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.
Hi, also wondering if its vegetable “oil” or solid shortening crisco.
Hi Yvonne –
It is solid Crisco shortening as you cream it with the sugar and eggs. I hope you enjoy the cake! Thanks!
Need to know, the soda, is it baking soda or something else? 🙂
Hi Beka –
Yes, it is baking soda. Hope you enjoy the cake! Thanks!
Just wondering what was used for the frosting!??
Hi Madison –
You can use Cream Cheese Frosting or Heritage Frosting. I hope you enjoy the cake! Thanks!
Are you using liquid or solid Crisco? And is it only 1/2 cup?
t tsp soda….baking soda right?
Did anybody answer this? I’d like to know myself
Did you find out what it was? Baking soda or something else? Making this in a few days, need to know 🙂
Yes it is baking soda. Thanks!
Baking soda
So I just made a test batch of cupcakes with this recipe they are delicious and light and airy but as I’ll be using this for my wedding cake my mother thinks the little bit of blue tint on the backs of our tongue is inappropriate for the occasion. To be fair we ate them while still warm and with no frosting. Idk if that’ll make a difference or not. I think we should either cut the amount of food coloring in half or omit the vinegar. She doesn’t believe me that the vinegar is to amp up the food coloring. Do you think either of these methods would cut the staining? if not do you have any suggestions as to how I could appease my mother? I think with a little frosting and a little champagne our blue tongues will fade considerably lol
The blue velvet cupcakes turned out great ! Everyone loved them. However,I notice when I mix the cocoa and clothing to make paste and mix with the batter there are tiny lumps and when it’s bake the lumps are in the cupcakes.what do you suggest I do too get the lumps out?
Hi, my cakes came out kind of flat. Not much depth to them. What did I do wrong? They were also a little hard around the sides. I baked the contents in 2 nine inch round pans for 25 minutes @ 350°.
Hi Wendy
I adapt a lot of recipes to larger tins. If you put something in a larger tin the surface area is larger – and cakes cook from the outside in, so the edges are going to be crisper in the time that it takes the middle to cook..
If you change to larger pans, you need to decrease the oven temperature & cook for longer – proportionate to the size of the tin that you’re using.
I know your comment was from a while ago, but I hope this helps in future!
I got a last minute wedding reception cake for July 9th!!!! Bride wants a 2 tiered blue velvet. How do you think this cake would do stacked? Is it too soft/moist to hold up? It looks delish! I would love to know some insight on this recipe before committing to it. Please get back soon. Blessings!!!!!
The blue velvet cake is the original recipe that I got from my Mother. It was probably in the 1950’s when she brought it home from her teaching job. My copy called for 2 teaspoons of cocoa which I immediately changed to 2 tablespoons so I am glad to see that this is the correct measurement. It also claimed to come from the Waldorf. May version add baking powder which I believe to be wrong. The buttermilk kills the baking powder. The leavening is provided b the reaction of the baking soda and vinegar. I had instruction to fold in the soda and vinegar and if your arm hurt then you knew you were doing it right. I have made Many of these and now I will make a blue one. I found they work well in an 7×11 inch pan if you want a sheet cake. Thank you for bring back happy memories.
Does the cake taste like food coloring or is it rich?