Red Velvet Layer Cake
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 778kcal
Buttery soft red velvet cake layers generously filled with classic cream cheese frosting and finished with luscious chocolate ganache.
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Ingredients
For cake:
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder Note 1
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ cup (360ml) buttermilk at room temperature Note 2
- 1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons gel red food coloring Note 3
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
For cream cheese filling:
- 16 oz (450g) cream cheese at room temperature Note 4
- 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For ganache:
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy whipping cream
- 8 oz (225g) semi-sweet chocolate Note 5
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two 9-inch round cake pans* with parchment paper and spray with a cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, red food coloring, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture and mix the batter until smooth, about a minute.
- In a small dish, mix together baking soda and vinegar. While the soda/vinegar mixture is bubbling, add it to the batter and mix well.
- Evenly divide the batter between the two cake pans. Bake the cakes for about 30 minutes, or until the inserted toothpick comes out clean. If the toothpick comes out with moist crumb, bake for a minute longer and test again. Be careful not to overbake the cakes, or they'll dry out.
- Cool the cakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack to cool completely, for couple of hours or overnight. (Wrap the cakes in a plastic wrap, if you're resting overnight.)
To make the filling:
- In a mixing bowl with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter on medium high speed until fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed for a minute. Then increase the speed to medium high and continue to beat until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in vanilla extract and salt. Whip again until incorporated, 30 seconds.
To assemble the cake:
- Once the cakes are completely cooled, slice each cake layer horizontally. (TIP: This cake slicer makes the job quick and easy!)
- Smear a small amount of frosting on a cake board, or serving platter. And place the first layer of cake.
- Evenly spread about 2/3 cup of filling all over the cake and place the next cake layer followed by another round of frosting. Continue until all the cake layers are stacked. If necessary, place the cake in the fridge to firm up for 30-60 minutes.
- Then cover the entire cake with remaining frosting and refrigerate it while you prepare the ganache.
To make the ganache:
- Roughly chop chocolate with a sharp knife and place in a arge bowl.
- Heat heavy whipping cream in a microwave for 1-2 minutes, or until hot. (Alternatively, you can heat the cream on stovetop until almost boiling, but not quite to a boil.)
- Pour hot cream over chopped chocolate and let it sit for good 2-3 minutes.
- Add salt and whisk the mixture gently from the center, stirring in one direction and slowly incorporating cream into the chocolate, until it's nice and smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Immediately pour the ganache over the cake and spread it evenly with an ofset spatula. (Note: Ganache thickens as it cools, therefore pour it over the cake while ganache is still warm and runny. TIP: If the ganache cooled and thickened, reheat it in a microwave in 15-second increments at 50% power to make it runny again.)
- The cake can be assembled 1 day in advance. Store the cake, covered, in the fridge. Refrigerate leftovers, covered, for up to 5 days.
Notes
Note 1: It’s best to use natural cocoa powder for these cupcakes, as Dutch-processed cocoa powder has a darker color, which may result darker cupcakes.
Note 2: If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, make a homemade version: stir in 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice into ¾ cup milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
Note 3: Feel free to adjust the amount of food coloring as it’s totally up to you how much food coloring to use. The provided amount is to achieve the level of brightness you see on my photos. You can also use up to 2 tablespoons of liquid red food coloring.
Note 4: Choose a brick-style, full fat, plain block of cream cheese for sturdy thick frosting.
Note 5: Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate bar is my go-to. You can use chocolate chips to make a ganache. BUT keep in mind that chocolate chips contain stabilizers to hold their shape at high temperature (think, chocolate chip cookies!), which makes them harder to melt.
*Note 6: You may use three 9-inch cake pans and make it into 3-layer cake instead.
Make-Ahead Tips:
You can make both cake layers and frosting in advance.
- Store the cooled cake layers, tightly wrapped with a plastic wrap, at room temperature overnight, or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the frozen cakes in the fridge overnight.
- Refrigerate the frosting, covered, until ready to assemble the cake. Read my ultimate cream cheese frosting post for more tips and troubleshooting guide. And here's my full tutorial for ganache 101.
You can make both cake layers and frosting in advance.
- Store the cooled cake layers, tightly wrapped with a plastic wrap, at room temperature overnight, or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the frozen cakes in the fridge overnight.
- Refrigerate the frosting, covered, until ready to assemble the cake. Read my ultimate cream cheese frosting post for more tips and troubleshooting guide. And here's my full tutorial for ganache 101.
Nutrition
Servings: 1 slice
Calories: 778kcal
Carbohydrates: 83g
Protein: 7g
Fat: 47g
Sugar: 62g
Sodium: 310mg