Red velvet cake made in the slow cooker, poured straight into a lined insert and finished with a pourable cream cheese glaze.
About two and a half hours, and it frees the oven entirely.
Why This Recipe Works
- Buttermilk, vinegar and baking soda are the actual chemistry of red velvet — the acid reacts with the soda for lift and gives the crumb its characteristic tang. The cocoa is only two tablespoons; this was never meant to be a chocolate cake.
- Hot coffee streamed in at the end blooms the cocoa and loosens the batter. Hot water does the same job if you would rather not use coffee.
- Oil rather than butter keeps the crumb moist for days. It also means no creaming stage, which is why the prep is fifteen minutes.
- A glaze rather than a frosting suits a cake that is served from the insert or straight off a rack — it goes on warm and needs no spreading.
No Crust, Nothing to Look At
A slow cooker will not brown a cake. Every cue an oven gives you — a domed golden top, edges pulling from the tin, the smell changing — is missing here, so the recipe replaces each of them.
Stage 1 of 4
Line
Steps 1–1 of 10
Parchment sling into a 5 to 6 quart insert, lightly greased. The insert is the tin, so this is the only release you get.
- Line the slow cookerLine a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker with a parchment sling, or foil, and lightly coat with cooking spray or butter.
Stage 2 of 4
Mix, and stop mixing
Steps 2–5 of 10
Dry whisked, wet whisked, combined only until a few streaks remain, then the hot coffee streamed in. The instruction to stop while streaks are still showing is doing real work — this batter has no oven spring to hide an overmixed crumb.
- Whisk the dry ingredientsIn a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt until well combined.
- Whisk the wet ingredientsIn a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla, vinegar and red food colouring until smooth.
- Combine, then add the coffeePour the wet into the dry and whisk just until a few streaks remain. Stream in the hot coffee or hot water and whisk gently until smooth — do not overmix.
- Fill the insertPour the batter in, scatter the mini chocolate chips over the top if using, and tap the insert gently to level it.
Stage 3 of 4
Cover with fabric, then the lid
Steps 6–7 of 10
A towel or a double layer of paper towels under the lid to catch condensation, then High for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or Low for 3 1/2 to 4. A toothpick with a few moist crumbs is the doneness test, because there is no colour to read.
- Cover with a towel, then the lidLay a clean kitchen towel or a double layer of paper towels over the slow cooker before putting the lid on, keeping the fabric away from the heating element.
- CookHigh for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or Low for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until a toothpick in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs. Rotate the insert once during cooking if your slow cooker has hot spots.
Stage 4 of 4
Sling out, cool, glaze
Steps 8–10 of 10
Lifted onto a wire rack and cooled 20 to 30 minutes before glazing. Cooling on a rack matters more here than for an oven cake — left in the hot insert it keeps cooking and steams its own base.
- Lift and coolUse the parchment sling to lift the cake onto a wire rack, and cool at least 20 to 30 minutes before glazing.
- Make the glazeBeat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, then mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and enough milk to reach a pourable consistency.
- Glaze and serveDrizzle the glaze over the warm cake, slice and serve.
Ingredient Notes
- Buttermilk and white vinegar
- A cup and a tablespoon respectively, both at work with the baking soda. This pair is what makes red velvet taste like red velvet rather than like a pale chocolate cake.
- Red food colouring
- Two tablespoons liquid or two teaspoons gel. Gel colours more strongly for less volume, which matters in a batter this wet.
- Hot coffee or hot water
- Half a cup, streamed in last. It deepens the cocoa without making the cake taste of coffee; hot water is an equal alternative.
- Neutral oil
- Three quarters of a cup of canola or vegetable. Oil keeps the crumb soft for several days in a way butter does not.
How to Make It
Line the slow cooker
Line a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker with a parchment sling, or foil, and lightly coat with cooking spray or butter.
Whisk the dry ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt until well combined.
Whisk the wet ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla, vinegar and red food colouring until smooth.
Combine, then add the coffee
Pour the wet into the dry and whisk just until a few streaks remain. Stream in the hot coffee or hot water and whisk gently until smooth — do not overmix.
Fill the insert
Pour the batter in, scatter the mini chocolate chips over the top if using, and tap the insert gently to level it.
Cover with a towel, then the lid
Lay a clean kitchen towel or a double layer of paper towels over the slow cooker before putting the lid on, keeping the fabric away from the heating element.
Cook
High for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or Low for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until a toothpick in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs. Rotate the insert once during cooking if your slow cooker has hot spots.
Lift and cool
Use the parchment sling to lift the cake onto a wire rack, and cool at least 20 to 30 minutes before glazing.
Make the glaze
Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, then mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and enough milk to reach a pourable consistency.
Glaze and serve
Drizzle the glaze over the warm cake, slice and serve.
Success Tips
- Stop mixing while streaks still show, then let the coffee finish the job.
- Use the towel. Condensation dripping onto an unbaked cake surface leaves wet patches that never set.
- Test with a toothpick, not by looking. There is no colour to judge.
- Get the cake out of the hot insert as soon as it is done, or it keeps cooking.
Serving Ideas
Warm with the glaze poured over, straight from the rack. It needs nothing else, though it takes well to being served alongside plain cream if you want to cut the sweetness.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Keep covered at room temperature up to 2 days, or refrigerate up to 5 once glazed, since the glaze is cream cheese based.
Freeze
Freeze the unglazed cake up to 2 months, wrapped well. Thaw at room temperature and glaze fresh — the glaze takes five minutes and freezes poorly.
Reheat
Individual slices warm well for a few seconds in a microwave, which softens the crumb again. The whole cake is best served at room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I leave out the red colouring?
The cake will taste exactly the same — the colour is doing no structural work. It will come out a pale brown rather than red, so it stops looking like red velvet, but nothing else about the recipe changes.
The centre was still wet at two and a half hours.
Usually a deeper batter than the recipe assumes, which happens in a smaller insert, or a slow cooker that runs cool. Keep going and test again every twenty minutes. Rotating the insert helps if yours has hot spots.
What if I have no buttermilk?
There is no substitute in this recipe. If you improvise one, keep the vinegar in the recipe as written — it is a separate ingredient doing its own job with the baking soda, not a stand-in for the buttermilk's acidity.
