The Ultimate Red Velvet Cake

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I thought I would share some dishes befitting of a romantic dinner for two. I am starting with dessert because, well, it’s my favorite part. 🙂 This dessert combines two classic sweets that are often associated with the holiday. It’s also much easier to make than it looks, so don’t be intimidated at all! I’m about to let you in on two little secrets, so lean really close to your screen while reading this.

1. Red velvet cake is pretty much chocolate cake with red dye.
2. White chocolate is not really chocolate at all.

I hope I haven’t spoiled your holiday, but I felt it needed to be said. Now, here’s a little sappiness to dry your tears: serving others (especially with food) is how I like to show love, and if you are the same way, this cake should do the trick! There are technically three recipes in this post. One is for the cake itself, another for homemade cream cheese frosting, and the third for white-chocolate dipped strawberries. The product of this post has been one of the most popular and recreated dishes on the blog so I had to revisit it and update the pictures for y’all. My photography skills have come a loooong way in two years so it’s only right that I give this cake the representation that it deserves. It’s a real stunner and my more rookie photos didn’t do it justice. I’ve also got a tutorial on making your own fancy-looking chocolate-covered berry gifts for V-Day this year that you can check out here.

I hope y’all continue loving and making this cake for yourselves and would love to see your renditions! If you share them on social media, tag me @dashofjazzblog so I can show you some love. Thanks for reading!

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The Ultimate Red Velvet Cake

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

A classic red velvet layer cake from scratch frosted with homemade cream cheese frosting then adorned with white chocolate-covered strawberries. A favorite for Valentine's Day or any day.

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup oil or melted butter
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ounce red food coloring

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup butter softened and cut into chunks
• 4 cups powdered sugar sifted

White Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

• 1 pint strawberries washed and patted dry
• 2 cups white chocolate chips melted according to package instructions

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two round, nine-inch baking pans. Mix together dry cake ingredients in one bowl and wet in another.
2. Combine bowls and mix well with a whisk. Pour batter into pans and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
3. While the cake bakes, dip strawberries in chocolate and set aside on a sheet of wax or parchment paper to harden.
4. Cool cakes in pans for ten minutes, then transfer to wire racks. Cool completely before frosting. If tops of cakes are too rounded, horizontally slice a bit off the tops in order to make them flat, so that they won't crack when stacked. Save the bits you cut off and crumble them into a bowl. This can be used to decorate the cake when finished.
5. While the cakes cool, in a large bowl, use a mixer to cream together the butter, cream cheese, and one cup of the powdered sugar. Add remaining powdered sugar one cup at a time and beat until smooth.
6. Frost between layers of cake then a light crumb coat around the sides and top. Cover entire cake with the final, thicker layer of frosting then decorate as you desire. I like to coat the sides of the cake with excess crumbs then sprinkle more over top of the berries.