This pink velvet cake is ultra fluffy, tender, moist, and frosted with a luxurious cream cheese frosting. It’s pink inside and has vintage piping decorations all over the sides and top! It’s similar to red velvet cake, but doesn’t contain any cocoa powder. It has the gorgeous dense velvety texture and subtle tang that you expect from a red velvet cake! It’s the perfect pink birthday cake, vintage birthday cake, or even a princess party cake. You can decorate it as elaborately or as simply as you like!
Jump to:
- 🍰 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- 📝 Key ingredients
- 👩🍳 How to make pink velvet cake
- ✔️ Expert velvet cake tips
- 🥄 Make ahead and storage
- ❔ Can you use natural pink food coloring?
- 💗 How to make a pink colored cake
- 🧁 Vintage cake decorating
- ❤️ The difference between pink and red velvet cake
- 📖 Recipe FAQs
- 🎂 More related recipes
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
🍰 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- Velvety: The texture of the cake is ultra soft and fluffy. If you could eat velvet, that would be the texture (in a good way).
- Soft and tender cake: The buttermilk, vinegar, and cake flour create the lightest, fluffiest cake layers.
- Pink: The pale pink cake layers are a stunning surprise, and the pink piping and frosting on the outside complements the colors perfectly.
- Cream cheese frosting: This cream cheese frosting is thick, creamy, tangy, and the perfect piping consistency so you don't have to mix up different types of frosting for the filling and piping.
If you love velvet cakes, you need to try my black velvet cake or my red velvet cream cheese swirled bundt cake!
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
Pink cake layer ingredients
- Butter & oil: A combination of butter and oil gives the cake a buttery flavor and the oil keeps it moist and tender.
- Buttermilk: This gives you ultra tender cake layers. I highly recommend using store bought buttermilk because it has the best consistency and flavor. If you can't find store-bought buttermilk, you can make it yourself by stirring 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar into 1 ¼ cups of room temperature milk. Stir and let sit for 5-10 minutes until thickened.
- Pink gel food coloring: This gives the cake layers a gorgeous pink color.
- Cake flour: Cake flour has less gluten than all purpose flour, giving you a lighter and fluffier cake. Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results!
- Egg whites: Whites instead of whole eggs with yolks keep the cake a pale white color. This allows you to get a gorgeous pink color. If you use whole eggs, the yellow yolks will interfere with the pink color, creating more of an orange-pink color.
Cream cheese frosting ingredients
- Cream cheese: Full fat brick style cream cheese will give you a thick, pipeable cream cheese. Don't use low fat cream cheese - it has too much water content and will make a gloopy frosting.
- Pink and red gel food coloring: To get the same look that I did, you need pink food coloring for the pale pink color and a combination of pink and red food coloring for the darker pink color. Or you can just frost and decorate with uncolored, white frosting.
My strawberry cinnamon rolls and raspberry tiramisu recipe are also ultra pretty in pink and don't use any food coloring to make them pink!
👩🍳 How to make pink velvet cake
Cake layers step by step
Prep: Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C). Grease three 8” round baking pans with a bit of cold butter and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.
Step 1: In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine softened butter, oil, sugar, and salt. Beat with an electric mixer until lightened in color and increased in volume. Scrape down the bowl.
Step 2: Add half of the egg whites, blend, then the rest of the egg whites and blend. Beat until increased in volume and thick. Add vanilla extract and vinegar, blend.
Step 3: Add pink food coloring, one pea sized amount at a time until you get a pink color. It will lighten a bit after adding the flour so make it slightly darker than you’d like.
Step 4: Sift half of the cake flour, all of the baking powder, and all of the baking soda into the bowl with the batter. Add the buttermilk and fold with a whisk to incorporate. Sift the rest of the flour in and fold well with a whisk to break up most of the lumps to make a mostly smooth batter. Don't overmix.
Step 5: Evenly divide the batter between the greased and lined baking pans. Smooth the batter tops and gently tap them on a counter to release any large air pockets. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs attached.
