Soft, moist, easy pink velvet cake recipe from scratch, homemade with simple ingredients. Paired with strawberry frosting and fresh strawberries. Perfect for Valentine's Day.
I am sure all of you know about a red velvet cake but feast your eyes on this pink velvet cake now! This is the most romantic cake ever and it's one of my most popular Valentine's day cakes, just like my Moist Red Velvet Cake. By the way, many people don't realize that red velvet cake is not just a red colored vanilla cake. It's actually a red colored vanilla cake batter with a hint of chocolate. Over the years, these cakes have given rise to other types of velvet cakes. These new versions are simply vanilla cakes in different colors or at least that's my understanding. The one I am sharing today is a pink iteration or some people like to call it a pink sponge cake recipe. For more pink themed treats check out this Pink Desserts {Valentine’s Day Desserts}.
UPDATE: I shared this pink velvet cake recipe a few years ago but it did not have pictures of the slices and those have been added now.
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Table of contents
What is Pink Velvet Cake? Does it Have Cocoa Powder?
It's a soft and moist buttermilk cake that is pink in color and frosted in pink buttercream icing. It has a very light and airy texture, and does not contain cocoa powder.
How to Make Easy Pink Velvet Cake Recipe From Scratch?
- Cream butter and sugar- Until light and fluffy.
- Mix in wet ingredients- Including eggs, vanilla and buttermilk.
- Whisk dry ingredients- Mix into the wet mixture.
- Bake- Let it cool.
- Frost it- Then, decorate with strawberries and coconut. Enjoy!
How to Color Batter Pink?
You can do this by adding pink gel food coloring or a little bit of red food coloring into the batter and mixing well. I suggest using gel food coloring instead of liquid food coloring since the color is stronger and you don't have to add as much as the liquid variety.
Variations for Pink Cake
Make cupcakes- Instead of a cake, you can use this recipe to make 24 cupcakes.
Make a cake roll- You can bake this cake in a flat cookie pan, and it will be enough to make 2 rolls.
Try another frosting- I think the best icing or best frosting for this cake is strawberry frosting but my family and friends love it with Cream Cheese Frosting. You could even use Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting if you prefer.
Use a cake mix- I recently saw pink velvet cake mix boxes at my local grocery store, but I think they might be seasonal and they are probably not available all year. If you can find them, you can use them to make this cake or even cookies. I haven't tried them and don't know how they taste though.
Add other fillings- Such as Homemade Vanilla Custard {Easy}, How to Make Homemade Stabilized Whipped Cream, or even Chocolate Whipped Cream {3 Ingredients}.
Make it cherry flavored- Use Maraschino Cherry Frosting {Pink}, and use How to Make Cherry Pie Filling between the layers.
Tips and Techniques for Valentine’s day Heart Cake
Do not replace buttermilk with regular milk- Because it adds a lot of moisture to this cake and a very subtle tanginess.
Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature- Because this ensures they blend together properly and smoothly.
Don't frost the cake until it has fully cooled down- Because otherwise the cake will crumble and frosting will melt.
What to do with leftover cake? You can also use leftover cake or cake scraps to make Cake Pops and Cake Balls or Cake Truffles.
Homemade buttermilk substitute- Simply add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a 1 cup measuring cup. Then, fill the remainder of the cup with whole milk. Stir the mixture gently and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
Don't over-mix cake batter- Because it will make the cake dense and tough.
Don't over- bake cake- Because the edges and tips will start to brown.
What size pan to use? Pour this batter into a greased/floured heart pan (Dimensions 8x3). You can also use two round 8x2 pans if you don't want to make a heart cake.
Storage of Homemade Cake
Room temperature- This can be left out for 2-3 hours away from direct heat and moisture.
Refrigerate- In a sealed container for 2-3 days.
Freeze- Baked cakes and frosting can be stored in individual containers for up to 1 month. When you are ready to enjoy this cake, thaw to room temperature and assemble, as per instructions below.
