Red Velvet Bundt Cake
I began exploring the world of bundt cakes this past fall, and decided to play around with a red velvet bundt cake recipe this winter.
I’d made red velvet cupcakes, red velvet layer cake, and it was time for a red velvet bundt cake. It took me longer than I expected to get this one right, though.
I experimented with cake flour and all-purpose flour, oil and butter, and no filling vs. cream cheese filling. In the end, I feel like I finally got it right.
This red velvet bundt cake is extremely moist, swirled with a cream cheese filling, and completely slathered in a cream cheese glaze.
I love that each component of this recipe comes together pretty easily. The entire recipe can be made with a stand mixer/hand mixer or by hand with a whisk.
The Cream Cheese Ribbon / Filling
While I love red velvet cake, I equally love the cream cheese frosting that usually comes with it.
It’s a huge component of anything red velvet in my mind. I felt like having an entire bundt cake of just red velvet cake wasn’t right.
That’s why there’s a thick ribbon of cream cheese/cheesecake-inspired goodness that swirls throughout this bundt cake.
Not only does this really elevate the flavor of this bundt cake, but it also gives each slice a gorgeous cross-section.
I think it’s an absolute must! However, if you don’t love cream cheese as much as I do, you can omit it.
If you choose to skip it, your bundt cake will bake up slightly shorter than mine, and it will bake a bit more quickly.
Giving This Red Velvet Bundt Cake Some Color
When you make anything red velvet, you expect it to have that gorgeous, deep red color when you cut in. I’ve found that it’s a lot easier to achieve that using gel food coloring.
I prefer Americolor’s super red gel food coloring, but any gel food coloring will work! If you don’t have gel food coloring on hand, you can also use liquid food coloring.
I’ve found that you need to use an entire bottle of liquid food coloring to get the deep red color, so be sure you have a full bottle if you go this route.
Or if you’d prefer to naturally color your red velvet cake, you can always use a little beetroot powder!
You can swap out the red gel food coloring for 1 Tbsp of beetroot powder. I know it sounds crazy, but it doesn’t really impact the flavor of the cake.
The color of the cake won’t be quite as vibrant, but it will still be red!
What Type of Bundt Pan Should I Use?
The final component of this red velvet bundt cake recipe is the pan you use. That’s the fun of making a bundt cake! Its shape is solely reliant on the pan it bakes in.
I think most people have their tried and true bundt pans, and I totally respect that. They’re those iconic curved pans we grew up with, with short grooves and fluted edges.
This recipe will work great in just about any bundt pan, as long as it has a capacity of at least 10 cups. Any 10-inch bundt pan should be able to hold this much batter.
To make this bundt cake, I used my Nordic Ware heritage bundt pan, which has deep, beautiful grooves.
One word of advice! If you use a bundt pan with a fun design or deep grooves, be sure you butter and flour it SUPER WELL before adding your batter. You can also grease the pan with homemade cake release.
Make sure you get a thin layer of butter (or you HEAVILY spray non-stick baking spray) into every nook and cranny.
It sounds dramatic, but you’ll thank yourself later when your gorgeous bundt cake pops right out of the pan.
Tips to Make The Best Red Velvet Bundt Cake:
- Be sure to mix your cake batter just until the ingredients are incorporated; this will ensure your cake turns out tender and fluffy
- Use red gel food coloring to give your cake a vibrant, deep red color
- Bake time can vary a lot based on your bundt pan, so keep an eye on your cake and check in every 5 minutes once it’s been in the oven for 55 minutes.
- Be sure you butter and flour your bundt pan really well, to help your bundt cake pop out easily once it’s baked.
- Use a serrated knife to level the bottom of your bundt cake once it’s fully cooled, to help it sit flat on your cake stand or plate.
How To Store This Red Velvet Bundt Cake:
Sadly, this cake cannot be left out at room temperature because of the cream cheese and heavy cream in the glaze!
However, it can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days if you make it in advance or have leftovers.
It can also be frozen (frosted or unfrosted) for up to 1 month if stored in an airtight container.
Let Me Know What You Think!
If you try this red velvet bundt cake recipe, I’d love to hear what you think of it!
Please leave a rating, and let me know your thoughts by sharing a comment.
Red Velvet Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Red Velvet Bundt Cake
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 325 grams
- 2 cups granulated sugar 400 grams
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted 6 grams
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 9 grams
- 1 tsp fine salt 6 grams
- 2 large eggs, room temperature 113 grams
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature 228 grams
- 1 cup vegetable or canola oil 224 grams
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 8 grams
- 1 tsp white vinegar 4 grams
- 1 tsp red gel food coloring
Cream Cheese Ripple Filling
- 1 cup cream cheese, room temperature 8 oz, 226 grams
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 56 grams
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100 grams
- 1 large egg, room temperature 56 grams
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 4 grams
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour 16 grams
Cream Cheese Frosting Glaze
- 1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature 4 oz, 113 grams
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature 114 grams
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 3 grams
- 2 cups powdered sugar 250 grams
Instructions
Cream Cheese Ripple Filling
- Make the cream cheese filling first! Beat together the cream cheese and unsalted butter with a whisk attachment of a stand mixer or a hand mixer until smooth and creamy. If you don’t have an electric mixer, you can mix this by hand with a whisk.