Step 6: Remove from the oven and let the layers cool for 8 minutes inside the pans. Loosen the edges with a spatula and turn them out onto cooling racks to cool completely.
When cooled, use a serrated knife and a sawing motion to gently trim the edges, top, and bottom of the layers. Only trim the golden brown bits to give you clean, pink layers.
Cream cheese frosting step by step
This recipe gives you plenty of cream cheese frosting for filling, frosting, and decorating the cake.
Step 1: In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter with a paddle attachment until creamy and lightened in color.
Step 2: Add the salt and powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Beat well in between each addition and scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently. Whip until very creamy and light. The longer you whip, the creamier the frosting will be.
Add pieces of cream cheese, blending well before adding the next. The frosting will become very light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat again.
Assembling the cake step by step
Step 1: Smear a small dollop of frosting onto a serving plate or cake stand. Place the first layer of cake down. Spread about ⅓ cup of frosting in an even layer on top. Continue until the last layer.
Step 2: Cover the stacked cake with a very thin layer of frosting all over the top and sides. Use a long metal spatula or cake scraper to help spread. Pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes to set and lock in the crumbs.
Step 3: While the crumb coat chills, work on dividing and coloring the remaining frosting. Transfer about 1 cup of frosting into a medium bowl (this is for the white piping) and color the remaining frosting a pale pink color.
Step 4: Cover the cake with the pale pink colored frosting and smooth the sides and top. Set aside a third of the remaining frosting and add more red and pink food coloring into the rest of the frosting. This will be the darker pink piping color.
Step 5: Transfer the white, pink, and darker pink frosting colors into three different piping bags. Use a large open star piping tip for the dark pink color. I used a Wilton 1M for the bottom border and embellishments, and a large drop flower tip for the top border.
Step 6: Use a small open star piping tip for the pale pink color. For the white beaded frosting, I just cut the end off the piping bag to make a round tip. Pipe borders and swoops all along the edges and sides of the cake.
Optionally, spray or sprinkle a small amount of edible glitter for some sparkle.
✔️ Expert velvet cake tips
- Use store-bought buttermilk: It will give the cake more flavor and moisture than using homemade buttermilk made from milk and vinegar.
- Use cake flour: This gives you the ultimate soft, fluffy, tender cake layers.
- Measure the flour properly: Use a scale to measure it for best results. If you don't have a scale, you can fluff up the flour with a spoon and carefully spoon it into a dry measuring cup. Scrape the excess flour off the top using the flat edge of a knife without packing the flour into the cup.
- Don't overmix the cake batter: As soon as you add the flour, be careful not to overmix because that will make the cake tough. It's ok if there are some lumps left. Use a whisk to fold the cake batter - this will help to get rid of most of the lumps.
- Trim the cake layers from any brown bits: This will give you perfectly even, pink layers that will look so much better when the cake is frosted.
- Use full fat, brick style cream cheese: This will give you a fluffy, stable, pipeable cream cheese frosting.
🥄 Make ahead and storage
This cake needs to be stored in the fridge because of the cream cheese in the frosting. Let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to soften up the butter in the frosting before serving. Or 10 minutes if it's a hot day.
You can make and frost this pink velvet cake one or two days ahead of serving! It'll store well in the fridge - store the cake in a cake carrier to protect and keep it fresh when in the fridge.
The cake layers can be made ahead of time as well, Store them wrapped tightly at room temperature for a few days, until you're ready to stack and decorate the cake. It's best to trim them right before stacking and decorating the cake; store the cake layers untrimmed.
❔ Can you use natural pink food coloring?
Yes you can use a natural pink food coloring, but when the cake layers bake it might change color! The heat and acid in the cake batter can change the color, especially if it has anthocyanins. Food coloring made from beets can change color when baked and especially paired with an acid.
Natural pink food coloring might work better in the frosting because it doesn't need to be baked.
