This pink velvet cake is the perfect cake for a princess. Ok, even if you’re not a princess, you’ll love this tender and moist cake made from scratch.
The cake layers are a delicate pink with a soft crumb with vanilla flavoring and just a slight hint of lemon, then it’s all covered in a yummy cream cheese frosting. It’s the perfect homemade cake for a birthday party.
Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
So, I’m sure you’ve eaten red velvet cake and possibly have even heard of purple velvet cake. Now, some people will say that velvet cakes are just cakes with food coloring added in.
But that’s actually not completely accurate. Yes, velvet cakes do have food coloring in them, but they also generally use vinegar and red velvet cake has a bit of added cocoa powder in it. Oh and a lot of them use buttermilk as well.
By the way, if you’re interested in my red velvet cake, you can find it here. I use sour cream in that one and it’s so moist and so good.
So, back to my point…velvet cakes aren’t just regular cakes with food coloring and this pink velvet cake’s got way more going on than just pink food coloring.
I’m also loving the buttercream for this cake. It’s a yummy, vanilla and lightly lemon flavored cream cheese buttercream and it’s so addicting.
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LETS TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS IN THE PINK VELVET CAKE:
All purpose flour: We’re just going with all purpose flour here, so you don’t need to worry about going to the store and getting cake flour.
Lemon juice & vinegar Yes, we’re adding in a bit of lemon juice and vinegar. Don’t panic, the cake will NOT taste like vinegar. We’ll essentially be making buttermilk by adding the lemon juice to the milk and the vinegar just gives the cake some extra flavor.
Egg whites: We’re using egg whites because they won’t add as much yellow coloring as using whole eggs would. We don’t want the yellow competing with the soft pink color you’ll be adding. That would give you an orange cake.
Princess emulsion: Ok, this flavoring is what really makes this cake special. This emulsion is from LorAnn oils and you can get it here: Princess emulsion (If you can’t order it, I’ve included a substitution in the recipe card below. I don’t promise it’ll be exactly the same, but it will work in a pinch.) This emulsion is also really good for other cakes, icings, cookies and even in pancakes…there are multiple uses for it.
For the buttercream: This buttercream has a bit of tang to it because we’ll be adding cream cheese to it AND a bit of that princess emulsion.
Oh and I almost forgot the final touch! The sprinkles! I found these sprinkles on Amazon and they’re so pretty!
MIXING METHOD FOR THE PINK VELVET CAKE:
You’ll be using the reverse creaming method for this cake. So, instead of mixing up the sugar and butter upfront, you’ll be mixing your dry ingredients first, then adding in the butter to coat the dry mixture.
After that, you’ll add in your liquid ingredients. (Don’t worry, the video and recipe instructions will explain this.) It’s actually an easier process that the regular creaming method.
TIPS & FAQ’S FOR THE PINK VELVET CAKE:
- Use unsalted butter for the cake: You want unsalted, room temperature butter when you make the cake. Don’t allow your butter to get too warm though, or this particular mixing method won’t work as well.
- I don’t have princess emulsion, what can I substitute with? Princess Emulsion will taste best, but if you can’t get it, substitute with 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp almond extract and 1/2 tsp lemon extract.
- Do I have to add in the vinegar? The short answer is yes. You want to do that because it adds a little more flavor to the cake in addition to the fact that the cake recipe calls for baking soda and the vinegar is needed in the recipe for that.
- Do I have to add the pink food coloring? No, you don’t. It will still taste very good, but it just won’t be a ‘pink’ cake.
- Do I have to use both unsalted and salted butter in the buttercream? No, but it makes it really tasty if you can do that. You can use all unsalted butter if that’s what you have and then just add a pinch of salt.
- Do I have to color my icing pink? Nope! You can color it any color you like, or just leave it white.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. You can see links to my website policies in the footer.
SUPPLIES USED TO MAKE THE PINK VELVET CAKE & BUTTERCREAM:
- Glass batter bowl
- Princess Emulsion
- Pink Gel Food Coloring
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer or Handheld Mixer
- Flat Beater Attachment for stand mixer
- 8″ Round Cake Pans
- Cooling Racks
- Sprinkles
Ok, let’s get to the recipe!
**By the way, this recipe was developed and tested using volume measurements (cups etc.). I do this because most people are used to measuring, instead of weighing. You may use the metric converter button to see the weight (gram) measurements. Those numbers are estimates on weight. Your results may vary a bit if you use the weight measurements.
Scratch Pink Velvet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cup sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
- 1 1/2 cups milk (preferably whole milk)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola oil)
- 2 1/2 tsp princess emulsion (If you can't get this, substitute with 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp almond extract and 1/2 tsp lemon extract)
- 6 egg whites
- 3 drops red or pink gel food coloring (or about 3 drops red liquid food coloring)
- pink & mint sprinkles optional
For the buttercream:
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temp
- 1 cup salted butter (Room temp.) (Using half salted butter tastes better, but if you don't have it, just use unsalted here and add in a pinch of salt.)
