Best Ever Red Velvet Layer Cake Recipe! | Cupcake Jemma

Presenter / Channel

• Cupcake Jemma (aka Cupcake Jemma channel)

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Ingredients (with quantities)

Dry ingredients

• 355 g plain flour
• 25 g good quality cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Sift through a sieve; whisk to combine.

Wet ingredients

• 70 g buttermilk
• 3/4 tsp good quality vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp very concentrated red color paste

Note: This is adjusted vs traditional recipes that use much more liquid red food coloring.

Cake base

• 375 g soft unsalted butter
• 405 g caster sugar
• 6 large free-range eggs (added one at a time)

Leavening / red velvet flavor

• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Technique: Stir the soda into the vinegar quickly, then add to the batter.

Cream cheese icing

• 150 g soft unsalted butter
• 240 g cream cheese
• 960 g icing sugar (sifted), added in two stages

Tip: Slightly more sugar than in a previous icing recipe, to stiffen the icing since the cake is built up and “heavy.”

For decoration

• Crumbs saved from the tops of the cakes
• Extra blobs of cream cheese icing around the outside

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Equipment / prep

• 7-inch round cake tins (4 total) with loose bottoms
• Grease and flour tin edges:
  • Flour over edges, tap out excess
• Line bases with lining paper (for smoother sides and easier release)
• Sieve (for dry ingredients and icing sugar)
• Mixer/beaters:
  • Beat butter + sugar on high speed
  • Beat eggs in
  • Beat icing components
• Whisk (for dry mixing and incorporating food color)
• Palette knife (leveling batter and smoothing icing)
• Cake leveler (to trim cakes)
• Piping bag with a big round nozzle (for filling each layer)
• Fridge (to set the assembled cake)
• Oven: 170°C

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Method (step-by-step with key timings/temps/technique)

1) Prepare dry ingredients

1. Sift together/through a sieve: 355 g flour + 25 g cocoa powder + 1/2 tsp salt.
2. Whisk to combine evenly; set aside.

2) Prepare wet ingredients + color

1. In a bowl, mix: 70 g buttermilk + 3/4 tsp vanilla extract.
2. Add 3/4 tsp concentrated red color paste.
3. Whisk really well to ensure there are no red nuggets.
4. Set aside.

Chef note: Red velvet color amounts were adapted for color paste rather than the larger quantities of liquid food coloring used in older recipes.

3) Make cake batter

1. Beat 375 g soft butter + 405 g caster sugar on quite a high speed for 5 to 8 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
2. Add 6 eggs, one at a time:
   • Beat each in for ~30 seconds.
3. Combine dry and wet alternately, with this key order:
   • Add dry ingredients first and last.
   • Reason: starting with liquid can cause separation/heaviness because there’s “basically fat” in the mix; dry helps absorb liquid.
4. Folding/mixing technique:
   • Add about 1/3 dry first; fold on a slow speed.
   • Add about half the red mixture.
   • Continue adding remaining dry and wet one after the other, folding in slowly, until mixed (except for the vinegar + soda step).

4) Add vinegar + bicarbonate quickly

1. Add soda to vinegar, stir, quickly.
2. Add immediately to the batter.
3. Mix for about 30 seconds, then the batter is ready.

5) Fill tins + bake

1. Use 4 x 7-inch tins:
   • Already greased and floured on edges, with bases lined.
2. Distribute batter evenly among tins.
3. Level with a palette knife.
4. Bake at 170°C for 20 to 22 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.

6) Make cream cheese icing

1. Beat 150 g butter + 240 g cream cheese for a couple of minutes.
2. Add 960 g sifted icing sugar in two stages:
   • Beat really well after each addition.
3. Cover icing airtight while cakes cool so it doesn’t go crispy.

7) Cool + prepare layers

1. Wait until cakes are completely cool.
2. Trim with a cake leveler.
3. Important: She says don’t trim the edges this time—this is a planned “naked cake” (visible sides kept intact).

8) Assemble (layer + fill)

1. Build on a cake board:
   • Spread a small blob of icing to help the first layer stick.
2. Fit a piping bag with a big round nozzle.
3. Fill each layer with icing:
   • Be careful around the outside edges so the visible sides look neat.
4. Continue layering until the top layer is on.

9) Chill to set

• Refrigerate 30 minutes to 1 hour after the final layer to prevent squishing.

10) Finish + decorate

1. Apply a very neat layer of icing on top.
2. Smooth with a palette knife.
3. Decorate:
   • Add crumbs (from top trims) in the middle
   • Add a few blobs of cream cheese icing around the outside

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Tips / notes / common pitfalls (from subtitles)

• Whisk food color paste thoroughly to avoid red nuggets.
• Beat butter + sugar long enough (5–8 min) for a pale, fluffy base.
• Add dry ingredients first and last; don’t start with wet or the batter may separate and become heavy.
• Vinegar + bicarbonate must be quick:
  • Soda into vinegar, then into batter; mix ~30 seconds afterward.
• Don’t trim edges if making a naked cake (keep sides intact).
• Chill assembled cake (30 min–1 hr) so it doesn’t smush.
• Increase icing sugar slightly (vs her other cream cheese icing recipe) so icing stiffens and doesn’t “smash out the sides.”
• Cover icing while you wait so it doesn’t go crispy.

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Plating / serving suggestion

• Final style is a “naked cake”:
  • Visible cake sides
  • A neat icing top layer
  • Center crumbs
  • Outer icing blobs

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Referenced sources

• Mentions a previous video: her red velvet cupcake recipe (link in description).
• Mentions a previous cream cheese icing masterclass video, noting this cake uses more sugar than that recipe.