💗 How to make a pink colored cake
This pink velvet cake starts off with a white velvet cake base recipe. This allows you to get a gorgeous clean pink color, as opposed to starting off with a yellow cake using whole eggs - giving you more of an orange color when you add pink to it.
This cake gets its color from pink gel food coloring, and I also used a touch of red to help create the darker pink piping.
I kept the frosting between the cake layers white to really let the layers stand out. Then it all gets covered with a pale pink frosting, and decorated with white, pale pink, and darker pink frosting.
🧁 Vintage cake decorating
I decorated this cake in the style of a vintage cake. Vintage cakes usually have lots of elaborate swoops and borders all over the edges and outside of the cake. I decorated my black velvet cake this way as well! It's so fun and satisfying to do.
All you need are a few piping bags and piping tips. Since I had 3 colors, I used 3 piping bags. A large bag with a large piping tip for the darker pink color (I used a coupler so I could witch out the piping tips easily), a small piping bag with the end cut off for the white frosting, and a small piping bag with a small open star tip for the pale pink frosting.
If you're using multiple piping tips and don't want to use too many piping bags, I highly recommend using couplers. That way you can switch out just the piping tip, while keeping the frosting inside the bag.
Here are the steps and photos I took while decorating, so that you could easily recreate this vintage cake design:
- Pipe the large borders first, one on the top edge and one where the bottom edge meets the plate.
- Add the white swoops by carefully squeezing out the frosting, letting it hang down, and reconnecting it to the cake.
- Add extra piping with a small open star piping tip, and add a beaded border with the white frosting. Add little embellishments, swirls, and hearts.
You can switch up the colors as you like. For example, if you want a monochromatic look, use all white or all pink frosting. Likewise, you can add or remove aspects from the design. Be creative and have fun!
❤️ The difference between pink and red velvet cake
Red velvet cake has a touch of cocoa powder and red food coloring, giving it a rich and deep red color with a subtle chocolate flavor. Pink velvet cake has pink food coloring but no cocoa powder.
Both red and pink velvet cake have buttermilk and vinegar for a bit of a tang, and to keep them soft and fluffy. They're also typically frosted with a cream cheese frosting. I love using cream cheese frosting in my layered cakes! It's so creamy, fluffy, and the cream cheese helps balance the sweetness. And it's so easy to make!
📖 Recipe FAQs
No, I definitely don't recommend leaving any cake frosted with cream cheese frosting out in the heat. Cream cheese frosting melts quickly and doesn't hold up in the heat at all. Store the frosted cake in the fridge and take out out 10 minutes before serving if it's a hot day.
Yes you can, I recommend a powder or a gel natural food coloring. Keep in mind that if you add it into the cake layers, it may change color because of the acid in the batter and the heat of the cooking process.
Cake flour helps give this pink velvet cake the ultimate soft, fluffy, tender texture. If you can't find cake flour, you can substitute cake flour with ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (105g) all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons (14g) cornstarch. It won't be as light and fluffy, but it will be better than only using all purpose flour.
You sure can! This raspberry curd makes the perfect cake filling. Follow the instructions in my lemon raspberry cake to learn how to fill and frost cake with a filling.
Your butter or your cream cheese was probably just a little bit too cold. Gently heat part of the frosting in the microwave or on the stove top. Stir well to melt the frosting slightly, then add it back into the bowl with the rest of the frosting and whip it up.
Do this as many times as you need until it comes together smoothly. If it's too liquidy, pop it into the fridge to firm up for a few minutes then whip it again.
This can be because of a number of factors. Was your cream cheese soft and warm? Did you use low fat cream cheese? Was your butter starting to melt? All of those can result in a gloopy cream cheese frosting.
Make sure you beat the butter and powdered sugar well before adding the cream cheese. The butter coats the sugar, preventing it from melting into the cream cheese and creating a gloopy, liquidy frosting.
