Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake, With Amazing Texture

Name: Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 28 min
Total time: 58 min
Ingredients: 224 grams gluten-free flour (please click through for appropriate blends); 48 grams corn starch; 25 grams buttermilk powder; 24 grams cocoa powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 1½ teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon baking soda; 80 grams butter (room temperature, non-salted); 24 grams canola oil (or other neutral tasting oil); 240 grams sugar; 2 eggs (room temperature); 1 egg white (room tempereature); 182 grams brewed coffee (warm); 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon red food coloring (or red velvet emulsion (plus another teaspoon if a deeper color is desired)); 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar; 113 grams butter (salted, room temperature); 113 grams cream cheese (room temperature); 1 teaspoon lemon juice; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 460 grams powdered sugar (sifted)

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This recipe for gluten-free red velvet cake makes a super moist, soft and fluffy crumb that is so tasty it's addictive! The secret is a bit unusual... it's buttermilk coffee. This homemade ingredient really enhances the acidity we love in red velvet and makes the chocolate richer and fluffier.

a slice of gluten-free red velvet cake on a white plate, with the rest of the cake in the background

Gluten-free red velvet cakes and cupcakes are on my cottage bakery's menu all year round. When I sell this cake, I use a shelf-stable buttercream with a cheesecake emulsion, but for this recipe I am sharing with you all, let's be real: cream cheese frosting is the best!

If you're looking for other chocolatey recipes that aren't in-your-face chocolate, you can check out my gluten-free Oreo cupcakes. Or... for a super chocolatey delicious treat, check out my gluten-free dairy-free chocolate cupcakes!

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Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions
Variations
Equipment
Storage
Top tip
FAQ
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Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients

Please read below for my reasoning on these three crucial ingredients for this recipe's success: the gluten-free flour, the buttermilk powder, and the red velvet emulsion.

See recipe card for quantities.

Gluten-Free Flour

As always, the most important ingredient to bake a successful gluten-free cake is the flour you use. Please read through my post on appropriate DIY blends and commercial blends to guide your choice of flour.

Buttermilk Powder

The other ingredient that makes a big difference in this recipe is buttermilk powder (non-affiliate link). If you're not sure about investing in this ingredient, let me try to convince you: first, it's shelf-stable and lasts over a year; second, you can use it in your weekly pancakes and waffles; third, I have lots of recipes that make use of buttermilk powder, like my gluten-free burger buns and my gluten-free horchata cupcakes; and fourth, it's such a great ingredient that allows you to use liquids other than milk without compromising on taste/texture!

Red Velvet Emulsion

Finally, the last ingredient I want to discuss is red food coloring. I am of the opinion that if we're going to buy food coloring, we might as well buy FLAVORED food coloring, and by that I mean LorAnn's red velvet emulsion (non-affiliate link), which by the way is certified gluten-free. It tastes amazing, already contains red food coloring and you can find it at your local craft stores in the baking aisle, for not much more than food coloring. Just note that while the directions on the bottle would have us use one tablespoon, I've tested that one teaspoon is plenty! If you prefer a deeper red, you can do two teaspoons!

Instructions

Let's split the instructions for this gluten-free red velvet cake recipe into three categories: baking the cake, making the frosting, and decorating the cake.

Baking the Cake

Grease two 6-inch cake pans and line them with parchment paper. Sift all the dry ingredients together (minus sugar): this is super important, because I find that cocoa powder, buttermilk powder and baking soda often have chunks, and sifting will really help aerate the batter. Set the dry ingredients aside.

Brew coffee and set aside so that it cools slightly before we use it. We don't want the coffee hot enough to cook the eggs in the batter, but definitely on the warmer side, which helps activate flavors in the cocoa powder. Add the rest of the liquid ingredients to the measured coffee.

a sifted with gluten-free flours, above a red bowl.

a red bowl with sifted dry ingredients, the color is light brown like chocolate.

Next, cream sugar with the butter and oil. Using oil as well as butter keeps the cake moist, which is a good thing since gluten-free baked goods are so often dry. Add the eggs and mix some more.

sugar, butter and oil in a metallic bowl with a hand mixer resting.

creamed sugar and butter, with two eggs added to the metallic bowl, the mixer still on the side.

Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and liquid ingredients to the creamed butter. Mix well between each addition so the batter is homogeneous but don't overmix. Overmixing is of course worse in gluten-containing batter, but it can interfere with the gums' function and yield a goopy cake.

Pour the batter evenly into the cake pans and bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Rotate the pans and bake an additional 8-12 minutes. The cake is ready when an inserted toothpick comes back with just a few moist crumbs. Remove from the cake pan and fully cool on a rack.

a measuring cup with bright red liquid, pouring its content into a metallic bowl with batter and a mixer.

a metallic bowl with a blue spatula, and red batter.

