RED VELVET CAKE RECIPE with Cream Cheese Frosting

buttermilk

🥗Healthier: low-fat yogurt

💰Cheaper: milk + vinegar

Low-fat yogurt provides tanginess with fewer calories.

cream cheese

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: ricotta cheese

Greek yogurt offers creaminess with lower fat.

red food coloring

🥗Healthier: beet juice

💰Cheaper: none

Beet juice is a natural alternative for color.

butter

🥗Healthier: coconut oil

💰Cheaper: margarine

Coconut oil is plant-based and dairy-free.

Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in the center of the oven. Grease two 9-inch cake pans with butter and dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

Stir then sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat together softened butter and sugar for a few minutes until sugar is moistened and the mixture looks powdery. Mix in eggs one at a time, beating well to incorporate. Beat in vanilla extract until blended. Gradually add oil and mix until well incorporated.

Stir vinegar into buttermilk, then mix it into the batter until incorporated.

Add flour mixture all at once and mix just until well blended and no streaks of flour remain. Scrape down the bowl as needed.

Add red gel food coloring and mix just until blended, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Let rest in cake pans for 20 minutes then invert onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before assembling with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Allergens