More Valentine's Day Cakes
- Love Letter Cake (Mini)
- Raspberry Mousse Cake
- Easy Cake Tower
- Easy Love Cake
- Pink Buttercream Ruffle Cake
- Cupcake Bouquet (Flower)
- Rosette Cake (Buttercream)
- Kit Kat Cake (With Strawberries)
Recipe
Pink Velvet Cake (From Scratch)
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Ingredients
Cake
- 2½ cups All-purpose flour
- 1¼ cups Granulated sugar
- 1 cup Butter Unsalted
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- 3 Eggs Large
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
- Pink gel coloring
- 1½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
Filling, Frosting, Decoration
- 2 cups Fresh strawberries Washed, Cut into small pieces, Patted dry with paper towels
- 2 cups Strawberry frosting
- 1 cup Coconut Shredded
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar and cream together until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, vanilla extract, buttermilk, pink gel coloring and mix until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
- Dump this dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until smooth. Do not over-mix!
- Pour this batter into a greased/floured heart pan (Dimensions 8x3). You can also use two round 8x2 pans if you don't want to make a heart cake.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool completely.
- Cut it in half lengthwise and fill it with strawberry frosting and top it off with some strawberry pieces. Place the other half of the cake on top of the strawberries.
- Frost your entire cake with strawberry frosting.
- Cover the sides of the cake with finely shredded coconut.
- Use Tip 1M (star tip) to pipe the top of your cake and the cake board.
- Add more strawberries on top of the cake and sprinkle some coconut. Enjoy!
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- I highly recommend sifting the flour because it makes the cake more airy and soft.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Belinda Chiu
How beautiful is this cake!! Sweet...can't believe another Hallmark day!
Olga
It's absolutely astounding. I don't think I'd dare to eat it. It's way too pretty!
I Wilkerson
This cake is absolutely beautiful. What a perfect Valentine's Day dessert. BTW, I expect to post about making the pot de creme heart decorations on Tuesday...
Elizabeth
Yes! I recently made a pink velvet cake for V-day as well...great minds think alike! I love the idea of pairing it with strawberry frosting--because it doesn't have a strong flavor itself, I imagine it works perfectly with a berry flavor. And the decorations are gorgeous!
Asmita
Beautiful as always Abeer. Love all your cakes!
RavieNomNoms
Gorgeous, as usual!
Layla
I can't even explain how good this cake looks!! This is like the perfect Valentine's Day Cake. YUM!
Uru
I am so sorry I have not visited in so long, But I have been keeping up with your posts on Facebook.
This cake looks simply beautiful!
Liz
This has got to be one of the prettiest cakes you've made...and you make a TON of gorgeous cakes!!! I love the idea of pink velvet
Denise Browning
This is one of the most gorgeous cakes that I have ever seen. I love your blog! It is full of great treats and useful tips! Way to go...
dina
it looks beautiful!
Michelle
My daughter found your cake on Pinterest and requested it for her birthday yesterday. I have to say it was SO good and was a huge success. She's not a coconut fan, so I used powdered sugar on the sides instead. My husband said it was one of the best cakes I've ever made.
Thank you for posting this great recipe and decorating idea. We all loved it!
Abeer Rizvi
Yayyyy! I am soooo happy to hear that! My little one isn't too fond of coconut either. So, I sprinkle white chocolate shreds all over the cake for him. Thanks for your lovely message... it made my day!
melanie W
I am currently making this right now, but I noticed after the fact that the instructions do not indicate when you add the vanilla extract and the coloring that are listed on the ingredient list. Really hoping this cake works out, it looks really good.
Yummy
I LOVE Red Velvet Cupcakes....so this is certainly going in my list of cakes to make!!
Abeer Rizvi
This cake is a little different than red velvet cake since there is no cocoa powder but it's still very tasty. Let me know how you like it
Ashley
Such a beautiful cake! I'm planning to make this for my mom this coming mothers day, but I only have a 8 inch cake pan. Should I go on with the original recipe, or do you think I should alter it? Also, is this cake suitable as a layer cake?
Abeer Rizvi
Awwww... that's so sweet. Your mom is going to love this cake! This cake works great as a layered cake. I would use two 8 inch cake pans so that it's easier to layer them on top of one another. But, if you want to make a taller layered cake, you will have to make this cake twice (Sorry... I m not too fond of doubling recipes. They always backfire for me...lol!)
Joann
I am new to these velvet cakes.. question..is it considered a velvet cake without the use of cocoa powder?
Abeer Rizvi
The only true velvet cake is red velvet since it uses cocoa powder. When we make any other color of velvet cakes, they are just "knock offs"...lol. I think people just call them velvet because they are really soft like the velvet material