Red Velvet Loaf Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Easy homemade red velvet loaf cake with silky cream cheese frosting. A flavorful holiday dessert!
What screams Valentine’s Day more than hearts, and everything red and pink?! Red velvet is a classic cake flavor that screams holiday… whether it’s for Valentine’s Day or Christmas. Of course, don’t let the day of the year stop you from making this. If you’re craving an insanely delicious red velvet loaf cake in the middle of August, there’s nothing stopping you!
A lightly flavored chocolate cake with a pop of color and paired with the most delicious cream cheese frosting. It’s a guaranteed winner and a must make for any dessert… holiday or not!
Given that I already have red velvet recipes for a layer cake, cupcakes, cheesecake and even ice cream(!!) it only seemed right to finally share a red velvet loaf cake recipe.
Loaf cakes have become one of my new favorite things to make. They’re so simple and can often be enjoyed throughout the day. I’d argue that this is no exception to that, though it does lean a tad bit more in the dessert direction. But I won’t stop you from indulging in a slice for breakfast!
A perfectly moist and fluffy red velvet loaf cake with silky cream cheese frosting. How can you go wrong?! Be sure to add this fun treat to your baking plans asap!
Check below for troubleshooting tips, advice and how to make this super easy red velvet loaf cake!
How to Make the Red Velvet Loaf Cake
This loaf cake comes together quickly and with minimal effort! Follow the tips and tricks shared below for a successful bake!
- After preheating your oven, grease your loaf pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving overhang on at least two sides. If necessary, small binder clips may be used to assist with holding the parchment paper in place prior to baking.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine vegetable oil and sugars, followed by eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder and red liquid food coloring. Mix in flour, followed by milk. Lastly, in a small bowl, combine vinegar and baking soda. Immediately add to batter, mixing until just combined.
- Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan. Level off. Don’t forget to remove the binder clips!
- Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan on a cooling rack for roughly 45-60 minutes. Then, remove from the pan, keeping the parchment paper intact and transfer to a large gallon size bag to cool completely. This will help hold in the moisture.
- Ideally, you’ll want this loaf cake to cool 6-12 hours before frosting. If you bake it in the morning, you can frost it later in the day or wait until the next day.
- Remove your loaf cake from the gallon sized bag and carefully remove the parchment paper. Place on a cutting board or serving platter.
- Prepare frosting by beating together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in remaining ingredients. Frost as desired.
- Slice and serve!
- Store any remaining loaf cake in an airtight container for up to a week. For easy serving, you can slice the cake at once and place each slice on a small pieces of parchment paper or slice and serve as you go.
Check below this post for even more delicious recipes to make this season!
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Recipe tips and troubleshooting
Absolutely! If you prefer no frosting, you can skip entirely or use a simple glaze instead.
Use this glaze recipe, omitting the lemon and swapping it for milk and a splash of vanilla. Alternatively, you can also serve cream cheese frosting on the side, allowing your guests to choose with or without frosting!
This recipe is specifically written for a loaf pan and has not been tested in other pans. If you’re looking for other red velvet recipes, check these out: Red Velvet Cupcakes and Red Velvet Layer Cake
If you don’t have access to all purpose flour, you can typically substitute whole wheat white flour 1:1 with all purpose. The same applies with certain gluten free flours which state substitutions of a 1:1. Any other variety may need some adjustments with the flour amount used. Please note that I have not tested this recipe using other flours and cannot guarantee the results.
If that’s what you have available then absolutely give it a shot. It will give a bolder flavor and a darker color, but should work just fine as a 1:1 swap.
Yes and no. Baking is a science. This recipe works with the exact measurements listed. Altering one or several of those can cause the recipe to fail. If you’re familiar with baking substitutions, go for it! Outside of any alterations I’ve already mentioned, for specific substitution questions, ask in the comments below.
A 1lb loaf pan or roughly 9×5.
This will vary greatly depending on the thickness of your slices. This recipe will serve easily 8-12. If you want to stretch it even further, you can cut each slice in half, serving up to 16-24.
Absolutely! Cool completely and wrap well before freezing, omitting the frosting. If the frosting is desired, add it to the fully thawed loaf cake or offer it on the side.
Store at room temperature for up to several days in an airtight container. It may also be stored in the refrigerator and eaten chilled or brought to room temperature prior to serving.
You can absolutely enjoy it earlier, but I’ve found that this loaf taste better the next day and even better the next! This allows the moisture from the inside to softened the exterior again. Plan ahead and make this the day before you want to enjoy it.
A quick tip if you make this in the morning and want to enjoy the same day: once the loaf has cooled enough to be easily handled with bare hands, it can be placed inside of a gallon sized bag with. Remove as much of the air as possible around the loaf, wrapping it partly under, but do not completely seal the bag if the loaf is still warm. It may be sealed completely when the loaf has cooled entirely. This will speed up the time for the outside to soften again.
Red Velvet Loaf Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1/2 C vegetable oil
- 1/2 C granulated sugar
- 1/2 C light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Tbsp red liquid food coloring
- 1 3/4 C all purpose flour
- 1/2 C milk
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vinegar
Frosting
- 3 oz cream cheese , softened
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 C powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Lightly grease a 1lb loaf pan (9×5-inches) with baking spray. Liner prepared baking pan with parchment paper, leaving overhang on the two longest sides. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine vegetable oil with sugars. Mix in one egg at a time, followed by vanilla, salt, cocoa powder and red food coloring. Scrape your bowl as needed. Alternate additions of flour and milk. Lastly, in a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar. Immediately add to batter, mixing until just combined and no streaks remain.
- Transfer batter into prepared baking pan. Use a small offset spatula to level off the top.
- Bake at 350°F. for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Bake time may vary from one oven to the next. Begin checking around 55 minutes and continue monitoring.
- Cool in pan for 45-60 minutes. Using the parchment overhang, carefully pull up and outwards to remove the loaf from the pan. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely. The loaf (with parchment paper) may be placed in a gallon size bag to continue cooling after roughly the 2 hour mark out of the oven.
- When ready to frost, prepare your cream cheese frosting. In a medium bowl or stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Mix in butter and vanilla. Add spoonfuls of powdered sugar at a time, followed by milk.
- Frost loaf cake as desired. Slice and serve!
- Store remaining loaf cake in an airtight container for up to one week.
Notes
More delicious recipes to make this season:
- Marbled Valentine Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pink Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes with Chocolate Ganache
- Strawberry Glazed Valentine Donuts
- Mini Red Velvet Cheesecakes
Just made this for Valentine’s Day. 60 minutes was WAY too long and had to cut the top off as well as a slice on each side as it was crunchy. Frosted the remaining cake and think it will be ok. But will just make your wonderful pink velvet cupcakes next time!
Hi Mindy! I’m sorry you had trouble with the recipe. However, 60-65 minutes is the correct cooking time. This was tested many times to make sure the correct information was provided to my readers. As you may know, many loaf cakes will come out initially soft and then have the exterior firm up. This is why it’s mentioned in the ‘tips and troubleshooting’ and the ‘how to make the…’ section to place it in a gallon size bag to hold in the moisture and allow it to slowly cool and soften over several hours or overnight. It is also mentioned as an option in the recipe box itself. Next time, I’d recommend reviewing those sections to find any helpful information that may help in your baking journey.