Red Velvet Pound Cake

This red velvet pound cake recipe is perfect for you if you love moist cakes, that you can easily prepare in a few minutes using only one bowl. If this doesn’t sound like music to your ears, I don’t know what does.

Why you’ll love this red velvet pound cake?

If you love pound cakes at least half as much as me, this red velvet pound cake recipe is definitely for you for three main reasons:

• I personally love pound cakes, but for some reason, they often turn out dry side. Don’t worry, while I was developing this recipe, I made sure that this cake would be extra soft and extra moist.
• Moreover, this recipe is a one-bowl recipe, which means fewer dirty dishes, which means it’s basically a perfect cake recipe.
• Finally, it’s red velvet cake! I mean, do I need to say more?

How to make this moist red velvet pound cake?

Possible adaptation of this recipe.

Ingredients and substitutions.

This cake recipe requires different ingredients, some of which could be substituted according to your needs :

• Room Temperature Unsalted Butter: as with any pound cake, I don’t think you can skip it as it gives its signature texture and flavor to the cake.
• Granulated Sugar: this recipe requires a fairly important amount of sugar, while you could reduce it, I don’t recommend it as it would impact the texture of the cake.
• Eggs: If you don’t eat eggs, you can try and swap them with an egg replacer.
• Vegetable Oil: you can actually use any flavorless oil of your choice, such as grapeseed oil or avocado oil.
• Buttermilk: I personally often swap buttermilk for a DIY buttermilk alternative (using milk and vinegar/lemon juice), and I swear nobody can tell the difference.
• White Vinegar: you could also use apple cider vinegar, it doesn’t make any difference.
• Red Gel Food Coloring: I have a preference for gel food coloring, as it has never let me down before, but I know some food creators rather use powder food coloring. Feel free to experiment. I recommend you use the best quality food coloring you can afford whether it’s gel or powder form.
• Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder: you could try using Dutch-processed cocoa powder but you’d have to make sure your food coloring is of very good quality, as this kind of cocoa powder is darker.
• Cake Flour: If you don’t have any cake flour on hand, you could try swapping it with an easy cake flour substitute. Keep in mind the texture of your cake will be a little bit different.
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda: these two act as leavening agents for a signature dense but not heavy cake.

Size adaptation of your red velvet pound cake.

I tend to write my recipes for an 11×4-inch loaf cake pan, which also happens to be perfect for a 9×5-inch loaf cake pan. You can easily adapt the recipe to bake bigger/smaller cakes. Simply multiply the grams measurements by:

• 0,5 for an 8×4 inch cake pan.
• 1,66 for a 12-cup bundt cake pan.

If you end up having to divide an egg, quickly mix the white and the yolk of the egg, then, add the desired quantity to your cake batter.

Bake the red velvet pound cake.

1. Preheat your oven to 330°F (165°C). And prepare your cake pan.
2. Add to your mixing bowl the sugar and the room-temperature butter. Mix it on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (two to three minutes).
3. Next, add one egg at a time, mixing on low speed between each addition. Once you add the eggs, you have to be careful not to overmix your batter
4. Now, add half of the liquid ingredients (the buttermilk, the oil, the vinegar, the vanilla extract, and the red food coloring). Mix it until incorporated.
5. Then add half of the dry ingredients (the flour, the sifted cocoa powder, the baking soda, and the baking powder). Mix at the lowest speed. Repeat the process for the two other half.
6. Pour your batter into your cake pan and bake it at 330F° (165C°) until a toothpick comes out clean (around 45 minutes).
7. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes before taking it out from the pan.
8. Let your cake completely cool before frosting it.

Prepare the cream cheese frosting.

1. Mix the room-temperature butter until it’s light in color (around 1 minute).
2. Add the sifted icing sugar in two additions. Then mix it all for 5 minutes on high speed. Don’t skip this step, it allows your frosting to be smoother.
3. Then, add your room-temperature cream cheese and vanilla essence and mix it on medium speed until incorporated.
4. Put it aside until you’re ready to frost your cake.

Baker’s secrets.

In order to make sure you end up with the best results, here are three baker’s secrets (that are not so secret really):

• I cannot stress enough how using a kitchen scale is a game-changer when baking. I know the cup system is practical and easy, but once you try weighing your ingredients, you’ll regret not starting sooner both in terms of texture and taste.
• Temperature is also another game changer. Always use room temperature ingredients unless stated otherwise and preheat your oven, you’ll taste the difference.
• Finally, do not overmix your cake batter, once you’ve added the eggs. Honestly, nine times out of ten, when someone has a problem with a cake recipe, it’s because they overmixed their cake batter.

Can you make your red velvet pound cake ahead?

You can easily make this pound cake ahead. You have several options:

• This red velvet loaf cake (without frosting) can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.
• You can also store it longer, up to a week, in the fridge (including the frosting).
• Finally, you could easily freeze it for up to 1 month.

Whatever option you choose, always make sure to keep your cake in an airtight container, and wrapped with cling film if you’re putting it in the fridge/freezer. Always bring your cake to room temperature before serving it.