Is it just me, or does Red Velvet have a strange taste? A friend asked for one for her 80th birthday, so I did a trial run with cupcakes first -- thank Heaven! I used the Waldorf-Astoria recipe, and I thought they were absolutely awful. So, I then made a batch of cupcakes from the Rose's Heavenly Cakes recipe that everyone was raving on CC about a few weeks back. Again, such a disgusting aftertaste. I thought maybe it was just me, so I took them to a church meeting and had everyone try them. Not one person liked them!! They said the texture was great, but not the taste.

So, what gives? What's the big attraction to Red Velvet other than the lovely color?

Oh, and my friend then changed her mind to plain chocolate for her birthday cake. So, now what to do with the 32-oz bottle of red coloring that I bought at GFS??!

Maybe the aftertaste is from the red food coloring. What brand did you get? I believe there is a "no taste" one on the market.

You can use the red coloring for decorating or coloring gumpaste/fondant for flowers and figurines that won't be eaten.

I don't find any aftertaste with Red Velvet. I've made from scratch and also use DH box mix. Like mentioned before, maybe the food coloring was the reason.

I, too, wondered if it was the brand. But, the McCormick was $3.59 an ounce at the store, and that meant that her cake would've been $28 just for the coloring!!! She wanted the cake to feed the whole church choir. So, someone suggested that I go to Gordon Food Service where they sell a 32-oz bottle for $13, or 41 cents an ounce. So, GFS is the brand I ended up trying.

I'm thinking like the others, might have been the coloring. Doctoring a DH mix works great I think.

I use the DH all the time. Very good taste and texture.

I tried to make Red velvet cake from scratch and only used 1/2 the amount of food coloring called for in the recipe. Didn't like the taste at all.
Thought it was just me!!!!
Tried the DH mix over the holidays and thought the cake tasted great.
Maybe it is the food color!

Red velvet does have a very different taste, but not a "bad" taste. Don't use cheap red food coloring, that is where the aftertaste comes in. Also, use only 1oz. or 2tbls. of red food coloring. You still get a nice red without it affecting the taste. Some recipes ask for double. And last, try the Cakeman Raven's recipe on foodtv, upping the cocoa a little. I also upped the cocoa of Rose Levey Beranbaum's recipe. Not much, but some. It does make a difference. I prefer Cakeman's cause of the denser texture.

Try this recipe using Duncan Hines Red Velvet mix--it's great tasting.

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/7573/red-velvet-redux-easy-durable

Rae

I use chef_stef's recipe from this site, which I think is the same as Cakeman Raven's. I even use a cheap red coloring and have always had great results. Very few (maybe only 2, ever) brides have tasted it at a tasting appt and not ordered it.

i make this in a pan 8x3. Is very good:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/throwdown-with-bobby-flay/red-velvet-cupcakes-recipe/index.html

the only i make diferent is with the salt just put 1/4 salt and for the cocoa 2 tsp.

Thanks, everyone -- maybe I'll give it another chance!! You've all given me some great hints and tips.

I tried the pioneer woman's red velvet receipe and it is the 1st one that I've liked.She has a website so she might have in there.

I'm the OP that complained of the aftertaste. I have since used Cakeman Raven's recipe, exactly as written, and people loved it -- even me! So, I'd suggest giving that a try.