Delicious black velvet cake with a smooth cream cheese frosting topped with fun sprinkles! This cake is the perfect Halloween treat.
I LOVE HALLOWEEN. And I also love cake. So I decided it was time to make a Halloween-inspired cake. But first things first – let’s talk about Black Velvet cake.
What is Black Velvet Cake?
It is NOT chocolate cake! Black Velvet cake is just a Halloween version of a classic Red Velvet Cake. Most people don’t know this, but Red Velvet Cake is just a lightly flavored chocolate buttermilk cake with a lot of red food coloring. The actual “red” part of this cake is not important in terms of flavor. So I decided to switch the colors up a little bit.
How do you get the cake so black?
A classic red velvet cake recipe uses cocoa powder. So instead of using the traditional cocoa powder, I used Hersey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder. This helped me get a much darker look. Then, I brought it the rest of the way with black food coloring.
Of course, then I topped it off with a Cream Cheese frosting (just like a classic red velvet cake) and then I added some Sweetapolita Sprinkles. Becuase we all know everything is better with sprinkles.
Tips for Success
- Use a Cake Leveler to make sure your layers are even. There is nothing worse than a lopsided or wonky cake due to domed or uneven layers.
- Make sure you use a Crumb Coat when you are icing this cake. Otherwise, you will end up with a bunch of black flecks in your icing – and nobody wants that.
- Choose sprinkles that pop! If you are going to go with orange frosting (like I did), I suggest using some variety of black and/or purple sprinkles.
Halloween is my favorite holiday. So if you are looking to make more than just this cake, I have listed some of my other Halloween recipes below!
Other Halloween Recipe Ideas
- Chocolate Spider Web Doughnuts
- Super Easy Witch’s Bark
- Monster Truffles
- Ghost Cake Pops
- Spooky Skull Oreos
I can’t wait for you to try them! Happy Baking!
BLACK VELVET CAKE
Ingredients
VELVET CAKE
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
CREAM CHEESE ICING
- 3/4 cup salted butter
- 9 oz cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- Orange Food Coloring
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 8" pans with non-stick spray and parchment at the bottom.
- In a medium bowl, whisk cake flour, salt, and cocoa - set aside.
- In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, mix sugar and canola oil until well combined.
- Add in eggs one at a time.
- Add food coloring and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until just combined.
- In a small bowl, mix baking soda and vinegar. Stir it into batter until combined.
- Pour batter into two prepared 8-inch pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Once they are done, place the cakes on a cooling rack until they come to room temperature.
- Once cooled, use a sharp knife to cut each cake into two layers.
For the icing:
- Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whip together butter and cream cheese on high speed until pale and fluffy.
- Mix in vanilla extract. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth, light and fluffy - about 3 minutes.
- Add orange food coloring and mix until combined.
