• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Go Cook Yummy
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • All Recipes
  • About
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
You are here: Home / Desserts / Red Velvet Cake Without Buttermilk

Red Velvet Cake Without Buttermilk

Published By Victoria · On: Jan 28, 23 · Updated: Mar 18, 24

306 shares
  • 1

Made without buttermilk, this Red Velvet Cake recipe brings a classic dessert to your table. The cake comes together quickly and easily, with no fuss involved. It’s ready to satisfy your sweet tooth or make any occasion a bit more special in no time.

Jump to Recipe
Close look of red velvet cake on a marble table.

I love red velvet cake for its eye-catching red color, moist texture, and unique taste. Instead of using buttermilk like most recipes, I go with lemon juice and regular milk to nail that tangy flavor and keep it moist.

A bit of cocoa powder tones down the intense red from the food coloring and adds a hint of chocolate. The cream cheese frosting is a game-changer, adding just the right amount of creamy tanginess to balance the cake’s sweetness. And it’s a breeze to whip up—just mix cream and cream cheese.

This part’s fun: you can play around with the frosting to make it your own. That’s how you can really make this cake stand out.

This recipe’s a hit for special occasions like birthdays or Valentine’s Day, thanks to that bold red color. But honestly, it’s also perfect for those days when you just want to treat yourself to something classic and delicious.

This cake is definitely a crowd-pleaser with its awesome look, taste, and texture.

Pro Tip: For the best flavor and texture, start making this cake two days before you need it. Let the dough cool, wrap it in cling film, and then let it sit for 6 hours or overnight to soften the crust. After assembling, let the cake rest for a few hours more to get even juicier.

Alright, enough talk—let’s dive in!

Table of Contents hide
🥘 Ingredients and Substitutes
👩‍🍳 Step-by-step Directions
Making the Frosting
Assembling the Cake
🏆 Expert Tips. What to Pay Attention To?
Answering Your Questions:
📋 Recipe Card:

🥘 Ingredients and Substitutes

Ingredients for the cake mix:

Flour, sugar, melted butter, eggs and lime for a red velvet cake.
  • Milk.
  • Lemon Juice. We used lemon juice because we needed some acid to coagulate the milk and extinguish the baking soda. If you don’t have lemon juice on hand, you could use white vinegar such as apple vinegar or white wine vinegar.
  • All-purpose Flour.
  • Cane Sugar. You could replace easily cane sugar with brown sugar.
  • Eggs.
  • Butter.
  • Baking Powder.
  • Baking Soda.
  • Cocao. We add cocoa to balance the color a bit, because any red food coloring, will make the cake look too artificial and fake. Therefore, to give a more natural shade of red, we are using cocoa.
  • Food coloring. I like to mix a cool and warm red to get a color that’s just right. But if you’ve only got one, go with what you prefer. I leaned towards a cool red this time, aiming for a raspberry-like hue.s.

Ingredients for frosting:

Cream cheese, near flour and cream on a white table.
  • Cream Cheese.
  • Single Cream. I used an 18% fat single cream. So my ratio between single cream and cream cheese is 1:2. If you will use 36% heavy cream, you can use a 1:1 ratio.
  • Powdered sugar.

👩‍🍳 Step-by-step Directions

Start by mixing milk with lemon juice. You’ll see it begin to thicken right away.

Milk and lemon juice on a white table.

Then, in a big bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar.

Quick Note: Do this fast to avoid the yolk setting and messing up your cake’s texture.

Mixing two eggs with cream.

Pour the milk-lemon mix into the eggs and sugar, stir, then melt the butter and add it in. Give everything a good mix.

Next up, add your red food coloring and stir until it’s all nicely blended.

Red food coloring in a white plate with two beaten eggs.

For the dry ingredients, grab another bowl, mix them all together.

All purpose flour with natural cacao, and sugar in a white large bowl.

Then sift this mix into your wet ingredients in two goes to keep lumps at bay.

