Ae you ready for slow cooker red velvet cake! Red velvet cake of course is a rich chocolate cake with a vibrant red colour, and this recipe has an easy vanilla buttercream icing which takes minutes to make.
As usual for my slow cooker cakes, this cake is made from scratch, no box mix here.
I find there’s no need to use one of those expensive cake mixes when you can make it so easily yourself with basic store cupboard ingredients!
Red colour
To achieve the red colouring for the sponge cake you will need to use a red gel colour or paste for baking.
Make sure you don’t use just normal food colours in the little bottles, those are not vibrant enough and usually not bake stable.
Sometimes you will get a deep reddy brown colour in the cake, as in my cake here, rather than a vivid red. This is the combination of the cocoa powder and colour.
If you are aiming for a really bright red colour then use a little more of the red gel colour next time. I find it is best to use a little as you can get away with though as otherwise the colour can leave a taste in the cake.
You can also use natural colourings such as beetroot if you prefer to keep it natural. But the colours might not be so intense.
Slow cooker baking
So have you baked a cake in your slow cooker before?
Check out my posts on baking in the slow cooker and also making a cake in the slow cooker for loads of tips and tricks for baking in a slow cooker, plus loads more recipes to try out.
If you can’t bake for toffee in an oven and are always burning things or your cakes don’t rise, try it in a slow cooker and marvel at what you can achieve!
Your slow cooker uses less electricity than your oven as well, so you’ll save a few pennies by not turning on your main oven.
Cakes based on buttermilk or yoghurt (as used here) stay really moist and so work well in the slow cooker.
My slow cooker Baileys chocolate cake is also based on buttermilk, as is my slow cooker Creme egg cake!
You can serve this cake scooped straight from the bowl for a delicious pudding with custard or cream, or slice it and fill and top it with buttercream as a standard cake.
The sweet vanilla icing just sets off the rich flavour of the cake perfectly.
Try this recipe for slow cooker red velvet cake from scratch and you won’t use a box mix again!
Ingredients
Here’s what you will need for this recipe – get the quantities in the recipe card below.
- butter
- caster sugar
- eggs
- self-raising flour
- red gel colouring (bake stable)
- natural yoghurt
- vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- cocoa powder
- icing sugar
- milk
Method
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, stir in the colouring, yogurt and vanilla extract. Fold in the flour and cocoa powder.
- Butter your crock pot and line with grease proof paper or a large cake case.
- Cook on high for approx 1.5 to 2 hrs until a skewer comes out clean. Put a tea towel under the lid to catch moisture during cooking.
- Remove from the slow cooker and allow to cool completely.
- To make the icing, use a hand mixer to mix the butter or margarine until it is soft an fluffy.
- Add the icing sugar bit by bit, mixing until each part is fully combined. Once you have added all the icing sugar, continue to mix for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla bean paste (this adds wonderful vanilla speckles to the icing) and milk and mix again until fully combined and still light and fluffy.
- Split the cooled cake, and fill with buttercream and spread a layer on top.
- Serve and enjoy!
Also check out my recipe video for this recipe within the post.
Recipe
Slow Cooker Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 100 g (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 155 g (¾ cups) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 2 medium free-range eggs
- 175 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) self-raising flour
- red gel colouring I used about 3 tsp
- 200 g (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) Greek style natural yogurt I used fat free
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 30 g (¼ cup) cocoa powder
For the icing:
- 100 g (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) unsalted butter (or margarine) at room temperature
- 200 g (1 ¼ cup + 2 tbsp) icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 0.5 tsp (½ tsp) milk
Video
Instructions
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, stir in the colouring, yogurt and vanilla extract. Fold in the flour and cocoa powder.100 g unsalted butter, 155 g caster sugar (superfine sugar), 2 medium free-range eggs, 175 g self-raising flour, red gel colouring, 200 g Greek style natural yogurt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 30 g cocoa powder
- Butter your crock pot and line with grease proof paper or a large cake case.
- Cook on high for approx 1.5 to 2 hrs until a skewer comes out clean. Put a tea towel under the lid to catch moisture during cooking.
- Remove from the slow cooker and allow to cool completely.
- To make the icing, use a hand mixer to mix the butter or margarine until it is soft an fluffy.100 g unsalted butter (or margarine)
- Add the icing sugar bit by bit, mixing until each part is fully combined. Once you have added all the icing sugar, continue to mix for a few minutes until light and fluffy.200 g icing sugar
- Add the vanilla bean paste (this adds wonderful vanilla speckles to the icing) and milk and mix again until fully combined and still light and fluffy.1 tsp vanilla bean paste, 0.5 tsp milk
- Split the cooled cake, and fill with buttercream and spread a layer on top.
- Serve and enjoy!
Jane Saunders says
Wow, I’m impressed by all the desserts I keep coming across that can be made in slow cookers (and instant pots) but a good, classic cake like this is a real keeper of a recipe. It looks super moist.
Lucy Parissi says
Oh now, cake made in the slow cooker sounds like a great idea to me. This cake is calling my name.
Mandy says
Wow Lucy – is there anything you can’t make in a slow cooker?!? I haven’t had red velvet cake for ages – this has made me really want to make one!
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Mandy! I hear beetroot powder is a great way to get the colour naturally with veggies!!
Kellie@foodtoglow says
It looks incredibly tempting and so easy too. I’ve got a big jar of beetroot powder to try this with. Pinned !
bakingqueen74 says
Ooh yes that sounds ideal to get an amazing red colour naturally!
Sara | Belly Rumbles says
I’ve never thought of cooking a cake in a slow cooker before. I really need to give this a go.
bakingqueen74 says
It’s really fun, you should definitely try it one day!
Angela Roberts says
This is the cake we make every Christmas. It looks so delicious and perfect frosting.
bakingqueen74 says
Oh yes brilliant for Christmas!
Mary says
Hi
this looks so interesting but bsically Red Velvet cake these days is a red coloured chocolate cake, whereas originally it used beetroot. Have you ever tried cakes with vegetbles in, in the slow cooker. if so, how did they turn out.
Love the blog