- 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese (room temp)
- 7-8 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp princess emulsion (If you can't get this, substitute with 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp almond extract and 1/4 tsp lemon extract)
- 1-2 tbsp milk
- 2 drops of pink or red gel food coloring (optional)
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Grease and flour two 8" round (2" inch deep) cake pans and set aside.
- Add one cup of milk to a measuring cup and add in one tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In another bowl, add the milk & lemon juice mixture, another 1/2 cup of milk, the vinegar, oil, food coloring, princess emulsion (or extract) and egg whites. Whisk well and set aside.
- Make sure your butter is at room temperature. Add the butter (in chunks) slowly to your dry ingredients. (You can turn your stand mixer on low and leave it on while you add the butter chunks at a time, or you can use a hand mixer.)
- Turn the mixer up to medium and mix until all the flour is coated with the butter and the mixture is crumbly. It will have a sand-like texture.
- Pour in about a third of the liquid mixture. Mix on low to medium until just combined. About 15-20 seconds.
- Pour the last of the liquid mixture and mix again until combined. Don’t over mix the batter. Mixing it for several minutes is too long. Once all the ingredients are incorporated well, stop mixing.
- Use a rubber spatula and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix again for only about 10 to 15 seconds.
- Check the color, if it needs to be more pink, add in another drop or two of the gel food coloring. (The batter will need to be a bit brighter than you want the baked cake to be, since the cake will darken a bit and become more golden and may over power a super light pink color.)
- Mix until the food coloring is well incorporated, but be careful not to mix too long here, or it will affect your cake’s texture.
- Pour into prepared pans and bake at 325 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out with some crumbs on it.
- Set on wire racks to cool for 10-15 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto the racks and let them cool out of the pans completely before adding frosting.
- Once cooled, add buttercream.
For the buttercream:
- If you’re using a stand mixer, use the flat beater attachment to mix with. (If you don’t have a paddle attachment, just use the whisk attachment, or use a handheld mixer.)
- Cream the room temperature butter and cream cheese well for several minutes on medium speed. (If you’re not using any salted butter, go ahead and add in a pinch of salt here.)
- Add in three cups of confectioner’s sugar and beat on low until incorporated and then on medium until well mixed.
- Add one tablespoon of milk and beat until incorporated.
- Add the last four cups of confectioner’s sugar and beat on low, then on medium until well mixed.
- Add in the food coloring (optional) and the princess emulsion (or extracts), then beat on medium until well mixed.
- Now, check the consistency. If it’s too thick, add another tablespoon of milk. If it’s too thin, add another cup of confectioner’s sugar.
- Once you reach the consistency desired, beat on medium speed for about four to five minutes. The icing will fluff up and will lighten a bit in color.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
I hope you really enjoy this one!
GET THE FREE DESIGNED PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD FOR THE SCRATCH PINK VELVET CAKE PLUS THE PASSWORD TO THE RESOURCE LIBRARY. Just fill out the form below!
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I am getting ready to make this for the weekend. When do you mix the sugar in for the cake? I assume it is with the flour, but don’t see it mentioned? I only ask because the last cake I made using the reverse cream method, I forgot to add the sugar until the very end!
Tracy, thanks so much for bringing this to my attention! I totally forgot to add that you should add the sugar into the dry ingredients. Oh I’m so glad you caught that. I’ve corrected the recipe to reflect that. Thanks again!
ok perfect! That’s what I thought, but I figured I had better check. I am very excited to make this for my MIL’s bday brunch this weekend. I tested out the princess emulsion in pancakes last weekend and it was so good (although I put a little too much in).
Oh yeah that’s some good stuff. I love the combo of flavors in that emulsion. I hope everyone likes the cake!
Can this recipe be used to make cupcakes?
Hi Claire, yes this cake can be made into cupcakes. Here are the adjustments: Fill the cupcake wrappers just slightly over half full. Bake at 350 degrees instead of 325. Bake for about 25 minutes or so. You may have to bake a little longer, but start checking them around 20-25 minutes.
Lovely. Thank you ma
Hi! I’m totally going to make this for my pink-obsessed daughter’s birthday next month! Question…. could I just use buttermilk instead of the milk and vinegar… or is it best to do it with the vinegar? I love to bake and I just have a curious mind that wants to know why things are done. Thanks!! 🙂
Sarah, if you want to use buttermilk you can, but I would only replace one cup of the regular milk with buttermilk and then use 1/2 cup of regular milk. If you replace all the milk with buttermilk, the cake might be a little more dense. Also for this recipe I added in a little extra acid (by using both the lemon juice and the vinegar), so you could also add in another teaspoon or so of the lemon juice in addition to using the buttermilk if you’d like…then you’d get a little extra zing, which was what I was going for. 😉 I hope your daughter loves the cake!
