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–+ servings
side view of a slice of pink velvet cake on a white plate.

Pink Velvet Cake Recipe

Course: cake, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Chill/Freeze Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 708kcal
Author: Becky Hardin
This pretty pink velvet cake is one of the most stunning desserts that will wow everyone on your next special occasion. Whether it's for a fairy princess or the love of your life, I know you will fall in love with this recipe too!
Step-by-step photos can be seen below the recipe card.
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Equipment

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour 350 grams
  • 2 cups granulated sugar 400 grams
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda 6 grams
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder 4 grams
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1½ cups buttermilk 341 grams, room temperature (see note)
  • 3 large eggs 150 grams, room temperature
  • ½ cup vegetable oil 100 grams
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar 14 grams
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 8 grams
  • Pink gel food coloring

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 8 ounces cream cheese 227 grams, room temperature (1 brick)
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter 170 grams, slightly melted (1½ sticks)
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 12 grams
  • 5 cups powdered sugar 600 grams

Instructions

For the Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and line the inside bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
    overhead view of ingredients for pink velvet cake.
  • In a large bowl, stir the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
    2½ cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    dry ingredients for pink velvet cake in a glass bowl.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the buttermilk, eggs, vegetable oil, white vinegar, vanilla extract, and pink gel food coloring together on low speed just until mixed. Add more food coloring until the desired shade of pink is reached.
    1½ cups buttermilk, 3 large eggs, ½ cup vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, Pink gel food coloring
    wet ingredients for pink velvet cake batter in a glass bowl.
  • Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and beat on a low speed just until mixed. Use a spatula to scrape down sides of bowl. Do not overmix.
  • Divide the cake batter evenly between both prepared cake pans (about 687 grams per pan). The same amount of batter should go in each pan so that the layers bake up to the same size.
    pink velvet cake batter divided between 2 round cake pans.
  • Bake for 33-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
  • Remove cakes from oven and let cakes cool in pans for 15 minutes before removing cakes from pans. Once removed from pans, place the cakes on wire racks to cool completely.
    baked pink velvet cake layers in round cake pans on a wire rack.
  • Once the cakes have cooled to room temperature, wrap the cakes (wrap each layer separately so they don’t stick together) completely in food-safe plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. This is an important step so the cakes firm up a bit before adding frosting. Smoothing frosting onto a warm cake will result in a crumbled cake.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

  • While the cakes chill, make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract on high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.
    8 ounces cream cheese, ¾ cup unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth, an additional 2 minutes.
    5 cups powdered sugar
    frosting for pink velvet cake in a glass bowl.

For Assembly

  • Once the cakes have chilled, use a large serrated knife to cut the dome tops off both cakes so they both have a flat top. You don’t need these dome tops so these can be used for snacking.
  • Place a thin layer of frosting (about 2 tablespoons) in the middle of a cake board or cake plate, then place one cake (cut side facing up) on top of that frosting. This small bit of frosting helps to secure the cake to the cake board so the cake doesn’t slide around during decorating.
    overhead view of a pink velvet cake layer on a white cake stand.
  • Add a generous layer of frosting on top of that first layer of cake then place the second layer of cake(bottom facing up) on top of the first layer of cake.
    overhead view of a pink velvet cake layer covered in frosting on a white cake stand.
  • Frost a thin layer of frosting around the top and sides of the cake. This thin layer (called a crumb coat) is meant to secure all the crumbs to the cake. This is just a thin layer of frosting so it doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth and it’s okay if you can still see the cake through this first layer of frosting. Use a tool like a cake scraper to smooth the frosting out.
    side view of a crumb coated pink velvet cake on a white cake stand.
  • Place the lightly frosted cake in the freezer for 10 minutes so the first layer of frosting firms up a bit.
  • Split the remaining frosting into 3 equal parts. Color one bowl light pink, color another bowl a darker pink, then leave one bowl as white frosting. Place these frosting into tipless icing bags (each color in its own bag).
  • Remove the cake from the freezer and, starting at the bottom of the cake with the darker pink frosting, pipe frosting all around the bottom third of the cake. This doesn’t have to be a neat stripe – we’ll be smoothing this out later.
  • Take the lighter pink frosting and pipe it around the middle section of the cake, then take the white frosting and pipe it around the top third of the cake as well as on the top of the cake.
    side view of ombre frosting piped around pink velvet cake on a white cake stand.
  • Use the cake scraper to smooth the frosting around the sides and top of the cake. Do this gently so you’re smoothing it out but not scraping it all off. Place the extra frosting you remove(while lightly scraping the cake) into a bowl.
  • Take all of the remaining frosting and combine it into one bowl. Color this any shade of pink you’d like, then pipe circles around the top of the cake using a large round icing tip (like a Wilton 1A).
  • Place the cake back into the freezer for about 10 minutes just to firm up those frosting details.
    side view of ombre frosted pink velvet cake on a white cake stand with pink frosting swirls on top.

Notes

  • Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, follow this simple homemade buttermilk recipe.
  • You can also use sour cream or plain Greek yogurt in place of the buttermilk.
  • For a lighter, fluffier cake, swap the all-purpose flour for cake flour.
  • In place of the vegetable oil, you can use canola, avocado, or melted coconut oil.
  • You can use lemon juice in place of the white vinegar.
  • Feel free to change up this cake by using a different color of food coloring, such as blue, purple, orange, or green!
  • Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature!
  • Measure your flour using the spoon-and-level method to prevent a dense, dry cake.
  • For a smaller cake, you can divide the batter between 3 6-inch cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes.
  • Let the cakes cool completely before frosting; otherwise, the frosting will melt off!
  • Sift the powdered sugar to avoid a lumpy frosting.
Storage: Store pink velvet cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 708kcal | Carbohydrates: 106g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 336mg | Potassium: 118mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 85g | Vitamin A: 725IU | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 2mg