Red Velvet Bundt Cake

The Recipe

Red Velvet Bundt Cake – a tender and moist red velvet cake with a cream cheese icing.

Valentine’s Day Cake

With Valentine’s Day just a few days away, I have the perfect Valentine’s Day cake you can whip up in no time! My Red Velvet Bundt Cake is incredibly moist and flavorful and is paired with a basic cream cheese icing that I’ve drizzled on top. Best of all, the color of this cake is a vibrant dark red!

What You Need For This Red Velvet Bundt Cake

As you prepare to make this cake, here are a few items you’ll want to make sure to have on hand:

10-cup bundt pan – I use this Brilliance Bundt Pan
Red velvet emulsion – I use Lorann emulsions. You can find the red velvet emulsion HERE. Can’t get it in time? No worries, just sub the emulsion with red food coloring.
All purpose flour
Brown sugar
Granulated sugar
Eggs
Sour cream
Cocoa powder
Buttermilk
Baking soda
White baking vinegar
Cream cheese
Powdered sugar
Vanilla

As you probably know, a red velvet cake is considered a chocolate cake, even though it has a very minimal amount of cocoa. It also has a little tanginess to it, thanks to the buttermilk and sour cream – which both help the increase moisture in the cake too.

Traditionally, red velvet cakes get their bright red color from red food coloring. However, as you saw in the ingredient list above, I’m not using any food coloring. Instead, this cake gets this beautiful, rich red color from the red velvet emulsion. Emulsions are like extracts, but are water based instead of alcohol based. This particular emulsion also gives the cake a boost of flavor. But if you can’t find red velvet emulsion, you can always use red food coloring.

The result is a super moist and fluffy red velvet cake with the slightest hint of cocoa and citrus (a flavor element from the emulsion).

Cream Cheese Icing

I thought about making this into a layered cake with cream cheese buttercream, but opted to go a simpler route with the bundt cake – which made me want to switch up the icing too. The recipe you’ll see for the cream cheese icing is my regular cream cheese buttercream but with melted butter to make it thin. If you want to use a traditional buttercream, just leave the butter cold!

Cake Making Tips

Don’t forget to follow my go-to tips for getting your cakes to rise and bake well:

Preheat your oven for 30 minutes prior to baking.
Beat the butter and sugar for a few minutes on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy.
Use good quality pans like Fat Daddio.
Spray your pans with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper.
Don’t overmix your cake batter once you add the dry ingredients.
Use room temperature wet ingredients.
Use fresh baking powder.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.

More Cakes You’ll Love

Red Velvet Cake Bundt Cake

Tender and moist red velvet cake with cream cheese icing.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Keyword cream cheese icing, red velvet bundt cake, red velvet cake

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup (165 g) light brown sugar packed
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
2 1/2 tbsp (35g) red velvet emulsion (I use LorAnn Oils Emulsions)
3 large eggs at room temperature
2 1/4 cups (270 g) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp (14.75 g) cocoa powder
1 tsp (5.6 g) salt
1 1/2 cups (360 g) buttermilk at room temperature
1/4 cup (60 g) sour cream at room temperature
1 tbsp (14.37 g) vinegar
1 1/4 tsp (5 g) baking soda

FOR THE ICING

3/4 cup (169.5 g) unsalted butter melted
3 oz (85 g) cream cheese
3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar measured and then sifted
1/2 tsp (2.1 g) pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Instructions

FOR THE CAKE

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray the a bundt cake well with nonstick spray. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and red velvet flavor. Beat the ingredients on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is light in color and slightly increased in volume.
Lower the speed and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each egg is incorporated before adding the next.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour and cocoa powder. Sprinkle the salt on top of the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
With the stand mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk into the butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Fold in the sour cream.
In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and baking soda until it fizzes and then add to the batter. Stir until blended.
Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
Let the cake cool completely in the bundt pan before turning it over to remove the cake.

FOR THE ICING

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all of the ingredients. Stir on low speed until the powdered sugar is mixed in. Turn the mixer to medium speed and mix for a couple minutes.
Pour over the bundt cake.
If you want a thick buttercream, instead of a thin icing, you can make the same recipe but use cold butter.

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