Blue Velvet Cake Recipe (2024)

Add a Pinch | Recipe Index

Published Aug 20, 2012 | Updated Sep 03, 2023

Robyn Stone

250 Comments

4.95 from 17 votes

Jump to Recipe

Pin Recipe

Save Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Blue Velvet Cake Recipe (2)

Blue Velvet Cake Recipe (3)

Baby showers are so fun, aren’t they? You ooh and aah over the cutest baby clothes in pastel shades, ogle over the new-fangled baby gear and how much it has changed since your baby showers, and then play shower games that can get just a wee bit crazy when they involve guessing how many inches around the pregnant belly is. They also always have a mighty impressive spread of food.

Blue Velvet Cake Recipe (4)
Blue Velvet Cake Recipe (5)

Cake is always a favorite part of any shower and I wanted it to have a surprise inside when you cut it.

Unexpected, vibrant, and perfect for a little boy.

Blue Velvet Cake Recipe (6)

Blue Velvet Cake has all of the great taste of the more traditional Red Velvet Cake, but with such a fun twist that everyone will remember it.

Best Swedish Meatballs Recipe

30 mins

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

45 mins

Easy Chicken Parmesan Recipe

30 mins

Blue Velvet Cake Recipe (11)

PinPrintSave

Blue Velvet Cake Recipe

Robyn Stone

4.95 from 17 votes

Blue Velvet Cake is perfect for a fun twist on the traditional red velvet cake with the same great taste.

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 24

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (92 g) shortening
  • 1 ½ cups (297 g) sugar
  • 2 large (100 g) eggs
  • 1 ounce (28 g) royal blue gel paste food color
  • 2 drops (0.2 g) violet gel paste food color
  • 2 tablespoons (10.5 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 ¼ cups (270 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 scant teaspoon (2.6 g) kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon (4.7 g) vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (227 g) buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon (6 g) baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon (15 g) distilled white vinegar

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

  • Grease and flour 3 8-inch round cake pans.

  • Cream Crisco and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add eggs one at a time, completely incorporating after each addition.

  • In a small bowl, make a paste of food coloring and cocoa powder and add to mixture.

  • Stir together flour and salt in a separate medium bowl, set aside.

  • Pour buttermilk and vanilla into a measuring cup, set aside.

  • Alternately, add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture into Crisco/sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl to ensure all ingredients are well incorporated.

  • Reduce speed of mixer and stir in baking soda, making sure incorporated into batter. Then, stir in the vinegar, taking care not to beat hard or over mix.

  • Distribute cake batter evenly into the three cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until cakes have gently pulled away from the edges of the cake pans and a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.. You can follow my tips forhow to tell when your cake is done.

  • Cool cake thoroughly before frosting.

Nutrition

Calories: 142kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 79mg | Potassium: 39mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 39IU | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Join today & start saving your favorite recipes

Create an account to easily save your favorite recipes.

Save recipe

Notes: I used Americolor Soft Gel Paste in Royal Blue and Violet. You may also want to try anatural-based food coloring.

Categorized as:All Recipes, Birthday Recipes, Cake, Dessert Recipes, Holiday and Occasion Recipes, July 4th Recipes, Recipes, Shower Recipes

Welcome to Add A Pinch

About Robyn

Robyn Stone is a cookbook author, wife, mom, and passionate home cook. Her tested and trusted recipes give readers the confidence to cook recipes the whole family will love. Robyn has been featured on Food Network, People, Southern Living, and more.

Read more about Robyn

250 Comments

  1. What cooking temp/time would you do for cupcakes?

    Reply

    1. Abby, I bake cupcakes at 325ºF. I hope you enjoy!

    2. For how long on cupcakes?

    3. Abby, I would bake the cupcakes about 20 minutes at 325ºF.

  2. Blue Velvet Cake Recipe (13)
    Hi, thanks for sharing the recipe, looks amazing!

    I just wanted to check, 1oz blue colouring i 30ml? So i need 2 bottles of 15ml gel liquid colouring? And does that much not make the cake taste bitter?

    Cant wait to try it out!

    Reply

    1. Zacki, I used the gel paste, not liquid, food coloring. The Americolor Soft Gel Paste in the amounts I used made the cake the color I wanted. The cake did not taste bitter at all with the gel paste.

  3. Hello! I am so excited to make this recipe, but after extensive Google searching, I figured I would just ask.
    Can I substitute the 3 8 inch pans for 2 9 inch? I do have 8 inch pans but only 2 of them.
    Thank you so much!

    Reply

    1. Cheris, you can bake this cake in 2 9-inch pans. Just be careful and not overfill the pans. I hope you enjoy!

  4. Have you ever tried a pink version of this cake, for say a baby shower for a girl, or a little girl’s birthday who loves pink but also likes red velvet cake?

    Reply

    1. Crystal, you could make this as a pink cake. Just use red food dye. Here is my Red Velvet Cake Recipe that she might enjoy!

  5. How do you make the frosting for th Bue Velet cake

    Reply

    1. Debra, I used my Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting on this cake. I hope you enjoy!

  6. Why do you use shortening instead of butter? And can you replace the shortening for butter?

    Reply

    1. Alwjandra, the cake is more moist with the shortening and I like the texture better. You can use all butter if you want but the texture will be a little different. Hope you enjoy the cake.

    2. My daughter wanted a blue velvet cake for her birthday. I know of red velvet but not blue. can’t wait to see the results, especially again black buttercream icing.

    3. Raquel, I hope your daughter has a very happy birthday and loves her blue cake!

  7. I need to serve 45 people with this recipe for a 3 layer cake. Should I use 3- 12″ cake pans?? Also, does it make a difference if I use butter flavored Crisco instead of regular?

