Easy Red Velvet Party Cake recipe with a lovely cream cheese frosting. Soft, fluffy and so delicious! Make as a sheet or round cake, you decide! This easy red velvet party cake recipe is a great cake to make for a party or celebration.
Red Velvet Cake is such a popular dessert to take along to a party or potluck.
This cake will keep in the fridge for a couple of days if you wanted to make ahead. It's also freezer friendly so if you wanted to slice it up into portions and freeze individually, perhaps there's just yourself or two of you at home. maybe you want some cake handy in case unexpected visitors come over, then just take a few slices out of the freezer, they'll take no time at all to defrost!
I've made the instructions for the topping flexible so you can choose what you prefer, depending on the occasion. For this cake, I've simply added some of the red velvet cake crumb and chocolate sprinkles. You can also add a few meringue cookies or chocolate shards if you wanted to fancy it up a little.
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What can I substitute for food coloring?
For those of you who don't want to use food coloring, you can swap for cherry juice or beetroot juice (same quantities), and that will also give you the characteristic color of a red velvet cake.
I would suggest cherry juice if you're planning on a substitute because the flavor will change very slightly, and cherries do go well with chocolate.
What baking pan can I use?
For this recipe, I've chosen to make the cake in a sheet pan as it is easier to transport to a party and easy to slice too.
You can choose to make it as a round cake (you'll need 2 8 inch round pans) or use the batter to make cupcakes. This recipe will make around 12 - 18 cupcakes.
Whatever you decide, this certainly will have a lovely taste, is moist and simply wonderful!
If you wanted to make a birthday or anniversary cake, I would suggest using 2 round pans and add some frosting sandwiched in between as well as the top and sides.
If you are going to do that, you will need to double the frosting ingredients to make sure you have plenty to cover the cake.
You can also keep the cake plain and simple, and serve at breakfast or coffee time, imagine a slice of this with your favorite cup of coffee or tea!
If you're a fan of red velvet desserts, be sure to check out our other red velvet recipes!
So let's get straight to the recipe and see how we make this delicious, moist easy red velvet party cake. Please enjoy!
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
35 minutes
Yield
16 servings
You will need
9 x 13 or 10 x 10 baking pan or 2 round 8 inch / 20 cm cake pans
INGREDIENTS
The Cake Batter
2 ½ cups or 310 g All Purpose / Plain Flour
½ cup or 60g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup or 225g Butter, room temperature
2 cups or 400 g Sugar
4 eggs
1 cup or 240ml Sour Cream
½ cup or 120 ml milk
2 Tablespoons Red Food Color or red color paste or cherry or Beet juice.
Be careful if you choose to swap the food coloring for an alternative as the flavor of the cake may be affected. However, cherries do go well with chocolate!
The Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz or 225g Cream Cheese, room temperature
¼ cup or 55g Butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups or 400 g powdered sugar
NOTE: This cake recipe is quite sweet when you take in to account the frosting which also has sugar. If you don’t want such a sweet cake, I suggest you cut the sugar in the cake ingredients down and use 1 & ½ cups or 300g of sugar, and for the frosting, the same amount as the cake batter. Red Velvet cake is generally a sweet cake anyway, but I know some of our Lovefoodies fans prefer a less sweet cake.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F or 180C. Grease and line a 10-inch square sheet pan or two x 8 inch round pans
2. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color, and vanilla.
4. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat.
5. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Make sure completely cool.
6. **Optional: If you'd like to use some cake crumbs for decoration on the top, as in the photos, slice 1cm width off the side of the cake and gently break it up into crumbs, and set aside until you make the frosting.
7. Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat cream cheese, softened, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Then once the cake has completely cooled, spread it on top.
Decorate with a variety of chocolate sprinkles, cake crumbs, or chocolate shards.
Note: If you would like to make a smaller recipe, you can use an 8-inch square pan and halve the ingredients. The cook time will stay the same.
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our Easy Red Velvet Party Cake recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
Recipe Card
Easy Red Velvet Party Cake
Easy Red Velvet Party Cake recipe with a lovely cream cheese frosting. Soft, fluffy and so delicious! Make as a sheet or round cake, you decide!
Ingredients
The Cake Batter
- 2 & ½ cups or 310 g All Purpose / Plain Flour
- ½ cup or 60g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup or 225g Butter, room temperature
- 2 cups or 400 g Sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup or 240ml Sour Cream
- ½ cup or 120 ml milk
- 2 Tablespoons Red Food Color or red colour paste or cherry or Beet juice.
The Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz or 225g Cream Cheese,room temperature
- ¼ cup or 55g Butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups or 400 g powdered sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F or 180C. Grease and line a 10-inch square sheet pan or two 8-inch round pans 2. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color, and vanilla.
4. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat.
5. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Make sure completely cool.
6. **Optional: If you'd like to use some cake crumbs for decoration on the top, as in the photos, slice 1cm width off the side of the cake and gently break it up into crumbs and set aside until you make the frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
Beat cream cheese, softened, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Then once the cake has completely cooled, spread it on top.
Decorate with a variety of chocolate sprinkles, cake crumbs, or chocolate shards.
Notes
1. Be careful if you choose to swap the food colouring for an alternative as the flavour of the cake may be affected. However, cherries do go well with chocolate!