Making the Frosting

Cream the butter and cream cheese until well blended. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix enough to just combine. Then add the sifted powdered sugar, and mix until the frosting is homogeneous, which can take 5-6 minutes. You can either frost and eat the cake immediately or refrigerate the frosting until ready to use.

a metallic bowl with an electric mixer resting on the side, in the bowl is cream cheese, butter and brown vanilla.

powdered sugar on top of the cream cheese/butter mixture, with the electric mixer in the bowl.

Decorating the Cake

If you refrigerated the frosting, let it warm up to room temperature so it is soft enough to apply. I like taking a sharp knife and cutting just a smidge off each cake layer so that they are uniform and I have some crumbs to decorate with.

Apply frosting between the layers and frost the outside of the cake. This cream cheese frosting is soft, but it's pipeable and can make cute decorations, like these heart-shaped floral arrangements. I also like using a spatula-knife to texture the frosting around the cake, and finally apply some of the crumbs as decorations.

Note that I like cakes THICK, and lighter on the frosting side. You can certainly adjust ratios if you'd like more frosting!

a gluten-free red velvet cake resting on a cooling rack next to a knife and the top crumb cut off.

piped roses in red, white and pink, shaped like a heart, and green leaves around them.

Hint: Cream cheese frosting is not shelf stable. If you don't think you'll finish the cake within two hours of frosting, you can omit frosting the cake, and keep the frosting in the refrigerator instead. The cake itself is shelf stable, and you can frost each slice as you're eating them!

Substitutions

The allergens in this gluten-free red velvet cake are: milk, eggs. Because we use buttermilk powder and cream cheese frosting, this recipe is not super friendly to a dairy-free diet, but we can still give it a try.

Dairy-free - omit: buttermilk powder. Instead, dissolve instant coffee into warm plant-based milk (like almond or rice). Add apple cider vinegar to curdle. You'll also need to replace the butter with vegan butter, and the cream cheese either with cream cheese frosting, or a cheesecake emulsion.
Egg-free - you can try 2 flax eggs, but I have not tried this alternative. If you try, please let me know!

If you're looking for desserts designed specifically without dairy and eggs, please check out some of my vegan recipes: gluten-free vegan lemon cake, and gluten-free vegan strawberry cupcakes.

Variations

There's a few different tricks you can use to customize this cake:

Green or Blue Velvet - omit the red velvet emulsion, and instead use green or blue gel food coloring, for a funky spin on this colorful dessert.
Shelf-Stable - if you need this cake to be shelf-stable, you can use a cheesecake emulsion (NOT a cream cheese emulsion, that's gross, I tried!) into my crusting buttercream recipe.
Add-Ins - you can use white, dark or milk chocolate chips in the batter, or you can decorate the outside with sprinkles!

a gluten-free red velvet cake on a cake board, with crumb decorations on the side and heart flowers on top.

Equipment

You'll need:

two 6-inch cakes pans, lined and greased
a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or an electric mixer
kitchen basics, like bowls, spatulas and a sifter

Storage

The unfrosted gluten-free red velvet cake is shelf-stable. You can keep it at room temperature for up to three days, wrapped in plastic to prevent drying out.

The cream cheese frosting requires refrigeration, after two hours at room temperature.

The problem with this particular combination is that gluten-free cakes don't do well in the fridge because they dry out quickly, but we need to keep the frosting refrigerated!

So a few options for you:

Make this cake for guests, and plan to eat it within two hours of being frosted (it's a small two layers 6-inch cake by design, so that most families are able to finish it in one sitting!)
Bake the cake, keep it wrapped in plastic on the counter; make the frosting and keep it refrigerated. Frost each slice as you eat them! Most kids will love that solution.

Beyond that, you can freeze a frosted slice, wrapped in plastic and stored in an airtight container. It will keep for a month in the freezer. Simply thaw to room temperature and eat immediately.

a boxed gluten-free red velvet cake with a clear window, and heart shaped florals on top.

a slice of gluten-free red velvet cake in a plate on the counter, with fork

Top tip

Did you know that professional cake decorators flash freeze cakes, to make them easier to frost? Once your cake is fully cool, you can wrap it in plastic, and store it in the freezer overnight, to decorate the next day. This makes time management easier, the frozen cake is super sturdy for frosting, AND the thawed cake is going to be extra moist!

FAQ

What flavor is red velvet?

Right? Red velvet to me describes the texture, not the taste! Red velvet is kind of the perfect merger between a vanilla cake, and chocolate cake. Sure, cocoa powder is an ingredient, but it's so little compared to a chocolate cake... much more subtle! Because of the buttermilk and (apple cider) vinegar, it is however pretty tangy.

Why is my red velvet cake brown?

Red velvet cake is a balancing act. We need the red food coloring to dye the cake red, but it can get overpowered if we add too much cocoa powder. If your red velvet cake is brown, it could be because you added too much cocoa powder. I always give mass measurements in my recipes (you can read why mass > volume in baking) which are very precise, so I would suggest trying again with a scale. Even brown though, it will taste yummy :)

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