- Add in the granulated sugar, and mix on a medium speed.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla extract, and mix on medium speed until fully incorporated.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Mix in the flour on a low speed.
- Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
Red Velvet Bundt Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 10 inch bundt pan (with 10 cup capacity), being sure to get into all the nooks and crannies of your bundt pan to ensure an easy release.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt) in a large bowl, and set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract, vinegar, and red gel food coloring. Don’t worry if it looks a bit separated, it’ll come together as we add the dry ingredient.
- Fold in half of the the dry ingredients, until only a few streaks of flour are visible. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix the batter.
- Pour 1/2 of the batter into the pan, and add the cream cheese ripple filling. Top with the remaining cake batter.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. My bundt pan took about 60 minutes.
- Allow the pans to cool for a couple hours, until the cake reached room temperature.
- Once cooled, use a serrated knife to level the bottom of the cake. Save the scraps and crumble them with a fork to decorate the cake later.
- Carefully invert the pan, and flip the cake onto the plate or cake stand you plan to serve the cake on.
Cream Cheese Frosting Glaze:
- While the bundt cake bakes and cools, make the cream cheese frosting glaze.
- Add the heavy cream and cream cheese into a medium-sized bowl, the mix together until smooth.
- Mix in the vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract.
- Stir in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Mix until smooth.
To Decorate This Red Velvet Bundt Cake:
- Drizzle the cream cheese glaze over the ridges of the bundt cake, covering as much of the cake as possible.
- Sprinkle the red velvet cake crumbs on top of the glaze, and enjoy!
About to make this! Any idea how it would come out in a pan with mini bundts? Thanks!
That’s awesome! Most mini bundt pans hold about 1 cup in each mini bundt indent, and this recipe makes about 9 cups of batter. I’d say it’ll make 8-10 mini bundts, depending on you pan. Hope that helps, happy baking Jenna!!
I made this cake tonight and it was super moist!! Absolutely amazing. I’m always hesitant about making cakes from scratch but this one is a winner. ?
Side note: I used Wilton gel food coloring and the color of my cake came out super odd. Next time I’ll be sure to try the one you suggested.
So happy to hear that Krystal!
And yes, I love wilton but their red food coloring doesn’t do it for me. Americolor all the way!! 🙂
I made this but seemed to have an abundance of cream cheese swirl filling. Were we not supposed to use it all?
Hi Jenn,
Is there a chance your bundt pan might have been smaller than mine? did you fill your bundt pan to the top?? Did you decide to not add all of the filling because it seemed like a lot?
I found that adding the full amount of the filling gave me a thick, pretty swirl and filled my 10 cup capacity bundt pan to the top using both the filling and the regular batter.
@Chelsweets, The recipe says 18oz of cream cheese that’s probably where she went wrong
hi!!! I made this tonight and I love it!!! Tastes amazing but I’m still building my baking skills so I def went wrong somewhere haha The cake fell apart a bit for me, mostly because I didn’t grease it enough – rookie mistake. But overall amazing recipe!!! If I was to make mini bundt cakes, how long would you suggest baking it for?
Hi Paulina,
Bundt pans can be a pain like that sometimes!! haha they definitely need a ton of non stick spray 😛 I would recommend baking mini bundt versions of these for 20-25 minutes. Hope that helps, happy baking!
Made these as mini bundts for valentines and they were super yummy! Thanks for another great bundt recipe!
Yay!!! That is so awesome to hear Shari 🙂 Thank you!!
Can I expedite cooling time by putting the bundt pan in the fridge once it is semi cooled? cant wait to try it out! making for my husbands birthday
Hi Meg,
You sure can! I actually pop my pan into the freezer usually because I’m impatient 😛 I hope the cake turned out great and that your husband had a wonderful birthday!!
I have never seen cocoa baking powder. And thats all the cocoa it needs?
Hi Alba,
it just unsweetened cocoa! It’s usually in the baking section of grocery stores. Red velvet cakes have just a hint of chocolate, which is why the amount included in this recipe is so small. Hope that helps, happy baking!
I made this cake today and it turned out great!! Do I let it sit out room temp the next day since it has to be put into the fridge?
So happy to hear that! Sadly this cake cannot be left out at room temperature because of the cream cheese and heavy cream in the glaze!
If you make it in advance or have leftovers, it can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
It can also be frozen (frosted or unfrosted) for up to 1 month if stored in an airtight container.
Hope that helps, happy baking!
I made this cake today in a 12 cup Bundt pan and it overflowed in the oven. Maybe next time I will try only using half of the cream cheese filling.
