This Red Velvet Cake Doctored Cake Mix Recipe belongs in your recipe file of favorites! It is amazingly moist, delicious, and has just the right amount of chocolate flavor.

Add a little cream cheese frosting, and it is pure heaven! It's no wonder that Red Velvet Cake has long been a beloved classic southern dessert!

The BEST doctored Red Velvet Cake recipe by MyCakeSchool.com! Tastes like a scratch recipe and is super moist and flavorful! MyCakeSchool.com.

We have a Scratch Red Velvet Cake recipe that we love, but we were determined to find a doctored cake mix version that we loved just as much. This is it!

When I brought this leftover doctored cake mix version of Red Velvet Cake home to my family, they absolutely loved it, and couldn't believe that it wasn't a scratch recipe. This cake disappeared in record time!

We have experimented with using actual Red Velvet Cake Mix in doctored mix recipes in the past and were never happy with the flavor. This is why we chose to use Yellow Cake Mix as the base, and simply add red coloring.

**A note about the color: this Red Velvet Cake is not a vibrant red...it is more of a "chocolate red". The lighting in the photo above makes it look a bit more red. Red Velvet cakes come in all shades of red depending on how much cocoa the recipe calls for, and of course the amount of red coloring used.

We loved the chocolate flavor of this cake so much that we didn't want to remove any of the cocoa. However, if you'd prefer a deeper red, you can remove some of the cocoa and add more coloring. It's up to you! (But we love it just as it is!)

Red Velvet Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting go hand in hand. You can find our favorite Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe here!: Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting.

The BEST doctored cake mix Red Velvet Cake recipe! Super moist, delicious, and fantastic with Cream Cheese Frosting! MyCakeSchool.com.

Red Velvet Cake - Doctored Cake Mix Recipe

This delicious Red Velvet Cake is super moist and has just the right amount of chocolate flavor. I love red velvet year-round, but especially for Christmas and winter gatherings!

Ingredients

1 box yellow cake mix, sifted (15.25 box mix) plus 6 Tablespoons (45g) flour ( I used Duncan Hines Classic Yellow Mix)
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
5 Tablespoons (24g) unsweetened cocoa powder ( I sift the cocoa , then measure or weight
½ cup (107g) vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
½ cup (121g) milk
1 cup (242g) sour cream
2 Tablespoons (24g) red food coloring ( if you want a brighter red color to your cake, add 3 Tablespoons)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease and flour 2 eight inch round pans

In the bowl of your mixer, place the cake mix plus flour, sugar, sifted cocoa. Whisk to blend these ingredients together. Then add all the remaining ingredients.

Begin mixing on low speed, increasing to medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Beat at medium speed for 1 more minute (longer if using a hand mixer.

Pour into prepared pans and bake for 30 - 35 minutes (check at 30 minutes). The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean or with a just a few crumbs attached. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out.

Makes 6 ¼ cups batter

Works well for cupcakes

We frosted with our Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

*You may like to try our fantastic Red Velvet Cake recipe from scratch as we mentioned above! Print this one out for later: Delicious Red Velvet Cake from Scratch

Don't forget to check out our full collection of favorite cake and frosting recipes in our Recipes Section! Or, for free, fun, and simple cake decorating tutorials, don't miss our Free Cake Tutorials Section!

Thanks for stopping by!

147 Comments

I'm using a Duncan Hines red velvet cake mix, it also has cocoa in it, so 3tbs won't be to much.

Hi Debbie, Sorry I overlooked that. I don't know for sure but I would think the cocoa in the red velvet cake mix would be enough, so I would not add any more cocoa.

Hi I have a question about thawing the cakes. You mentioned that once condensation starts to build up on the cakes to unwrap the aluminum foil. Would I take the plastic wrap off as well or let the cake come to room temperature still wrapped in the plastic? Thanks

Hi T'Andrea, We also take the plastic wrap off. Below I will link you to freezing, settling, crumb coating questions and answers that I think you will find helpful. Let us know if you have other questions.

Good afternoon
Can you use this recipe for a bundt cake?

Hi Cheryl, We have not baked the recipe in a bundt pan but I think you could do so with no problem. I think the recipe makes only 5 to 5 1/2 cups batter so a 10 cup bundt pan is the size you will need. A 10 cup bundt pan holds 10 cups water -- if you are not sure the size you have....but holds 6 cups batter. Also, when we posted this recipe Duncan Hines was the brand we liked. Recently, Duncan Hines has a new package for its product. We do not know what has changed but the texture and flavor of the cake is not the same. We are now using Betty Crocker Super Moist yellow for this recipe. You may have another brand you prefer and that is fine. Hope you will enjoy the recipe.

Hi there, I’m making a wedding cake and they want purple velvet cake. Can I still use this recipe and substitute regal purple food coloring for the red food coloring?

Good Evening!
Can you use this recipe for a sheet cake?

Hi Melanie, Yes, it can be used for a sheet cake. For a 9x13 sheet pan, bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Check with a toothpick in the center for doneness. If using a pan with a dark interior, decrease the temperature to 325 degrees.

Thanks for answering back. I made it last night and I really love it! This will be my new go to recipe!

Good evening. If using a red velvet cake mix instead should I use the same ingredients plus cocoa powder? or should I leave cocoa out

Hi Sofia, Check the ingredients on your box of red velvet mix to see if it contains cocoa. If it does not, I would add cocoa. You also may not need to add as much red coloring.