Red velvet cake

Red velvet cake

A beautiful chocolate sponge with buttercream icing - perfect for a romantic evening

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 12

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

PREP 1 hr 10 mins + cooling
Freezable

sponges can be frozen before assembling

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Make the first batch of sponges by greasing and lining 2 x 20cm round tins. Gently melt half the butter and chocolate together in a saucepan. Mix half the flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarb and ¼ tsp salt in a large mixing bowl. Whizz one egg and half the yogurt and beetroot in a food processor or blender until fairly smooth. Put the kettle on.
  2. Tip the beetroot mix into the dry ingredients along with the melted chocolate mixture and 150ml boiling water, then stir to combine. Stir in half the food colouring, if using, and divide the mixture between the tins. Bake for 25 mins until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cakes on a wire rack to cool completely.
  3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 to make 2 more sponges or if you're lucky enough to have 4 x 20cm sandwich tins you can bake in a big batch all at once.
  4. To make the frosting, briefly beat together the soft cheese and butter, then beat in the icing sugar and vanilla. Use a little to sandwich the cooled cakes together, then swirl the rest all over the sandwiched cakes and decorate with sweets, if you like. Sit the cake somewhere cool (not the fridge) to set a little before serving.

PER SERVING

656 kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 75g, fat 37 g, saturated fat 23g, fibre 1g, sugar 61g, salt 0.8 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2012.

Try 3 issues of Good Food magazine for £3 - subscribe now!

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • 24 January 2012

    helen rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Deliciously moist chocolate cake. I only used half the recipe quantity and made a 2 layer sponge, only having 2 a 20cm cake tins I found this was plenty big enough. Would definately make the chocolate cake again, maybe with a chocolate ganache filling/topping instead.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 08 February 2012

    susure rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This cake was amazing. I cooked everything in two batches. I cut the sponge with a thread. I will definetely make it again. Though it is very very filling- 2 packs of butter and 1kg of sugar for a whole cake!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 08 February 2012

    susannahg rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Beautiful cake - and a real show-stopper. I made a super big cake adding on an extra third to the ingredients and 23" cake tins. It was mahoosive and very tasty - I added smarties and a hundreds and thousands letter for the birthday girl but I did use 3 packs of butter...phew! Beetroot and yoghurt gave the cake a really light sponge and I let people know it was one of their five a day...

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 10 February 2012

    Sweettreats commented on this recipe

    Please help I have a freind who is allergic to beetroot but am desperate to make this cake and suitable alternatives?

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Jax

    11 February 2012

    Jax commented on this recipe

    I don't have the recipe but I have tried chocolate cake with courgette, yummy and moist.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 14 February 2012

    LadyV rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    My hubby said this was the best chocolate cake he's ever eaten (and he's eaten a few!) Very impressive special occasion cake that's not hard to do. The cream cheese icing set it off beautifully and the cake was soooo moist, maybe that's the beetroot? Will make again for sure.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 16 February 2012

    Jackie rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    I was really looking forward to this cake after the great comments. The texture and frosting were good but the cake had a strong beetroot flavour which, for me, doesn't work in a cake (I like beetroot as a vegetable). It could be personal taste or the beetroot I used was particularly strong but I won't be trying this again. We had to throw the whole cake in the bin - I hate waste but nobody would eat it after a couple of mouthfuls.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 16 February 2012

    Belkey commented on this recipe

    This cake was a nightmare to serve, 4 tiers is too high to cut manageable and the slices are so tall, they could verge on the side of gluttony!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 17 February 2012

    Julie Smart rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    I wasn't keen on this one. I too could taste the beetroot which spoilt it for me and it was definately too big!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 17 February 2012

    10cwang rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    It's my mum's friend's bday so I thought I'd make her this cake. Not made it yet but I'm hoping it works because it's the first time I've used beetroot in any cooking, let alone cakes!! Sounds nom though!! :-)

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 17 February 2012

    Vinz rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    Agree with a lot of comments above...this cake had a very strong beetroot flavour which spoilt the whole taste. Made it for a dinner party and it was a disaster.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 18 February 2012

