I'm looking for a great recipe for red velvet. I've been searching some. Some are too dry. One tasted like lemon. Does anyone have a recipe that is really good and moist.
I have a wedding to do this weekend. I have made 3 this week so far to test them out. I'm so glad I did. Some of them were HORRIBLE!!!!! Thank you so much!

I use Duncan Hines Red Velvet and add 1 box of white chocolate (or milk chocolate) pudding mix, 4 large eggs, 1 c. water, 1/3 cup of oil. It gets rave reviews and it's a beautiful shade of red when cut.

I know mixes aren't everyone's cup of tea, but my experience with scratch red velvet (at a wedding with a cake from a high end bakery) is that it was dry and bland.

Rae

Here is another recipe for Red Velvet Cake you might want to try also. It is from Jean Pare's Company's Coming Millenium Edition Cookbook. You can pipe the icing through your icing bags and tips and it is wonderful to work with. This is the true Red Velvet Cake Icing - although many folks do use cream cheese icing on it. At least from what I have heard, but what do I know, haha! This is a Southern U.S. cake.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cocoa
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter or hard margarine like Parkay or Imperial squares, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 ounces red food colouring - most folks use the old vegetable food colourings like you use to colour Easter Eggs, but you could go with food paste colours
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. white vinegar

Method:
Cake
Cream butter or margarine until softened and add sugar and continue creaming on low. Add eggs, one at a time. Add food colouring and vanilla. In separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, cocoa and add this mixture alternately with the buttermilk, to the other mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. In a small cup mix baking soda and vinegar and ad to batter, stirring to mix.
Divide batter between 3 greased round 9 inch pans and bake at 350F for about 25-30 minutes or until the toothpick test in the centre comes out clean. Let cool in pans for about 10 to 15 minutes before turning out to cool. Each cake can then be torted up to 3 layers each if desired or left alone - your choice.

Icing Ingredients:
2 cups milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups of butter or again, hard margarine, softened
2 cups of granulated sugar (not icing sugar)
2 tsp. vanilla

Icing Method
Gradually whisk milk into flour into a small, heavy bottomed saucepan until smooth. Heat on low to low-medium heat and stir continuously until boiling and thickened. Then in mixing bowl beat butter or margarine on high and gradually add all granulated sugar until well incorporated. Then add vanilla and milk mixture and beat on high until light and fluffy. Fill and ice cake. Serves about 16 people, 565 calories per slice including icing - geesh!
Two 1 ounce (28g) bottles equals about 1/4 cup food colouring (60 ml) or you can use just one bottle about 2 tbsp. food colouring.

I also use the DH mix, adding a box of instant chocolate pudding. It's the only cake people have ordered from me just to get the cake (i.e. no occassion).

I have an excellent recipe that I have made many, many times and it always turns out perfect and I get rave reviews. It appears to be like squirrely's recipe but I don't think she mentioned the paste step. Don't know if that matters - probably doesn't - but I do it anyway. I also think the secret is in the icing. I will give you the recipe I use for a crusting creme cheese icing and it is so easy to decorate with.

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. butter flavoring
1 1/2 oz. bottle of red color
3 Tbl. (level) cocoa
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda

Cream shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavors. Make a paste of cocoa and food coloring. Add to first mixture. Alternately add flour and buttermilk. Mix baking soda and vinegar in small bowl; add to batter. Blend. Bake in three 9" or 10" pans for 20 - 25 minutes at 350°. Let cool completely. Cover with frosting.

Note: this is how I received the recipe. I find that this will NOT fill three 9". I always double it and it is enough for abou 2 - 8" and 2 - 6".

Crusting Creme Cheese:

CRUSTING CREAM CHEESE ICING

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 pound cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
3 1/2 pounds sifted confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt


Cream butter, shortening, cream cheese and extracts. Gradually add confectioner's sugar and salt. Beat on low speed until nice and creamy. If you want whiter icing, try to use butter without dyes available at most health food stores.

This recipe is for a stiff consistency. For a thinner consistency, use 3 pounds of powdered sugar instead.

Note: This stuff is WONDERFUL! I could eat it by the spoon fulls. I also put this on lemon cakes and strawberry cakes and raison cinnamon bagels. YUUUUMMMY.

Good Luck
bj

Do you by any chance know about how many cups of icing the crusting cream cheese recipe makes?

I'm embarassed to say No I do not know. I always double the recipe and I make it in my 5 qt kitchen aid mixer and it fills the mixing bowl up. I then dump it into recylced gallon ice cream bucket w/lid and into the fridge it goes and on to my next batch.

Hope that helped.

bj

Don't be embarassed! It's not problem. That really does help. Thanks!

Don't forget to do a search in the forums for this topic also. It was asked recently and i posted a recipe (i think-i know i posted a reply) but I can't find it right now and have to head out for the night. There might be some more recipes on that post that are not on this one. Good luck

Leily