Red Velvet Cake is an amazing dessert that is perfect for Christmas or New Year’s, but it also really fits in any time of year. (Fourth of July anyone?) What makes this particular red velvet recipe extra special is that it provides an alternative to the cream cheese frosting and red food coloring. Instead, you’ll enjoy a delicious Christmas Ermine Frosting and natural food coloring. We call this “Aged Red Velvet” because it really does get better and moister with time.
This recipe originated from my husband’s grandmother, whom we affectionately call Maw Maw. The only changes we made from Lavada Condo’s recipe was providing an alternative to the red food coloring that doesn’t use today’s modern red food color. What you’ll get is a more subtle red hue that is more reminiscent of the original cake. We also tweaked the recipe’s cooking time to account for modern ovens that tend to cook faster than when this was originally written.
Make this cake a day early if you can, because it gets extra moist when it’s frosted and has sat for one or two days.
Please note that this recipe is for a double-layer cake or a large sheet cake. My photos are from making a half-sized recipe so I could have a small square-sized sheet cake.
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Aged Red Velvet Cake Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (can substitute shortening, but oil makes it moister)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- Natural red food coloring (I use 1 to 2 packets of Supernatural Food Coloring’s red flavor powder, or use 1 to 2 tablespoons of Red Beet powder) + 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil. Pomegranate powder also works! You can also sub 2 ounces of regular red food coloring if you’re using a liquid variety.
- 2 tablespoons cocoa (try red cocoa powder for a better red hue)
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk minus 1 tablespoon, mixed with 1 tablespoon white vinegar)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Directions for Making Aged Red Velvet Cake
Preheat your oven to 325.
Cream oil (or shortening), sugar and eggs.
In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa with the food coloring. If you’re using beet powder, the more you use, the redder it will get. But you can overdo it and then you’ll have a distinct beet flavor in the cake. Six tablespoons of red beet powder is way too much (I made this mistake!)
So keep it at about 2 tablespoons, plus a tablespoon or so of oil so you don’t lose any liquid from not using liquid red food coloring.
Add the cocoa/red food coloring mix to the oil/sugar/egg mixture.
Now slowly add your flour, salt, buttermilk and vanilla, beating until the batter is smooth.
In a separate bowl, mix your vinegar and baking soda. You’ll have to be fast at this point! Because as soon as the mix starts to bubble (the moment you mix it together), you’ll need to slowly fold it into your main cake mixture. Do not overmix! Just gently fold a couple of times.
At this point, time is of the essence. It’s essential that, immediately after folding, you get the cake into the preheated oven right away. How quickly you fold and put in the oven actually can affect the texture of the cake.
Cook for 20 to 25 minutes. This cake cooks fast so you will definitely want to check at least at 20 minutes. Every time I cooked more than 25 minutes, it was overdone. Make sure a toothpick in the middle comes out clean.
Sometimes the cake will look like this, with a very subtle red:
With a little more powder it will look like this, but don’t overdo it or it will have a slight beet flavor! You may also see slight swirls of red in your cake.
Let the cake cool completely before you put the frosting on top.
Christmas Frosting Ingredients
Now for the frosting! In my opinion, cream cheese frosting just doesn’t taste good with traditional red velvet cake. This Christmas frosting goes by many names: flour frosting, Ermine frosting… It’s essential if you want a more traditional and delicious cake. Below are the suggested ingredients. Honestly, I would make double this amount of frosting. Use half on the cake and then put the other half in the refrigerator. When you serve the cake, serve a dollop of extra frosting on the side!
- 5 tablespoons of flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
Christmas Frosting Directions
Mix the flour and milk until smooth.
Pour the flour/milk mixture into a small saucepan and cook over low heat until it’s thick and smooth. This process actually takes longer than you might think.
You may need to turn up the heat a little in order to speed up the cooking, but you’ll need to watch the frosting closely so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. You’ll want to stir frequently. There will be a point when you think the frosting is done and thick. KEEP GOING a little longer after this point. Keep cooking until the frosting is thick enough that it basically forms a ball in your saucepan.
Let this fully cool. I’ll often do this step before making the cake, so it has enough time to cool before the next part. Or I might stick it in the refrigerator for a bit. It’s essential that it’s fully cooled before you add it to the rest of the mix, or it will melt the frosting mix and make the texture weird.
Cream the sugar and butter and vanilla in a mixer until smooth. Make sure it is very smooth and try to use a smoother sugar rather than a coarse one if you can.
Add the cooled flour mixture.
Beat in the mixer until smooth. This will also take longer than you think. There will be a point when you think it’s done, but the texture is still just a little coarse. Keep beating past this point, because it will get pretty fluffy if you keep going.
Put the frosting in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before you frost your cooled cake. (It’s imperative to make sure your cake if fully cooled before you frost it!)
Now, you’ll want to let the frosted cake sit in your refrigerator for a day or two before serving, so it gets extra moist. Let it sit out for about an hour before serving so it gets back to room temperature. You can even freeze the cake if you want to make it ahead and then let it sit out before serving. It still keeps the texture pretty well if it’s just frozen for a short period of time!
Aged Red Velvet Cake with Christmas Frosting (Without Cream Cheese)
Description
Delicious traditional red velvet cake that improves with age. Frosted with a Christmas flour frosting, not cream cheese! This recipe also uses natural food coloring.
Ingredients
Cake:
1/2 cup vegetable oil (can substitute shortening, but oil makes it moister)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 to 2 packets or 1 to 2 tablespoons of natural red food coloring, preferably beet or pomegranate powder
1 tablespoon of oil to go with the natural red food color powder
2 tablespoons cocoa (red cocoa powder gives a better hue)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Frosting Ingredients
5 tablespoons of flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
Instructions
Cake Directions
Preheat oven to 325.
Cream oil (or shortening), sugar and eggs.
In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa with the food coloring and 1 tablespoon oil (if using a food coloring powder.)
Add the cocoa/red food coloring mix to the oil/sugar/egg mixture and mix well.
Now slowly add your flour, salt, buttermilk and vanilla, beating until the batter is smooth.
In a separate bowl, mix your vinegar and baking soda. As soon as the mix starts to bubble, quickly fold it into your main cake mixture. Do not overmix!
Time is of the essence. Immediately after folding, put the cake into the preheated oven right away.
Cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Check with a toothpick at 20. Cake’s ready when the toothpick comes out clean.
Let the cake cool completely before you put the frosting on top.
Christmas Frosting Directions
Mix the flour and milk until smooth.
Pour the flour/milk mixture into a small saucepan and cook over low heat until it’s thick and smooth. Watch the frosting closely so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Stir frequently. Keep going until the frosting is thick enough that it basically forms a ball in your saucepan.
Let it fully cool. This is important.
Cream the sugar and butter and vanilla in a mixer until smooth.
Add the cooled flour mixture.
Beat in the mixer until smooth. There will be a point when you think it’s done, but the texture is still just a little coarse. Keep beating past this point, because it will get pretty fluffy.
Put the frosting in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before you frost your cooled cake.
Notes
Let the frosted cake sit in your refrigerator for a day or two before serving, so it gets extra moist. Let it sit out for about an hour before serving so it gets back to room temperature.