    Shiwi rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Did it for a family member's birthday brunch, everyone loved it and couldn't stop eating from it.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 20 February 2012

    Anna rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    As other people have said, we couldn't eat the cake - the beetroot taste just came out too strongly. Such a shame!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 20 February 2012

    DebbieT rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Beautiful cake I read comments above and reduced amount of beet root by 50g, I baked in two v large tins then sliced each cake in half, kitchen looks like there has been an explosion, next time I will bake in 4 Tins they took over an hour in the 2 large tins cake is lovely as is cream cheese I ran out of frosting but probably becoz I baked in wrongs tin but really lovely cake

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 22 February 2012

    Luis commented on this recipe

    I am intrigued as the cake looks stunning, but I am concerned about the beetroot comments. Guys, are you sure you didn't mistakenly use vinegar preserved beetroot?

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 24 February 2012

    soullessfire commented on this recipe

    Unfortunately I can taste the beetroot in the finished cake. Even the sweet, creamy frosting just doesn't mask it for me. It's a fairly strong taste that is masking the chocolate taste too. If I made it again, I'd use half the beetroot and maybe put another egg in to lighten it up as it is a fairly stodgy consistency and I prefer my cakes to be more spongey. (No I didn't use picked beets. I ate the 2 spare beets from the pack so I'm sure of that, in fact they tasted fairly sweet so I was pretty hopeful)

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 25 February 2012

    sparkle487 rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    horrible, stongy. sickley

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 22 March 2012

    Sarah-Jane commented on this recipe

    I used half the amount of beetroot due to previuos comments and it was fine. Made it for a charity event and everyone loved it. Disappointed that is wasn't more red, hence the name! Should I leave out the cocoa powder next time?

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 22 March 2012

    Sarah-Jane rated this recipe

    4 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 26 March 2012

    neverley commented on this recipe

    I've not made this recipe yet, but have found two other recipes that do not use beetroot at all. Look on BBC Food under Red Velvet Cake

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Leave a comment or suggestion

You must sign in or register to leave a comment.

Sign in / Register

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 12

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

PREP 1 hr 10 mins + cooling
Freezable

sponges can be frozen before assembling

Ingredients

  • few sweets to decorate, we used jelly hearts from a sweet shop (optional)

FOR THE SPONGES

  • 250g butter , plus extra for greasing
  • 200g dark chocolate , broken into chunks
  • 500g plain flour
  • 500g golden caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 200g natural yogurt
  • 400g cooked beetroot in natural juices (not vinegar)
  • 4 tbsp or 2 x 28ml bottle red food colouring (optional- a natural liquid colouring will not work; we used Scarlett Langdale)

FOR THE FROSTING

  • 200g full-fat soft cheese , at room temperature
  • 250g butter , softened
  • 400g icing sugar , sifted
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
Print this recipe
Add to your binder

PER SERVING

656 kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 75g, fat 37 g, saturated fat 23g, fibre 1g, sugar 61g, salt 0.8 g

Advertisement

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:

  • You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.

Follow Good Food

Advertisement

All about Good Food

Magazine

Good Food Magazine

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - enjoy 100+ triple-tested recipes delivered to your door, every month.

Order today, and receive your first 3 issues for just £3

On TV

Foodie TV

See your favourite chefs on Sky Channel 247, Virgin TV 260 and find their recipes at goodfoodchannel.co.uk.

Good Food Apps

Good Food Apps

For Good Food on the go, download our apps to your phone or portable device.
Find out more here

Buy ingredients

With just one click, the full list of recipe ingredients will be put into a basket at your choice of provider. Choose from:

mySupermarket Compare prices and choose a retailer you wish to buy them from.

Ocado Let Ocado deliver all you need for this recipe, right to your door

Tesco Buy all the ingredients from our recipes through your Tesco online shop.

new

Asda Shop with Asda? You can now buy ingredients for our recipes via your Asda online shop.

In association with the above providers. Terms and conditions apply.

Close