Pink Velvet Cake is fluffy and delicate vanilla cake with a hint of pink color, topped with a smooth vanilla buttercream. The texture of this cake justifies its “velvet” name with its soft and luxurious crumb. Be sure to try my Red Velvet Cake for another delicious cake recipe!

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Ingredients & Substitutions

Cake FlourCake flour gives cake a fine crumb. It is lower in protein than all-purpose flour, which gives baked goods a delicate, tender crumb.

Food Coloring: I needed 6-7 drops of red food coloring for a soft pink color. You could also use pink food coloring if that is what you have on hand. You can add as much or as little food coloring as you prefer depending the color that you want to achieve.

Confectioners’ Sugar: Yes, the whipped buttercream calls for 7 cups of confectioners’ sugar. However, you could use as little as 3 1/2 cups if you want to use less sugar. Keep in mind that you will likely need to adjust the amount of milk down as well if using less sugar.

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Can I Make Pink Velvet Cake Ahead of Time?

Cake

  • To make the cake ahead of time, try adding simple syrup to the baked cake to make sure it stays moist and delicious. Once the cake is cooled, level it and add about 1-2 tablespoons of simple syrup per layer.
  • Store the cake for 3-5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator, or in a labeled and dated airtight freezer-safe container for up to 2 months in the freezer.

Buttercream

  • The buttercream will last up to 2 weeks stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  • To freeze, place the frosting into a labeled and dated airtight, freezer-safe container or bag. If stored properly, it will last up to 3 months. When ready to use, allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then re-whip it if necessary.
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Storing & Freezing Cake

  • This cake can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
  • To freeze, place the frosted cake in an airtight, freezer-safe container and store for up to 3 months. Allow the cake to thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
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Piece of Pink Velvet Cake with a Bite Removed. Dessert, Baking, Cakes, Cake Recipes, Dessert, Pink Cake, Velvet Cake, Soft Cake, i am baker, iambaker
4.41 from 20 votes

Pink Velvet Cake

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Pink Velvet Cake is a soft vanilla cake with food coloring to give it the pink color and topped with vanilla buttercream.

Ingredients

Cake

  • ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 3 cups (300 g) cake flour
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup (245 g) whole milk, room temperature
  • ½ cup (109 g) vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6-7 drops red food coloring

Vanilla Buttercream

  • 1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • 7 cups (875 g) confectioners' sugar
  • 5 tablespoons (75 g) whole milk, or enough to reach desired consistency, room temperature
  • 1 pinch kosher salt

Instructions

Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray 2, 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter. Cream until pale in color (about 2 minutes).
  • Add the sugar to the creamed butter and mix for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next one.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
  • In another bowl, combine the milk, oil, and vanilla.
  • With the mixer on low speed, alternate between adding the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until the ingredients are fully incorporated, adding your desired amount of food coloring.
  • Remove the bowl from the stand mixer.
  • Pour the batter equally between the two cake pans. Bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  • Allow cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning them over onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Buttercream

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
  • Add vanilla and almond extract.
  • With the mixer on low, slowly add confectioners' sugar, milk, and salt, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
  • Once the ingredients have been incorporated, whip the frosting on medium-high for 3-7 minutes.
  • If frosting is too thick to spread, gradually beat in additional milk until it reaches your desired consistency.
  • Cover the cooled cakes in a layer of frosting, putting it between the layers and around the outside of the cake. Slice and serve.

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Meet Amanda Rettke

Amanda Rettke is the creator of I Am Baker, and the bestselling author of Surprise Inside Cakes: Amazing Cakes for Every Occasion – With a Little Something Extra Inside.Over the course of her 15+ year blogging adventure, she has been featured in and collaborated with the Food Network, New York Times, LA Times, Country Living Magazine, People Magazine, Epicurious, Brides, Romantic Homes, life:beautiful, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Mail, Star Tribune, The Globe and Mail, DailyCandy, YumSugar, The Knot, The Kitchn, and Parade, to name a few.

Reader Comments

  1. Can I use this recipe for cupcakes & how many foes it make? I want to make these for my niece’s birthday-so pretty & girlie!! Can’t wait to make them!

  2. I love your blog and would like to make this for my husbands birthday, a different color though but I had two questions: can I make this in an 8 x 3 pan, would the batter be enough? I would probably make it twice but I wondered if the batter is sufficient as I noticed you used a 6 inch pan. Last question would be if the frosting recipe you used would allow for me to have a smooth finish too that I could then decorate? Thank you.

    1. Yes, you can make it in a 8in pan, it would just be thinner layers. And yes, you can definitely get a smooth finish on the frosting! 🙂

  3. Thank you SO much for using international options. I’m in the UK and converting recipes can be very off putting at times. This cake looks fabulous, by the way!

    1. It’s not easy!! 🙂 If you have any tips or pointers that make it easier along the way, please do let me know! 🙂

  4. Hi Amanda! I made the cake last night and it tastes delicious but I noticed large tunnels and holes in it 🙁 it’s probably something I’m doing wrong on my end but I’m not sure what it could be? Any suggestions would be really helpful!

    1. Oh no! I am so sorry. Typically the holes are from the mixing process, where something (like the fat) does not get properly broken up and then leaves a hole when it melts away. Or from a faulty oven temp., or from the type of flour used! Any number of factors can contribute. So sorry!

    2. Whenever I make a cake, either from a box or from scratch, after the batter is in the pan, before placing it in the oven this is what I do: I grip the pan on both ends then gently lift pan and bang on counter five or six times. This causes all the air bubbles to come to the top along with the funnel markings. Works great and you have no holes in the cake! Good luck!

  5. I am wanting to make the cake the night before and do the icing the next morning. Once I make the cake, is it best to put it in the frigerator? Or in the freezer? Does it need to completely cool first? Thanks!

  6. I made this cake the other day but didn’t realise the recipe is for smaller 6-inch pans. I made mine in a standard 9-inch pan and the cakes were really thin. As a result the baking time was too long so the cake became hard. However, the cake tasted nice. Next time, I’ll double the recipe. I didn’t try the frosting.

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