Red Velvet Sheet Cake is a party-sized crowd pleaser. Moist and tender old fashioned red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. Try today!
This no-fuss sheet Cake Recipe is just as moist and delicious as my classic Red Velvet Layer Cake, without the extra work and it’s the perfect size to feed a crowd. The cheery, bright red color makes it the perfect cake for holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day. For more red velvet desserts, try my Red Velvet Cupcakes and Bundt Cake.
Sabrina’s Red Velvet Sheet Cake Recipe
I love an old-fashioned Red Velvet Cake that brings joy to any dessert table! Even with your eyes closed, one bite of the melt-in-your-mouth tangy, moist cake will have you smiling from ear to ear. My Red Velvet Sheet Cake is tender and fluffy, with just a hint of cocoa flavor and the perfect amount of cream cheese frosting to cake ratio. The best part is whether you have a baking addiction or you just dabble, you probably have everything you need on hand to make this cake tonight!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 ounce red food coloring
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups Cream Cheese Frosting (click for recipe)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13 baking pan with baking spray.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda into a large bowl and add the salt to it.
- In a stand mixer whisk together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add in the eggs one at a time.
- Whisk in the sour cream, buttermilk, red food coloring and vanilla then add in the flour until just combined with no dry streaks.
- Pour into baking pan, spread evenly and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool completely before frosting.
Notes
Nutrition
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Table of contents
About this Recipe
Did you know that the base flavor of a Red Velvet Cake recipe is actually chocolate? It’s not a rich, strong flavor of chocolate like in classic chocolate cake, but more like a tangy, smooth milk chocolate thanks to the buttermilk and cocoa powder combination! Originally the red came from how old-fashioned cocoa powder turned red with the acid in buttermilk. Nowadays cocoa is processed differently so you don’t get the same effect, so bakers add red food coloring to mimic the original cake coloring. I’ve included a red-dye natural alternative for those with artificial food coloring allergies below.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Cake Flour: Cake flour is a little different because it has a lighter texture compared to all-purpose flour which you could still use in a pinch.
- ⅓ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Natural cocoa powder helps the red stand out and helps to flavor the cake.
- 2 cups Sugar: I’m using regular granulated sugar that sweetens the cake and adds structure.
- 4 large Eggs: Room temperature eggs mix better for a lighter cake crumb.
- 1 cup Sour Cream: Helps the cake to be more moist and tender so it melts in your mouth.
- ½ cup Buttermilk: This adds acidity and is needed because it reacts with the baking soda for leavening. It’s worth going out of your way to get some for this recipe.
- 1 ounce Red Food Color: I used gel food coloring because you get a more vibrant color without using as much. You can also use liquid food coloring or a natural coloring alternative.
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract is highly recommended for the best taste.
- 3 cups Cream Cheese Frosting: Homemade creamy frosting is preferable and tastes better, but you can use store-bought if preferred. I included my recipe in the post and notes section for the recipe card.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Sheet Pan: This Red Velvet Sheet Cake is baked in a 9×13 pan, but you can also use a regular sheet pan or jelly roll pan. Reduce the cooking time to 15-20 minutes, checking at 15 minutes to ensure it doesn’t overcook.
- Baking Spray: Baking spray has a little flour in it which adds a barrier between the cake, the oil, and the pan so it doesn’t stick but also isn’t greasy.
Can This Be Made Ahead?
Yes, this cake can be made ahead. Bake the cake up to two days in advance, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and store it at room temperature. The frosting can be made and refrigerated for up to three days; just bring it to room temperature before completing.
Baking Tips
- Part of the red color comes from the combination of acidic buttermilk and sour cream plus the cocoa powder. You don’t want to swap just plain milk or your cake will be duller and darker.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, use ½ cup whole milk plus ½ tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice. Allow to sit 5-10 minutes before adding to the cake batter.
- This recipe uses gel food coloring because you need less of it than liquid food coloring. If you use liquid food coloring, use a full bottle.
- To prevent the frosting from sticking when you cover the cake, place toothpicks throughout the surface to create a barrier between the frosting and the covering.