    Reply

    1. Danielle, I haven’t made this cake in 3 12-inch pans but I think you should be able to serve 45 people with that. You would need to double the recipe for those 3 12-inch pans. I haven’t used the butter flavored Crisco in this cake so I’m not sure it it will affect the flavor of the cake.

Blue Velvet Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make velvet blue? ›

It is easy to make a blue velvet cake from scratch with a blend of cocoa powder, vinegar, buttermilk, and bright blue food coloring. This combination of ingredients softens the proteins in the cake flour resulting in a finer, smoother texture than other cakes—thus the term "velvet cake."

Why is my blue velvet cake green? ›

Essentially, since blue velvet cake is made with bright eye yolks and golden chunks of butter, this can produce a yellow-toned batter. When blue food coloring is added to this yellow base, the batter turns green. Moreover, food coloring is known to darken.

Does blue velvet taste good? ›

A fun and delicious twist on the classic Red Velvet Cake! Moist and fluffy layers of cake with just a hint of chocolate, tangy cream cheese frosting, and fresh blueberries!

What's the difference between red velvet cake and blue velvet cake? ›

Red velvet cake is bright red, while blue velvet cake has a blue Cookie Monster hue. Red velvet typically adds buttermilk and vinegar, while blue velvet calls for a small amount of white vinegar and sometimes a bit of almond extract to enhance the flavor.

What is blue velvet cake made of? ›

The term “velvet cake” is all about texture. The addition of cocoa powder plays a role in that texture when it's introduced to acidic ingredients such as vinegar, buttermilk and baking soda. This blue velvet cake recipe uses all three of those acidic ingredients to produce a smooth, velvet-like texture.

What is the color code for velvet blue? ›

Velvet Blue is one of the shades of blue colour and its hex code is #7f899f.

Why does my red velvet cake taste salty? ›

You may be using salted butter. Nuts and chocolate also contain salt. Milk also contains sodium, about 120mg per cup.

Why is there white vinegar in red velvet cake? ›

The buttermilk and vinegar give the cake that tender, light, and fluffy texture. Red velvet cake is also usually paired with white cream-cheese frosting. The white contrast highlights the lush red color, while the tanginess of the cream cheese plays off the buttermilk so well.

How do you make a blue cake without food coloring? ›

Of course, most blue cake recipes use food coloring. However, I used the magic blue matcha powder, otherwise referred to as Blue Butterfly Pea Powder. It's a natural ingredient, which is appealing. Add the pea powder to the batter and stir, and the cake batter will transform into a stunning shade of blue.

Does blue velvet cake taste like red velvet? ›

Red velvet cake uses bright red food coloring to achieve its signature color, while blue velvet cake ditches the red for blue food coloring instead. The result is that while the cakes may taste pretty similar, they have very distinctive appearances. It's not just the food coloring that's different, however.

Which color of velvet is a popular cake? ›

Since the late 20th century, red velvet cake and red velvet cupcakes have become increasingly popular in the US and many European countries, especially around Christmas and more recently (since the 2010s) Valentine's Day.

What flavor is velvet cake? ›

Due to the fact that it uses cocoa powder rather than chocolate, red velvet cake is more subtle in chocolate flavor than a chocolate cake. In terms of the cocoa flavor concentration, we like to think of red velvet cake as somewhere between a vanilla/white cake and a chocolate cake.

Why red velvet cake is so expensive? ›

The cocoa powder is used in less quantity and the taste develops by the mixing of vinegar and buttermilk with the cocoa powder. The recipe involves many ingredients in small quantity. The frosting- if used cream cheese is an expensive element in itself. It tastes wow if made at home without using any premix.

What's the difference between a velvet cake and a regular cake? ›

The difference between Red Velvet Cake and other cakes are its ingredients and colors. No other layer cake uses buttermilk and vinegar in the recipe. When mixed with cocoa powder, the buttermilk and vinegar cause the chemical reaction that turns the cake red. The vinegar also helps preserve the cake's iconic color.

Is red velvet cake just chocolate but dyed? ›

While Chocolate Cake is made primarily with cocoa powder and sometimes melted chocolate, Red Velvet Cake is made with a small amount of cocoa powder, but is also known for its signature bright red color, which is usually achieved by adding red food coloring to the batter.

What colors make velvet purple? ›

The Meaning and Psychology of Velvet Violet

Theoretically, it doesn't occupy a space on the light spectrum as it's a mix of two spectral colors—red and blue.

How do you make the color Bleu? ›

Originally Answered: What two colours make a blue? Blue is one of the primary colors, so it cannot be created by mixing two other colors. Red and yellow are the other two primary colors. The three primary colors, red, yellow and blue, are the only colors that cannot be created by mixing other colors.

How do you make soft blue? ›

Making light blue hues is actually quite simple. The most common way to make your blue colours a little lighter is by adding a touch of white. The combination of ultramarine blue and white creates a lovely, vibrant shade of cornflower blue. The addition of white paint highlights the warm undertones.

Is red velvet just food coloring? ›

While Chocolate Cake is made primarily with cocoa powder and sometimes melted chocolate, Red Velvet Cake is made with a small amount of cocoa powder, but is also known for its signature bright red color, which is usually achieved by adding red food coloring to the batter.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Jerrold Considine

Last Updated:

Views: 6286

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (58 voted)

Reviews: 89% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Jerrold Considine

Birthday: 1993-11-03

Address: Suite 447 3463 Marybelle Circles, New Marlin, AL 20765

Phone: +5816749283868

Job: Sales Executive

Hobby: Air sports, Sand art, Electronics, LARPing, Baseball, Book restoration, Puzzles

Introduction: My name is Jerrold Considine, I am a combative, cheerful, encouraging, happy, enthusiastic, funny, kind person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.