Woman hand holding a sieve with all-purpose flour over red cream.

Stop mixing the ingredients as soon as the ingredients have been incorporated.

Pro Tip: If you will mix the cake batter for a long period of time, a gluten shell will form and as a result, the cake will not be so airy.

Top view of red cream mixed in a white bowl.

Pour the batter into a 6″ baking pan. If you use a bigger pan, your cake won’t be as tall, and you might end up with thinner layers or needing more layers.

Bake for 40 minutes at 325°F. Test with a toothpick to make sure it’s done.

Red cream in baking form on a traybake.

Let the cake cool before handling. If you can, wrap the top in cling film and chill it overnight to soften the crust.

If the top’s a bit domed, trim it to flatten. That trimmed bit? Save it for decorating later.

Decide how many layers you want, then slice the cake accordingly. I went for 6 layers, so I cut it into 3 slices, planning for alternating layers of cake and cream.

Red velvet cake sliced in 4 parts on a cutting board.

Making the Frosting

I threw all the frosting ingredients into a big bowl to mix them up.

White plate with yogurt, cream cheese and flour.

I grabbed my mixer and went to town until the mix turned into this thick, creamy frosting.

Top view of cream for red velvet cake.

Assembling the Cake

A little trick I use is a pastry ring the same size as my cake, 6 inches, to keep everything neat.

I started by putting the first cake layer down in the ring.

Next, I filled a piping bag with the frosting and spread a quarter of it over the first layer, making sure it was nice and even.

I did this for all my layers, saving a bit of frosting for the top.

Quick Note: Save a quarter of your frosting for decorating later, after the cake sets.

6 steps on how to assemble the red velvet cake.

wrapped the cake up in cling film and popped it in the fridge for at least 6 hours. Overnight is even better if you’re not in a rush.

If you skip this step, the cake might end up dry or lose its shape when you take the ring off.

After chilling, I took off the ring and went to town with the leftover frosting and the cake bits I saved from leveling the top.

When it comes to decorating, you do you. I kept it simple.

Top red velvet cake on a light blue plate on a marble table.

Pro Tip: For an extra creamy cake, let it sit out for a couple of hours before serving. It lets everything get to room temp and makes the frosting even softer.

And there you have it, a homemade red velvet cake that looks and tastes amazing, ready to impress alongside your favorite coffee or tea.

Close look of a slice of red velvet cake sitting on a white plate.

🏆 Expert Tips. What to Pay Attention To?

  • When baking, getting the measurements right is crucial, so I always keep a kitchen scale handy to nail those exact amounts.
  • Mixing dry and wet ingredients separately first helps dodge those pesky lumps, ensuring the batter is nice and smooth when they come together.
  • Keep an eye on that baking time; overdoing it means a dry cake nobody wants. The toothpick test has never let me down for checking if it’s just right.
  • Room-temperature cream cheese and butter mix way smoother, avoiding any unwanted lumps in the frosting.
  • Chilling the cake before going to town with the frosting makes a world of difference. It’s easier to decorate, and the frosting stays put.

Answering Your Questions:

Can I whip up this cake in advance?

Totally, I’ve made this cake a couple of days ahead, popped it in the fridge in an airtight container, and it was actually even better after chilling for a bit. It keeps well for about 3 days.

Is freezing the cake an option?

Yep, you can freeze it for about 2 months. I just wrap it really well in plastic wrap and then foil to keep it protected before sticking it in the freezer.

Can I use natural food coloring instead of red food coloring?

Sure, you can go for something like beet juice for the color. Just a heads up, you might need to play around with the amount, and it tends to be a bit more muted than the neon red from the food coloring.

Which frosting should I go for?

Cream cheese frosting is the way to go with red velvet, especially this version. It’s got that classic tang that just works. But hey, if you’re feeling adventurous, vanilla or chocolate frosting can mix things up.

How can I tell when it’s perfectly baked?