- If you don’t want to use red food coloring, check out the beet puree substitute below for an all-natural Red Velvet Sheet Cake. While it won’t be as vibrant, it will still be a beautiful red color.
How to Store
- Store: If frosted, your leftover cake will need to be refrigerated after no more than 2 hours at room temperature. Unfrosted, the sheet cake can be at room temperature for up to 3 days. Cover the cake pan with plastic wrap or put into an airtight container and refrigerate Red Velvet Sheet Cake for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature to serve for the best taste.
- Freeze: Freeze a frosted or unfrosted cake for up to 3 months. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil to store. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before bringing it to room temperature to serve.
Red Velvet Cake with Beets (no food coloring)
- Scrub 10 ounces red beets really well.
- Wrap beets in parchment paper and microwave 8-10 minutes, until tender.
- Cool beets before peeling and chopping.
- Add beets and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice to a food processor and process until smooth.
- Prepare cake batter as usual, using only ¼ cup sour cream.
- Gently fold in 1 cup beet puree after the flour mixture is added.
- Bake cake according to recipe card.
Frequent Questions
Yes, you can use a glass pan to bake this cake. The baking time should remain the same.
You can split the batter into two 8×8 pans but you will need to adjust the baking times since the cakes will be thinner.
The baking times may be off to make this into a classic layer cake. So, you may be better off following my standard red velvet cake recipe, linked above.
Variations
- Coffee: Just like a chocolate cake, you can add a tablespoon of espresso powder or instant coffee to bring out the chocolate flavor.
- Nuts: Fold in a ½ cup of chopped pecans or walnuts to the cake batter or use the nuts as a garnish to the frosting.
- Chocolate Chips: Add a ½ cup of semisweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips to your cake batter. You can also sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the frosting.
- Vanilla: Make a Red Velvet Vanilla Sheet Cake by simply leaving the cocoa powder out of the dry ingredients and increasing the flour to 2 ¾ cups. You could also follow my recipe for Classic Chocolate Sheet Cake.
- Cake Mix: Substitute all the dry ingredients with 1 box red velvet mix and 1 box white chocolate instant pudding. Use the same amount of eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Replace the butter with ⅓ cup vegetable oil and use ½ cup sour cream.
- More Toppings: Dress up your cake during special occasions by topping the frosting with sprinkles or heart shaped candies. For more chocolate flavor, top with mini chocolate chips or a Chocolate Ganache drizzle. You could also swap the tangy frosting for buttercream frosting.
Related Recipes
More Red Velvet Cake Recipes
Photos used in previous versions of this post.
Hi. Can I swop out the sour cream for double thick yogurt ?
Sour cream is a substitute for yogurt; however, the consistency will change a bit.
Wanting to make this in a 18x13x2 half sheet cake pan. Should I do 1.5 times the recipe?
That sounds about right Summer. Let us know how your cake turns out!
Can this recipe be used for 2 half sheet cakes 2” thick?
Yes!
The metric measurements are equally 236.59 grams per cup which is twice the normal measurement for cake flour. Is that correct? I don’t want to waste expensive ingredients, I only weigh ingredients.
My apologies, we do not usually calculate the metric conversion by hand and rely on our Recipe Card generator to handle conversions. It looks like the measurement unit that it originally defaulted to was mL, not grams so that is why the number was so high. I have gone in and adjusted the recipe card so it has the correct weight measurements. Again, I’m not sure if this was a glitch with the program that generates our recipe card format. Technically it was correct but it was unit results for volume, not weight (as if the flour was a liquid ?? ). Thank you for bringing this to my attention so we could get it updated and submit a tech support request for the operating system we use to hopefully prevent it in the future.
I just made it today and wow…I’m very impressed! This is not the first time I made a red velvet sheet cake but this is the first time I feel so impressed by one…it’s almost like a sponge cake, so fluffy and rich at the same time! I will definitely be putting this on my list!
Thanks Nora for your kind words!
This recipe is great. I cooked it yesterday for my grandson’s 18th birthday and it was a huge success.
What I loved about this recipe was the fact that the cooking time was spot on.
The cake rose evenly and was delicious. I’m only sorry that I forgot to take any photos.
I would highly recommend giving this recipe a go.
Thank you Pippa! Happy 18th birthday to your grandson!
