velvet cake w / fondant icing? For my sons wedding..royal blue as motiff….tnx
Sure! What a beautiful idea for a wedding!!!
When you say soda do you mean baking soda ?
Oh wow! Made this today.. Delicious soft yummy cupcakes… … Thanks for the recipe..
I substituted the crisco for oil as we don’t get crisco here!
Thanks, Iris.
How much oil did u use?
Baked this for my daughter 23rd birthday. She love it by I felt it was too much blue coloring. Batter was a Lil stiff but it was for my daughter and not me. Scale of 1-10, I will give it a 9.
I want to know what that recipe is on the cover of Jenny’s cookbook, top left??? Whatever it is, I want to try one!!! I do want to try my hand at the Blue-Velvet Cake too.
I’m an Australian and we don’t have Crisco, can I use butter or we have copha which is a hard vegetable shortening? Needs to be melted!