“A milestone is less date and more definition.”- Michael Lopp.
This is the 200th time I am doing this !
For a person who changes her mind about things as often as she flips channels on the television , and who has the concentration span of a 5 year old ,200 posts is no small feat. I am surprised I have stuck to blogging for this long ! Which is exactly what I felt when I shared my 100th post .
And another thing you should know about me is that I would never let any milestone (big or small) pass without a) getting a little mushy and b) some cake !
Fair warning : To escape the mush, skip a paragraph !
For me, the best gratification from blogging will always be the wonderful people I have connected with over the last 200 posts.. the people who were once faceless encouraging comments and who have become good friends now. The ones who trust me to suggest their kids birthday cake flavours. The ones who inquire about my health when I take a while between posts (the “while” is usually due to laziness than ill health!). The ones who read every post . The ones who always have something sweet to say .The ones who are nice enough to let me know when my recipes turn out less than what I promise (always pushes me !). The ones who share the pictures of their cake just out of the oven. The ones who call me on messenger because they have a doubt while making those cookies. The ones who tell me they fell in love with baking after Flours and Frostings – I know I had little to do with it , but it still is a tremendous high that you would be nice enough to say so !
So THANK YOU ! For all that and more. This post and this cake is for you .
Done with the mush, on with the cake. This is a recipe I have shared before and I thought of sharing it again – It was the first cake I had made with the intention of sharing on the blog. And it was the first post which got me some decent viewership and recognition. It is also the cake I make most often , because my friends simply love anything and everything red velvet. And it just happens to be one of the most popular recipes on my blog even today.
I have never tried a red velvet recipe I have liked more than Gretchen ‘s . Its really really delicious and so so simple. What I particularly like about it , is that it isnt too sweet. So it can handle all the cream cheese and icing sugar you lather on there.
I know I overdid it with the icing a little bit but I aint sorry ! . I used different proportions to the cream cheese frosting than I usually do and I must say I quite like this version. If you don’t have cream cheese or would rather not use it , you can try the flour frosting which goes really well with red velvet.. or maybe you fancy some white chocolate with it !?
Red velvet layer cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 312 grams or 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 24 grams or 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 300 grams or 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 240 ml or 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 180 ml or 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1 tsp or few drops red gel food colouring
For the cream cheese frosting
- 200 grams or about 1 cup cream cheese
- 350 grams or 3 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 50 grams or about 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 160 C / 325 F. Butter and flour a 8 inch square pan , cover the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, soda , salt and cocoa. Keep aside.
- In another bowl , whisk together the sugar , eggs , oil , buttermilk and vanilla.
- Add to the liquid mixture , the vinegar and food colour.
- Whisk in the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients until smooth.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45- 48 minutes until the cake springs back when touched or a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Cool in pan for 10 minutes and unmould to cool completely before slicing.
To make the cream cheese frosting
- Melt the butter and let come to room temperature.
- In a large bowl , sift the sugar .
- Beat the sugar with the cream cheese and vanilla until smooth.
- Continue beating while adding the butter little by little.
- Beat until desired consistency.
To assemble
- Level or cut off any dome off the cake with a serrated knife. Save the scraps for decoration if you wish.
- Slice the cake into two or three layers.
- Spread about half a cup or less of frosting on one layer , top with another , press gently and continue with all layers.
Notes
I used 4 drops of Americolor red red gel food colouring.
You can make your own buttermilk by adding one tablespoon vinegar to a scant one cup milk and let it stand for 5 minutes before using. You can also use 1/2 cup curd and 1/2 cup water for one cup buttermilk.
You can try using less sugar for the icing , but I find atleast 3 cups needed for a good consistency.
Keep this cake refrigerated once assembled , and bring to room temperature before serving. It stays good for 2-3 days .
Does that look like a slice of celebration to you ? Sure does to me ! Oh, if you prefer cake without eggs, I have a mean recipe for an eggless red velvet… totally reader loved and approved !
Once again, thank you for being part of Flour and Frostings .If this is your first visit here, hope you find something that will keep you coming back.
Do write in to let me know what you like on the blog, what you don’t , and what you might like to see. And do show some love( only if you want to!) by liking my Fb page or following me on Instagram.
Affiliate links : Just so you know, I have baked this cake in my trusty Morphy Richards 52 Litre Oven 
Happy baking !
hi dear, i need your help.. i have to bake this cake for 50 people this Sunday, will it be sufficient if i bke 1+1/2 of this recipe in 8 inch round pan?
Hi,
I made the above cake in two – 8 inch pans, the cakes rose really well but were hard and I could taste the soda. What do you think i did wrong?
I put 2 teaspoons of liquid red colour but it turned out looking brown like a chocolate cake, please advise if i need to use more colour or change the cocoa powder (i used hersheys)?
thanks
Hi Laura ! Sorry the cake didnt turn out as expected. About the hardness and the soda – please check if your soda is fresh . if it is , maybe it didnt mix well into the dry ingredients. Hence the taste. Also , next time check 5 minutes before you checked it this time to see if its done. And about the colour – liquid colour doesnt work as well as gel colours. you need more to get the colour effect and that much liquid can alter the texture of the cake. Do try to get your hands on some red gel colour. Hope this helps Laura and you have better luck next time you try the cake.
Thanks a million for the quick response dear, can I use the above cupcake recipe to make a single cake? N also thanks for the vegan link..but for this time, I would trust ur recipe n will keep the experiments for the future.. I have gained confidence with ur website, with the success of 4 tries recipes.. sorry for the long comments, m so obsessed with complimenting u
Ha Ha… your obsession is good for my ego !! And yes, you can use the cupcake recipe to make a single cake…
Hi Akshatha, I m not gng to refer to any other website for cakes from now.. m so happy to say that this cake won the hearts of my family today.. thanks a ton.. now I need a suggestion from u.. cmg Tuesday is my son’s birthday n I need to bake a vegan cake.. Can u please help me out? Thanks in advance
Thank you Deepthi.. what a wonderful compliment.. Appreciate it ! I have options for vegan chocolate and red velvet cake Deepthi.. and although have tried a vegan vanilla cake, I am not 100 % satisfied with it to recommend for a birthday party. iF you want vanilla, i suggest you bake a test cake and see if you like it. For frosting – you can use non dairy whipping cream and flavour it as you want , or use a ganache made with vegan chocolate ( like amul dark chocolate) and water/coconut milk.. The links are below-
http://floursandfrostings.com/vegan-chocolate-truffle-cake-recipe/
http://floursandfrostings.com/eggless-red-velvet-cupcakes-with-white-chocolate-frosting-recipe/
http://floursandfrostings.com/eggless-chocolate-chip-cake/
And for more ideas , you can look at lovingatvegan.com . Her recipes dint have complicated ingredients and are good.. Do feel to ask any query if you have . I would love to know how it turned out . Happy birthday to your son !
Hello 🙂 I made this one (halved the recipe) and it was sooo good.. Love the texture and taste. Thanks a lot for the recipe
Thanks Nithya… Happy to know that …appreciate you letting me know 🙂
Hello Akshatha – Can i half the recipe from 2.5 cups to 1.25 cups and to all the other ingredients
Hey Preethi… yes you can !
Hi Akshata. ..congratulations on your 200th post.I visit your blog regularly because I enjoy your writing almost as much as I love your recipes.I’ve tried many recipes from your blog and most of them turned out really well.A favorite is the 100 year old butter cake .
I’ve not really tried layer cakes but maybe it’s time to change that!
Thanks for such a lovely comment Hazel. Very encouraging to me.. the 100 year old cake is one of my favs too.. and most definitely, its time to make some layer cakes !