Is the icing too soft to cut into squares and put in cupcake papers?
No. That’s a super cute idea.
can you use a glass pan
Sure!
Making this for a graduation cake. Deciding if I want to make from scratch or go with your box cake version. If I go that route, what size of the white chocolate pudding mix would I use? Small box or big box? Thank you for sharing!
Not sure what the yield for a small or big box would be. This recipe feeds 24 people.
Hi, I am excited to make this cake, but would like to split this cake into 2 8 x 8 pans. One for now one for later. Do you think I will need to
change the baking time? Thanks!
No, same baking time!
Used this recipe, doubled, to make a graduation cake this week. The cake tasted SO GOOD, thank you! I also noticed one error in your instructions; did you mean to say “…add the salt to it” on the second part?: the original says “Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda into a large bowl and add the baking soda to it.”
this is my favorite cake had for my birthdays going up and had cook frosting on it not cream cheese. I like trying different recipe to see how each is and how well it goes for events
I was thinking about piping the frosting on using some decorating tips. Any suggestions for getting the cream cheese frosting to hold its shape?
Hi Amanda! You can try adding some cornstarch to it to help it stiffen up.
I made this cake twice in a couple of weeks. The best Red Velvet cake I’ve ever made.
Nothing but great remarks from others. So very moist and easy to make. Thanks for sharing. This one is a keeper!!
P.S. . Can I use this recipe for 9’ inch layers?
I’ve made this recipe 3 times. Nothing but great results and compliments. Can I use this to make 9 inch cakes?
This recipe is a keeper.
Thanks for sharing
Yes you can. There are many charts online to help with cake pan conversions.
A 9 inch round cake pan holds approx 8 cups of batter.
This recipe is for a 2 inch half sheet pan (some are 12×18 and others 13×18) and hold approx. 14 cups of batter.
Hover over Yield in the recipe card and slide the bar to increase the recipe to the desired size!
So glad you enjoy the recipe! We do too.
Very good and moist
Hi, I’m wondering, do you think this recipe is firm enough for carving? I want to make a shaped cake with this recipe.
Yes! Just be slow and careful!
Best Red velvet cake! Easy and delicious I’m making it again this Christmas.
Thanks Jeannett! And thank you for the 5 star rating!
This recipe turned out great! I went with 1/2 the amount of food coloring called for and still ended up with a nice vibrant red cake. I made it in a 10”x15” sheet pan and cut out circles from it with a cookie cutter, then stacked them with cream cheese frosting to make baby cakes for the bakery I work at. Will definitely hold onto this recipe!
Hi Sabrina,
This is the BEST recipe for Red Velvet that I’ve ever made. My family loved it. My ‘soon-to-be 7-year-old’ grandson wants this cake for his birthday next week.
Thanks so much!
Jude
Yay!! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and let me know, Jude.
I am going make this for a women’s shelter this weekend and won’t be able to do a test run ahead of time. I know you reference being able to use a sheet pan but will it work in a 12×17 without being too thin?
I am so sorry, I am just seeing this tonight. I hope it turned out well for you. Yes, it should’ve worked, cooked for 18-20 minutes.
Hi there. Can you triple this recipe for a larger crowd? Thanks so much. Joanne
Sure 🙂
Interesting recipe. My red velvet cake, I add vinegar with my eggs food coloring, vanilla, and oil. I noticed you didn’t have canola oil nor vinegar to yours. Could you explain that?
Hi Sheila, I’m so sorry this comment was lost and I just came across it. I find the buttermilk gives me the tangy flavor I need for the cake.
How do you cover sheet cake without frosting sticking and coming off when you uncover
I recommend placing toothpicks throughout so nothing covering the cake is able to get to the frosting. Helps create a barrier. Hope this helps!
I LOVED this simple red velvet sheet cake recipe! It was so simple and the cake was amazing.
I’m glad you enjoyed it enough to give it a 5 star rating, Valentina. Thanks!
This cake is perfection! Absolutely love it.
Yay!! Thanks for coming back to let me know.
Yummy, so moist and flavorful and super easy to make! 🙂
Glad it was a hit, Matt. Thanks for the 5 stars.