Made this today. followed recipe exactly. It was delicious. Will make again and again. My only problem was with the frosting. Although the most fluffy and delicious frosting ever it was enough ice two Plus cakes! I will 1/2 the frosting recipe next time. Too many ingredients to waste. Otherwise a great, and all enjoyed recipe.
Arleen that’s so great! I’m so happy you liked the cake. Yes, I agree the icing recipe does make a lot…I’m one of those people that pile on the buttercream. lol! Thanks again for the great review of the cake! 🙂
Such a disappointment. The recipe was overly complicated (and I regard myself an experienced cook and baker!)
The cake was a good flavour (really liked the “princess emulsion recipe!” ) The sponge was dense and despite skewer coming out clean and the sponge bouncing-back it flattened and seemed underbaked (I even left it five minutes longer in the oven!)
Buttercream recipe volume was far too excessive and so I’ve enough to use with a second traditional sponge cake.
I won’t be using this recipe again!
Oh Jasmine, I’m so sorry you were disappointed with this one.
Can I make this in a 13×9 cake pan?
I have not baked this one in a 13×9 inch pan, but it should be just fine. You can bake it at the same temp, but it may not take as long. You’ll want to start checking it at about 30 minutes, but you may need to bake it a bit longer. It’s done when you stick a toothpick into the middle and it comes out with a few moist crumbs on it, but no batter.
I used this recipe for cup cakes today and let me tell you this is a really good recipe it is soooo good….especially with the princess emulsion….this cake is DEEElicous! Thank you so much!
Thanks so much! I’m so glad you liked it! 😊
WOW. I made this today, and her pink majesty rocked my world. Simply divine, and so good looking!
Melody, your comment won the day…Love it! And I’m so glad you liked it! 💖
Do you have a recipe for buttercream without cream cheese that could work well? Or how can I change this one up to opt for no cream cheese? Thanks in advance!
Yes I have just a plain vanilla buttercream recipe here: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/vanillabeanbuttercreamrecipe/
Awesome Information. Thank you for sharing your experience
Lol, I printed out the (no sugar in the method) recipe and being the baking novice that I am realized near the end and had to add it then. Well, that did result in over mixing I am guessing, because my cake was dense. I was making a birthday cake for myself during this virus distancing, so I didnt care too much. I had also used three six inch pans for a six layer cake, because I wanted to have a taller cake to decorate. I’m more a decorator than a baker, but I’m trying to teach myself the baking part. It would be nice to do both as much as it terrifies me…lol I put a flickr link in the website form show you the result. The cake tasted good. I also made Swiss Meringue butter cream instead since I prefer less sweet.
Hi Arlette, I’m sorry about the misunderstanding. The recipe does state to add the sugar in with the other dry ingredients, but maybe that was easy to look over. Anyway, I’m still glad that the cake came out ok although a bit dense. Glad it tasted good though!! I took a look at your cake and it’s super cute! It’s great for spring!
Hi Kara, yes, I eventually went back to check the recipe and saw it was updated…lol No worries, a more experienced cake baker would have caught it earlier. I’m in the live and learn phase 🙂 The other funny thing that happened was I used the marshmallow fluff in between the layers with raspberries, but the marshmallow separated and turned into syrup, which actually was a good thing, because it soaked into the cake making it more moist. I can’t imagine why that happened…hahaha.
Thanks for the compliment on my decor. I was trying using candy melts and practicing piping. Needs more practice for sure.
Thanks again for responding. I love your blog and recipes. You’re one of my top three bakers online that I learn so much from 🙂
God bless, Arlette
Thanks for the reply! That’s interesting what happened with the marshmallow fluff. Maybe the liquid from the raspberries broke down the marshmallow cream…not sure, but it sure sounds good!
Hi! I hope you are well.. I’m making this cake in celebration of my 45th birthday. I’d like to make it exactly the way you wrote it, but I wanted to know if it would be ok to use 3 6inch pans… I want a tall, but smaller cake…
Hi Jeannine…and happy 45th birthday! You can make this in 3, 6″ pans. The cake layers will be a bit thinner than if you’d baked it in 2, 8″ pans though, but it should be fine. You’ll need to bake them for less time as well. I don’t know the exact time, but I’d start checking at 25-30 minutes.
Thanks so much!
Hi! Im turning fifteen this month and im gonna try making this cake myself and i have a question regarding the butter. I cant really find unsalted butter here so can i just use regular salted butter and will it make a huge different?
Hi Vina, You can use the salted butter. I think it will be fine as long as you omit the other salt that the recipe calls for. Happy 15th birthday!