Blue Velvet Cake Recipe
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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.
This recipe turned out amazing! I ended up measuring using the gram equivalent listed and I think it gave the most accurate measurements. There are so few blue velvet cake recipes out there and this is what my boyfriend requested for his birthday – thank you for posting this recipe!
**I only have 9inch round pans so I baked in just 2 (won’t have as many layers) – 25 minutes at 350 was perfect.
**I used liquid food coloring, the same amount listed in the recipe, and it worked just fine. I didn’t have any purple food dye and was in a time crunch but I thought the blue alone worked just fine.
Kaylie, I’m thrilled this cake turned out so well for you. I hope your boyfriend loves the cake and has a very happy birthday!
What cooking temp/time would you do for cupcakes?
Abby, I bake cupcakes at 325ºF. I hope you enjoy!
For how long on cupcakes?
Abby, I would bake the cupcakes about 20 minutes at 325ºF.
Hi, thanks for sharing the recipe, looks amazing!
I just wanted to check, 1oz blue colouring i 30ml? So i need 2 bottles of 15ml gel liquid colouring? And does that much not make the cake taste bitter?
Cant wait to try it out!
Zacki, I used the gel paste, not liquid, food coloring. The Americolor Soft Gel Paste in the amounts I used made the cake the color I wanted. The cake did not taste bitter at all with the gel paste.
Hello! I am so excited to make this recipe, but after extensive Google searching, I figured I would just ask.
Can I substitute the 3 8 inch pans for 2 9 inch? I do have 8 inch pans but only 2 of them.
Thank you so much!
Cheris, you can bake this cake in 2 9-inch pans. Just be careful and not overfill the pans. I hope you enjoy!
Have you ever tried a pink version of this cake, for say a baby shower for a girl, or a little girl’s birthday who loves pink but also likes red velvet cake?
Crystal, you could make this as a pink cake. Just use red food dye. Here is my Red Velvet Cake Recipe that she might enjoy!
How do you make the frosting for th Bue Velet cake
Debra, I used my Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting on this cake. I hope you enjoy!
Why do you use shortening instead of butter? And can you replace the shortening for butter?
Alwjandra, the cake is more moist with the shortening and I like the texture better. You can use all butter if you want but the texture will be a little different. Hope you enjoy the cake.
My daughter wanted a blue velvet cake for her birthday. I know of red velvet but not blue. can’t wait to see the results, especially again black buttercream icing.
Raquel, I hope your daughter has a very happy birthday and loves her blue cake!
I need to serve 45 people with this recipe for a 3 layer cake. Should I use 3- 12″ cake pans?? Also, does it make a difference if I use butter flavored Crisco instead of regular?
Danielle, I haven’t made this cake in 3 12-inch pans but I think you should be able to serve 45 people with that. You would need to double the recipe for those 3 12-inch pans. I haven’t used the butter flavored Crisco in this cake so I’m not sure it it will affect the flavor of the cake.