This Red Velvet Cake recipe makes an easy to follow, classic dessert. Red velvet cake is delicious with cream cheese or cooked heritage frosting.
Growing up, my mother always made me a this special red velvet cake topped with heritage frosting on my birthday. Sometimes, she’d also make them for Christmas, but I knew them as “my” birthday cake. No one else in our family had this cake as “their” cake. I felt like it was especially mine.
But then Little Buddy came along and decided it would be “his” birthday cake when celebrating his birthday with my family. When we celebrate his birthday with my husband’s family, he always wants my mother-in-law’s caramel cake. The boy knows how to make special requests that everyone loves making sure happen!
And of course, Mama made her red velvet cake for him for his birthday this year.
I love looking at this picture. It just makes me wonder what he wished.
Knowing him, he probably wished to get the biggest slice of this cake!
Thanks Nana for making his birthday cake.
We love ya. And we love your cake.
Here’s how she makes her Red Velvet Cake recipe.
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 ounces red food coloring
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 scant teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare three (8-inch) cake pans with nonstick baking spray or by thoroughly greasing and flouring. Set aside.
- Cream together vegetable shortening, sugar and eggs. Make a paste of food coloring and cocoa powder and add to the mixture. Add salt and flour with buttermilk and vanilla. Alternately add soda and vinegar; just blend, don’t beat hard.
- Evenly distribute into cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool cake thoroughly before frosting.
from Favorite Recipes of Home Economics Teachers, Desserts Edition, 1963
This cake will be a favorite on your holiday dessert buffet, next birthday celebration, or family dinner.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
This recipe was originally published on November 7, 2010, republished December 1, 2014.
I made the delicious chocolate cake and today I amgoing to bake the Red Velvet cake .
HOW WOULD IT TURN OUT IF YOU PUT BOILING WATER IN THE RECIPE?
Can I use butter in place of shortening in this recipe.
I was thinking the same thing. I prefer using butter but I don’t know how much to use in place of the shortening.
Hi Robyn, I am really looking forward to making this recipe this weekend. I’ve tried some of your other cakes – and they are the best on the web. Thanks so much for sharing. Just wondering, does this cake work well if frozen, or am I best to just make it the day before? Thanks a million.
They ask me for this cake every week…
..do you have dessert recipes without sugar? …thank you
Hi Maria, I have some desserts here on my site that do not have added sugar. You can search “sugar free” in my Recipe Index under Cooking to find those on my site. Thanks so much!
How long should I mix the cake? I forgot bake-even strips and remembered them about halfway through. The sides were crispy at 25 min and the cake was dense. Trying to figure out what I did wrong. I made your chocolate cake and it was so moist! The batter on this one was thicker and I’m wondering if that’s why it was dryer. Suggestions?
Hi! Can you give the break down if I wanted to use this for cupcakes? I love all of your recipes and swear by them. This weekend however, I went rouge because I needed to make RV cupcakes and they turned out more like RV brownies with not a ton of flavor. Thanks!
Hello Robyn! Thank you so much for the recipe. I haven’t tried it out yet but I know I can always trust your recipes. Please i’ll like to ask for what type of food coloring to use for this red velvet cake? Is it liquid, powdered or gel coloring?
Hi Lucy,
This is a family favorite recipe we have loved for years! I usually use liquid food coloring and its what my mother has used for the many years that she’s been making this. I hope you enjoy this cake as well. Thanks! xo
I absolutely love your chocolate cake recipe. Tried the red velvet cake recipe for cupcakes and they were really good but would rather use a different recipe for cupcakes? I’m making them again right now with the cake recipe.
So glad you enjoyed the cakes, Monica! The chocolate cake makes wonderful cupcakes! Enjoy! Thanks!