What makes a cake a red velvet cake?

The inclusion of ingredients such as buttermilk and white vinegar make a red velvet cake decidedly different from a regular chocolate cake. These ingredients give the cake a noticeable brightness.

What is the actual flavor of red velvet cake?

Red velvet cake offers the bittersweet, fudgy notes you know and love from a classic chocolate cake with a tang from the buttermilk batter and cream cheese frosting. The texture of the cake is moist and fluffy, thanks to the buttermilk, plus oil, butter, and, in some instances, sour cream.

Red Velvet Cake with Coconut

Active Time:

40 mins

Total Time:

2 hrs 50 mins

Servings:

Yield:

1 cake

Red velvet cake meets coconut cake in this holiday-ready dessert. It’s so much more than chocolate cake with red food coloring. This super moist, not-too-sweet cake gets a little bit of tang from the addition of buttermilk and white vinegar. It gets a triple dose of coconut in the form of coconut oil and flaked coconut in the frosting, plus toasted coconut as a garnish. This vibrant three-layer cake, created by James Beard Award–winning chef Mashama Bailey, is ready to party.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a cake a red velvet cake?

The inclusion of ingredients such as buttermilk and white vinegar make a red velvet cake decidedly different from a regular chocolate cake. These ingredients give the cake a noticeable brightness.
What is the actual flavor of red velvet cake?

Red velvet cake offers the bittersweet, fudgy notes you know and love from a classic chocolate cake with a tang from the buttermilk batter and cream cheese frosting. The texture of the cake is moist and fluffy, thanks to the buttermilk, plus oil, butter, and, in some instances, sour cream.

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

You can use gel food coloring instead of liquid, but you’ll need much less — start with one teaspoon and add more to achieve your desired color. Not a fan of coconut? Swap the coconut oil in the frosting with neutral oil such as canola and omit the flaked coconut. Alternatively, this would be delicious with traditional cream cheese frosting.

Make ahead

You can bake the cake layers ahead of time and store, wrapped, at room temperature for one day, or freeze for up to 1 month.

You can also bake and frost the cake, then store it in the refrigerator, covered, for up to three days.

Red Velvet Cake with Coconut slices — Chris Simpson / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Thom Driver

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Ingredients

Cake

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 11 5/8 ounces), plus more for dusting
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup whole buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter (6 ounces), softened, plus more for greasing
3/4 cup unrefined coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons red liquid food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar (about 1 pound)
2 cups finely shredded unsweetened coconut
Toasted coconut flakes, for garnish

Directions

Make the cake

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 (8-inch) cake pans with butter, and dust with flour; line pan bottoms with parchment paper. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. Stir together buttermilk and vinegar in a measuring cup with a spout; set aside.
Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add oil, eggs, food coloring, vanilla, and buttermilk mixture, and beat on medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture, and beat on low speed until just incorporated and batter is smooth, about 1 minute.
Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans (about 2 2/3 cups each), and smooth tops. Tap pans gently on counter to release any air bubbles.
Bake in preheated oven until cakes spring back when gently pressed and a wooden skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 26 to 28 minutes. Let cakes cool slightly in pans on a wire rack, about 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto a wire rack; let cool completely, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Make the frosting

Combine cream cheese, coconut oil, and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until mixture is smooth, light, and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add finely shredded coconut, and beat until well combined, about 30 seconds.
Remove parchment paper from cakes; trim cake layers to level. Place 1 cake layer, trimmed side up, on a cake plate. Top with 1 1/4 cups frosting, and spread evenly. Stack second cake layer on top, trimmed side down. Spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake. Garnish cake with toasted coconut flakes. If frosting feels soft and warm, refrigerate cake until firm, about 30 minutes, before serving.

Originally appeared in Food & Wine magazine, December 2024 / January 2025