Hi Char,
I’m surprised to hear that! What shape and brand of pan are you using??
I made this recipe today…. I made it in mini Bundt tins 2.25 cup capacity…… I put 0.75 cup red batter 0.75 cheese batter and 0.75 red batter on top, it all meshed into one and I didn’t get the beautiful colouring…. I suppose I need a bigger Bundt tin? Or should I try a different ratio?
Hi Jahima,
It’s definitely harder to get a proper ripple unless you use a full sized bundt pan! If you try making mini ones again, I’d suggest using a bit less filling, maybe 1/2 or 1/4 cup per little bundt cake. Hope that helps, happy baking!
Hey girl! So the red velvet cake part comes out clean on a toothpick but the cream cheese/cheesecake filling did not. I left it in the oven for 65-70 min. Is this normal and would it still be safe to eat? Thank you!
Hi Sopa,
That’s fine, that happens to mine sometimes too! as long as the filling isn’t like straight liquid, it should be just fine to eat! I have in the past when it’s not totally firm and have been fine 🙂 Hope that helps, happy baking!
I’m making this cake now and I bought the same Bundt pan that you used and it’s overflowing. Are you sure the cream cheese filling measurements are correct? In the video it looks like you only used one package of cream cheese.
Hi , I would like to make this recipe either in a 6 in or 8 in pan. How many layers will it give me with the amounts given for the original recipe, I am trying to make a 4 layer cake. Thanks
Hello, I was hoping you could help. I’d really love to make this cake, only thing is, I’m not a big fan of cream cheese, so I was wondering if I could replace the cream cheese filling for vanilla cake? And if so, what would be the measurements for a vanilla cake filling. Thank you.
Yea look at the grams next to 18oz, it matches the grams shown on an 8oz package of cream cheese. It’s an error and where a lot of these mistakes are coming from.
Don’t know if you’ll see this, but I did notice that there was an error in the measurements for the cream cheese. It said 18 oz in parentheses, when it is only to be 8 oz (226 g). Simple typo. But that may be why some people have the overflowing issues.
Hi there! I’m trying to make a “blue velvet” cake for a snow flake bunt pan. Do you think this recipe with different color of food coloring would still work???
Thank you!!!
@Kylie, did you end up using blue food coloring in this bundt cake. I am planning to do the same..
Going to make this soon and realized why people are getting confused about the cream cheese filling. 1 cup =8oz not 18oz(as posted). Can’t wait to try it.
Hi! Just made this Bundt red velvet cake as I always wanted to try making red velvet cake. Can’t wait for the family to comment. It was so easy to make. Will try to post pic somehow
Made today – fantastic! One note: the cream cheese ripple says “1 c. Cream cheese (18oz)”. ?
I divided the recipe by half, weighed all ingredients in grams, and it worked BEAUTIFULLY for a 4 cup tube pan. I don’t like frosting so I omitted the glaze and was pleased by the level of sweetness in the plain cake; I think that the frosting would be nice without being too sweet. Cake still moist and tasty days later (left unrefrigerated).
This is my go-to from now on!
I’ve made this cake before, and as far as I know, it came out amazing (it was gifted to someone). Well, this time, as I’m making it, I’m an idiot, and didn’t go with my gut. I used all EIGHTEEN OUNCES OF CREAM CHEESE!
So I guess we will see what happens. I put a cookie sheet underneath my pan to hopefully catch any overflow. And am going to hope beyond hope that it isn’t a total bust. Otherwise, I’m gonna be remaking it. Paaaaleasee fix the measurements. I always go by weights when they are there, and that one really screwed me.
could this be made cupcakes?
Hi Dana,
I haven’t test it as that, but I have a great red velvet cupcake recipe that I totally recommend! Here’s the link: https://chelsweets.com/red-velvet-cupcakes-with-buttermilk/
Hope that helps, happy baking!
Hi!
If I wanted this cake to be blue, would I just need to use blue gel food coloring (as opposed to red)..?
Thanks!
Hi Kim,
That is exactly what I’d recommend to make a blue velvet cake using this recipe 🙂 Happy baking!
@Chelsweets, Awesome, thank you!^^ I made this for an annual party; wound up using Wilton blue gel food coloring and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour. The resulting cake got so much priase, the host wants me to make it again next year! 😀
Hi Kim,
I am so happy to hear that 🙂 YAY!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
I cannot wait to dig into this. I wish I could submit a picture, but this came out perfection! I have used so many of your recipes and none of them have failed me. I cant say thank you enough for your work into the recipes you provide on your site!
This cake was AMAZING!!
It took a little over an hour to bake in our oven, and it was even better the day after making it once the leftovers chilled in the fridge. The cream cheese ribbon literally tasted like cheesecake. Delicious.
Thank you so much for the recipe! We will definitely make this one again.
Hi Kylie,
So so happy to hear you loved this recipe and that it turned out great 🙂 Thank you for sharing!!!