2. If you would like to make a smaller recipe, you can use an 8 inch square pan and halve the ingredients. The cook time will stay the same.
3. If you want a less sweet cake, please reduce the sugar in the cake batter to 1 ½ cups or 300g and in the frosting, the powdered sugar down to 1 ½ cups or 300g
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 509Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 292mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 2gSugar: 52gProtein: 6g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate
Celebration Cakes
Here's a great selection of celebration cakes perfect for a party!
Cranberry and Pecan Christmas Cake, loaded with delicious fruits and Spiced Rum. A perfect treat for Christmas.
Coffee Walnut Sandwich Cake.
The best coffee and walnut cake, a classic British afternoon tea cake, layers of soft and fluffy coffee cake with chopped walnuts throughout, adds a great flavor and texture, frosted with coffee cream cheese frosting. A pure delight to eat!
Authentic German Black Forest Swiss Roll, a light sponge cake famous in Germany. Layers of chocolate cake, cherries, kirsch & fresh whipped cream in a cake roll.
Salted Caramel Celebration Cake is perfect for a party. Homemade layers of soft caramel cake and layers of salted caramel frosting then topped with chocolate covered pretzels and salted caramel popcorn.
Walnut Cake is a delicious easy recipe. the cake is so soft and fluffy! Recipe also for a lovely vanilla frosting.
Orange or Clementine Ricotta Cheesecake. A lovely crustless baked dessert. Light and airy cheesecake, topped with zesty sweet homemade orange curd and fresh whipped cream.
Celebration Coconut Cake.
Perfect for a celebration, this coconut cake is made up of layers of soft coconut cake sandwiched between lemon curd then frosted with a light and airy coconut frosting.
Toasted Coconut Cupcakes.
Deliciously light and fluffy coconut cupcakes, with a coconut cream cheese frosting. Simple easy recipe for how to make perfect, moist cupcakes, ideal for parties and celebrations
Honey Bun Cupcakes are lovely and soft with great flavors of cinnamon and brown sugar and topped with a homemade honey buttercream frosting
Cherry Almond Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is a lovely soft cake and great tasting. Perfect for parties too!
Coffee Walnut Cake is a deliciously easy soft and fluffy cake recipe. Recipe also for a lovely vanilla coffee frosting. A nice cake for the holidays!
A simple, easy chocolate loaf cake recipe is moist, rich and chocolatey. Perfect for new cooks and is a go to basic recipe
The Famous Hummingbird Cake! A very popular soft and moist cake with pecans, bananas, pineapples, and a delicious frosting too!
Strawberry and Coconut Poke Cake with Fresh Whipped Cream. Easy made from scratch recipe. Yummy!
Fluffy Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake is a lovely baked dessert and so light and airy. Perfect for Easter, Mother's Day or any time of the year! It's out of this world delicious!
Chocolate Latte Cake. A soft and moist cake with the flavors of a latte coffee and a hit of chocolate for good measure! Nice and easy recipe too!
Strawberry and Vanilla Cake. A soft and moist cake bursting with delicious strawberry and vanilla flavors. It tastes out of this world!
Authentic German Black Forest Cake, Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte is a delicious cake famous in Germany. Layers of chocolate cake, black cherries and kirsch. Perfect for a party!
Carrot Cake Cheesecake. Simply a Show Stopping Wow!
Caramel Marshmallow Cake, soft, moist cake recipe, with caramel and marshmallows and topped with a fresh whipped cream frosting. Great for celebrations, parties and dessert
Tiramisu Pound Cake, a soft and delicious pound cake with all the flavors of a Tiramisu! It's even got a mascarpone frosting. This will go fast so be sure to make two!
Pineapple and Coconut Poke Cake.
A delicious pineapple combined with creamy coconut cake recipe, topped with fresh whipped cream and more coconut, making a soft and fluffy great tasting tropical cake
Italian Cream Cake is a delicious tender made from scratch cake bursting with coconut, vanilla, and pecans, with cream cheese frosting. A perfect celebration cake
Almond Joy Cake. A delicious chocolate cake with almond and a coconut frosting. Always a hit and so popular!
Nanny's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Cake is a keeper recipe! Easy to make and perfect for chocolate lover's.This is also freezer friendly if you wanted to make into portions or make ahead for a party!
White Chocolate Salted Caramel Cheesecake is a delicious baked cheesecake, rich and creamy with a white chocolate filling and a salted caramel topping. Easy to make.
Limoncello Tiramisu. A delicious twist on the classic Italian coffee tiramisu dessert using blueberries, lemon, and limoncello, all homemade and perfect for parties.
Strawberry Shortcake Cake, a wonderful refreshing classic sponge cake packed with fresh strawberries and a whipped cream frosting.
Jackie
says:Have made this a number of times and it’s always turned out great!!
Getting ready to make again for my birthday on Monday thanks for such a straightforward but tasty recipe 👍
Jackie
says:Hi, in the frosting/topping ingredients it doesn’t mention sour cream but the instructions do, so is sour cream needed for the frosting please? Thanks Jackie
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Jackie, so sorry it was a typo which I’ve now corrected. There is no sour cream in the frosting.
Thanks very much for pointing this out!!