The toothpick trick never fails—stick it in the center, and if it comes out clean, you’re golden. Or give the cake a light tap; it should bounce back if it’s ready.

📋 Recipe Card:

Close look of a slice of red velvet cake sitting on a white plate.

Red Velvet Cake Without Buttermilk

Victoria
This is a classic recipe for red velvet cake made without buttermilk. This recipe is easy to make and it is perfect for any occasion or just a sweet treat. Follow our tips to ensure that you will get a perfect Red Velvet cake every time.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save RecipeSaved!
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 40 minutes mins
Total Time 50 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people
Calories 628 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

Cake Dough

  • ⅔ cup Milk
  • 2 ½ teaspoon Lemon Juice
  • 1 ½ cup All-purpose Flour
  • ¾ cup Cane Sugar
  • 2 Egg
  • 2.5 oz Butter
  • ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Cacao
  • 3 teaspoon Food coloring Red

Cake Frosting

  • 2 cup Cream Cheese
  • 1 cup Light Cream (20%) 18% fat
  • ⅜ cup Powdered sugar
Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preparing the Cake Dough

  • First, mix lemon juice and milk together.
    2 ½ teaspoon Lemon Juice, ⅔ cup Milk
  • Then, beat eggs and sugar until they're friends.
    2 Egg, ¾ cup Cane Sugar
  • Mix those two mixes you just made.
  • Melt the butter and throw it into the party.
    2.5 oz Butter
  • Time for the food coloring to make things interesting.
    3 teaspoon Food coloring
  • Grab another bowl and get all the dry ingredients to know each other.
  • Sift the dry crowd into the wet gang.
    1 ½ cup All-purpose Flour, ½ teaspoon Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon Baking Soda, 1 ½ teaspoon Cacao
  • Pour the whole merry mixture into a baking form. I went with a 6" ring.
  • Bake this beauty at 325°F for 40 minutes. Do the toothpick test, then let it cool off.
  • Level the top off to get a flat surface. Hold onto the scraps for later decoration.
  • Decide how ambitious you feel—cut the cake into 2 or 3 layers.

Preparing the frosting

  • Mix single cream and cream cheese in a big bowl until it's smooth and lump-free.
    2 cup Cream Cheese, 1 cup Light Cream (20%), ⅜ cup Powdered sugar

Assembling the Cake

  • A pastry ring can save your life here, keeping everything shaped up.
  • Start with a layer of cake, slap on a quarter of your cream, and spread it out.
  • Stack and spread, repeating for each layer, saving some cream for the outside.
  • Wrap it up in cling film and let it chill in the fridge for about 6 hours.
  • To finish, take the cake top you saved, crumble it, and sprinkle it over for that extra flair.

Quick Note

I highly recommend reading the entire recipe to find more tips and notes about this recipe. Read Full Recipe ⇑

Nutrition Estimates

Calories: 628kcalCarbohydrates: 62gProtein: 10gFat: 39gSaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 163mgSodium: 418mgPotassium: 198mgFiber: 1gSugar: 37gVitamin A: 1472IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 138mgIron: 2mg
Keyword desserts, easy recipe
Tried This Recipe?Let us know how it was!
We are participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
306 shares
  • 1

Filed Under: Desserts, Baking

About Victoria

With 15 years of culinary expertise, Victoria offers easy-to-follow recipes using just 4 ingredients. These delightful dishes exemplify simplicity in the kitchen.

Previous Post: « Old Fashioned Ham and Beans Stew
Next Post: 4-Ingredients Potato Bake with Cheese »

Reader Interactions

5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Meet Alex & Victoria!

We are sharing with you our recipes made from minimum ingredients, ensuring quick, affordable, and hassle-free cooking. Be it an everyday dish, a special occasion, or anything in between, we've got you covered.
Read more...

Follow Us:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Footer

Follow Us:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok

Copyright © 2025 GoCooYummy • Stories • Contact Us • Privacy Policy

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.