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Sliced Pink Velvet Cake on a white cake pedestal.
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5 from 5 votes

Pink Velvet Cake

This moist Pink Velvet Cake is a delicious vanilla cake with a velvety soft texture! Perfect for baby showers, birthdays, and more!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 15

Ingredients

  • 1 8 oz (226g) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 ½ sticks (168g or ¾cup) Unsalted Butter, softened
  • 2 cups (400g) sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 cups (342g) cake flour (See notes for substitution if needed.)
  • 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon (3g) baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
  • 1 cup (242g) buttermilk (See notes for substitution if needed.)
  • ¼ cup (54g) vegetable oil (We use Canola oil.)
  • 1 Tablespoon (12g) vanilla extract
  • Pink Coloring Gel (We used Americolor Deep Pink)

Whipped Cream Filling

  • 1 cup 240g heavy cream
  • ¼ 29g cup powdered sugar
  • 1 4g teaspoon vanilla

Vanilla Buttercream

  • 3 sticks (339g) unsalted butter, softened (Should be slightly softened but cool to the touch and holding it's shape)
  • 7 cups (690-805g) confectioners' sugar (Adjust amount based on desired consistency.)
  • 2 tsp. (8g) vanilla extract (If you prefer a lighter frosting, you can use clear imitation vanilla.)
  • cup (72)g whole milk or cream, more if needed
  • ½ teaspoon (3g)salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch pans, adding a circle of parchment or wax paper to the bottom of each pan.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds and set aside.
  • In another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and cream cheese and mix at medium speed until smooth.
  • Gradually add the sugar and mix at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
  • With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (We did 3 additions of the dry mixture, 2 additions of wet). During this time, add a drop or two of coloring gel- start with less than you think you will need and adjust as needed.
  • Mix the batter just until well combined- be careful not to over-mix. Divide the batter between the three pans.
  • Bake at 325 degrees F for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack before turning out.
  • This recipe makes 7 ½ cups of batter. Works for cupcakes also (although there will be little to no dome).

For the Whipped Cream

  • Chill the mixing bowl and beaters/ whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes.
  • Pour the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla into the chilled mixing bowl, begin beating on low speed gradually increasing to medium high speed.
  • The cream begins to thicken (approx. 1 ½ minutes) and soft peaks form....peaks that slightly bend over. Watch closely as this happens quickly.

For the Vanilla Buttercream

  • Cream the (slightly softened) butter until smooth. Blend in the vanilla.
  • Add half of the powdered sugar and most of the milk. Beat at medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
  • Add remaining powdered sugar and milk and mix at medium speed another 3 to 4 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. I slow down the mixer to very slow. (#2 on the Kitchenaid) for 1 to 2 minutes. This will help eliminate air pockets in the buttercream. The texture will become very smooth.
  • This recipe can be doubled or halved.
  • Yields approximately 4 ½-5 cups of frosting. Enough to frost a 3 layer 8 or two layer 9 inch cake.
  • If your buttercream is too thin, add more sugar. If the consistency is too thick, add a bit more milk

Notes

Substitution for Cake Flour: Using all purpose flour (plain in UK) to make Cake Flour: For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend
Substitution for Buttermilk: Add 1 Tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup. Add milk to the 1 cup mark, stir. Wait 5 minutes and it is ready to use.