Rich Black Velvet Cake

This recipe makes a striking, moist, and deeply flavored dark chocolate cake, perfect for special occasions.

Category	Ingredient	Quantity	Notes
Dry Ingredients	All-Purpose Flour	2 cups	Sifted.
	Granulated Sugar	1 cup
	Unsweetened Cocoa Powder	½ cup	Use high-quality, non-Dutched cocoa for best flavor.
	Baking Soda	1 tsp
	Salt	½ tsp
Wet Ingredients	Buttermilk	1 cup	Room temperature.
	Vegetable Oil	½ cup
	Large Eggs	2 large	Room temperature.
	Vanilla Extract	1 tsp
	Distilled White Vinegar	1 tsp	Enhances the color and reacts with baking soda.
	Black/Red Food Coloring (Optional)	1-2 tsp	Paste or gel is best for deep color.
Frosting	Cream Cheese Frosting	As needed	About 3-4 cups total.
Garnish	Fresh Blackberries, Mint Leaves	As desired	(As shown in the image).

Prep & Preheat: Preheat your oven to $350^{\circ}\text{F}$ ( $175^{\circ}\text{C}$ ). Grease and flour two 8-inch or three 6-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper.
Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
Combine Wet Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and vinegar. Stir in the food coloring, if using, until the color is deep and uniform.
Mix Batter: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed (or by hand) until the batter is just smooth. Do not overmix. The batter will be thin.
Bake: Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool: Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes before inverting them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble: Once cooled, level the cake tops if necessary. Place one layer on a serving plate, spread with a layer of cream cheese frosting, top with the next layer, and repeat. Frost the sides and top of the cake.
Garnish: Drizzle with chocolate ganache (optional) and garnish with fresh blackberries and mint leaves.

Enjoy this spectacular Black Velvet Cake!