🎂 More related recipes
Did you make this recipe? I would love for you to rate this recipe and hear what you think in the comments below! Share your creation on Instagram and tag @flouringkitchen. Follow me on Pinterest to save and for more recipe ideas.
📖 Recipe
The Best Pink Velvet Cake
Ingredients
Cake Layers
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 large egg whites room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon vinegar white or apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon pink gel food coloring
- 3 cups cake flour 345g
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¼ cup buttermilk room temperature
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 cups butter softened
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 6-7 cups powdered sugar
- 8 oz cream cheese softened for 10 minutes at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Pink gel food coloring
- Red gel food coloring
- edible glitter spray optional
Instructions
Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C). Grease three 8” round baking pans with a bit of cold butter and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine softened butter, oil, sugar, and salt. Beat with an electric mixer until lightened in color and increased in volume. Scrape down the bowl.¾ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup vegetable oil, 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Add half of the egg whites, blend, then the rest of the egg whites and blend. Beat until increased in volume and thick. Add vanilla extract and vinegar, blend.6 large egg whites, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon vinegar
- Add pink food coloring, one pea sized amount at a time until you get a pink color. It will lighten a bit after adding the flour so make it slightly darker than you’d like.¼ teaspoon pink gel food coloring
- Sift half of the cake flour, all of the baking powder, and all of the baking soda into the bowl with the batter. Add the buttermilk and fold with a whisk to incorporate. Sift the rest of the flour in and fold well with a whisk to break up most of the lumps to make a mostly smooth batter. Don’t overmix.3 cups cake flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 ¼ cup buttermilk
- Evenly divide the batter between the greased and lined baking pans. Smooth the batter tops and gently tap them on a counter to release any large air pockets. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs attached.
- Remove from the oven and let the layers cool for 8 minutes inside the pans. Loosen the edges with a spatula and turn them out onto cooling racks to cool completely.
- When cooled, use a serrated knife and a sawing motion to gently trim the edges, top, and bottom of the layers. Only trim the golden brown bits to give you clean, pink layers.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter with a paddle attachment until creamy and lightened in color.2 cups butter
- Add the salt and powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Beat well in between each addition and scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently. Whip until very creamy and light. The longer you whip, the creamier the frosting will be.¼ teaspoon sea salt, 6-7 cups powdered sugar
- Add pieces of cream cheese, blending well before adding the next. The frosting will become very light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat again.8 oz cream cheese, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Assembly
- Smear a small dollop of frosting onto a serving plate or cake stand. Place the first layer of cake down. Spread about ⅓ cup of frosting in an even layer on top. Continue until the last layer.
- Cover the stacked cake with a very thin layer of frosting all over the top and sides. Use a long metal spatula or cake scraper to help spread. Pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes to set and lock in the crumbs.
- While the crumb coat chills, work on dividing and coloring the remaining frosting. Transfer about 1 cup of frosting into a medium bowl (this is for the white piping) and color the remaining frosting a pale pink color.Pink gel food coloring
- Cover the cake with the pale pink colored frosting and smooth the sides and top. Set aside a third of the remaining frosting and add more red and pink food coloring into the rest of the frosting. This will be the darker pink piping color. You should have 3 colors in piping bags: white, pink, and dark pink.Red gel food coloring, Pink gel food coloring
- Transfer the white, pink, and darker pink frosting colors into three different piping bags. Use a large open star piping tip for the dark pink color. I used a Wilton 1M for the bottom border and embellishments, and a large drop flower tip for the top border. Use a small open star piping tip for the pale pink color, and for the white - I just cut the end off the piping bag to make a round tip. Pipe borders and swoops all along the edges and sides of the cake.edible glitter spray
Notes
- Use store-bought buttermilk for the best flavor and texture
- Use cake flour for the fluffiest cake layers
- Measure the flour properly with a scale
- Don't overmix the cake batter after adding flour
- Trim the cake layers from any brown bits before stacking and decorating
- Use full fat, brick style cream cheese for the frosting
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