I am searching for a red velvet recipe, for a New Year's eve wedding....I've never made one before, and have started a "trial". So far I've made one recipe from allrecipes.com....it was horrible, and tasted like cornbread...
The second was one from here, sarah's tweaked red velvet...It baked beautifully, and my family loved it, but I didn't think it was red enough.
Anyone know how red these cakes are really supposed to be?? What are your fav RV recipes???
Thanks Alery! I'll try that one! I've been debating on trying it, mixed reviews like every other recipe out there lol! It's hard to judge something when you have no idea what it's supposed to taste/look like! LOL When I agreed to make it for this wedding, I had no idea what I was getting into!!
my clients love elisa strauss' red velvet cake (from her confetti book)..in fact it's one of my best selling cake flavor, next to chocolate...although it's not as red as it's supposed to be, most of the red velvet cakes i've seen has the christmas red color to it, i'm ok w/ it coz i figured it's the taste that matters most to me... i believe it's because of the powdered chocolate that makes it turn to dark dark red..just last week i tried another recipe minus the chocolate powder, it doesn't taste good but it was really red...i've read on a blog somewhere that chocolate powder is an essential ing for rv otherwise it's not red velvet anymore.. 
bobbie
Thanks Bobbi, I'll take a look for that one too! LOL, I'm gonna have to find somewhere to send all of these trial cakes!
I don't think I want to have a Christmas red colour....
I did notice some debate on whether or not vinegar is necessary in RV, and I wonder if maybe it might just "brighten" up the colour a bit...
you're welcome jane...as what i've noticed, color is A-ok even w/ the buttermilk (milk + vinegar) in it, but it's when i put in the dry ings w/ the cocoa powder in it that it starts to turn to dark red =( ... hope you'll find the right one for you..good luck =)
bobbie
my customers love cake man ravens recipe but I cut out at least 1/4 cup of the oil in his recipe. it is really red
red velvet is definately an aquired taste. not for everyone.
my family loves red velvet its the most requested cake i make.
i use cake mans receipe with a few modifications.
i make mine very red.
but not everyone will like red velvet cake. alot of people think its chocolate cake colored red.
i explain that it has its own unique taste and texture.
good luck expirementing.
My favorite is Cakeman Ravens red velvet recipe, and I find it is very red. I actually cut the red food coloring in half because I didn't think it needed it when it was just for my family. Let us know what you find out.
Ditto.... I could have written that myself. Half the amount makes it as red as it will ever get, any more and you just waste the food coloring. And Cakeman Raven's is out of this world. So is his cream cheese frosting.
I was always taught that it was the vinegar and cocoa that made it red natural (a weak brown/red).. but over time, bakers wanted a more intense red, and started adding coloring. I always just add enough to make it as red as I think will look nice, but not stain my counters if I make a mess while baking haha. Bobby Flay made a RV cake for his 'Throw Down' show, and actually won, so it must be good.. my SIL says its her favorite, so I have been waiting for a good excuse to try it. I believe you can look it up on his website, or on Food Network. com
I was always taught that it was the vinegar and cocoa that made it red natural (a weak brown/red).. but over time, bakers wanted a more intense red, and started adding coloring. I always just add enough to make it as red as I think will look nice, but not stain my counters if I make a mess while baking haha. Bobby Flay made a RV cake for his 'Throw Down' show, and actually won, so it must be good.. my SIL says its her favorite, so I have been waiting for a good excuse to try it. I believe you can look it up on his website, or on Food Network. com
We made Bobby Flay's winning recipe and it did taste better than Cakeman Ravens.......... if you ate it the day you baked it. We made it and by morning it was as crusty as croutons. (Well, maybe not quite, but very close) So we tried Cakeman Raven's, and purposely left it in the same cake carrier as we had Bobby's cake in, and a week later it was as moist and delicious as the day it was made. And that was with it having been cut.
If you liked Sarah's Tweaked recipe, you can always just add more red coloring. If I remember correctly, the original called for 2 oz of red food coloring, not one. Unfortunately, Sarah has removed the original recipe. I personally love the tweaked recipe, and it is a favorite of family and friends, and I have tried many different recipes.
HTH
I just made Red Velvet cupcakes and used one 1 ounce bottle of McCormicks Red Food Coloring and mine were plenty of red. Too much red starts making the cake taste somewhat bitter. I would not add any more to mine.
Wow, Thank you for all of your replies! I wan't getting notifications!
I have done nothing all weekend but research RV, lol...
Since this is for a wedding cake, I would like to have a cake that does stay moist. Sarah's did that! I just gave away the last piece last night, so it sat from Friday night until Sunday night in my glass cake dome, and was not at all dry.
I have also heard that Martha Stewart's recipe is very good. I NEVER use Martha recipes, but I think I will try it, it's made with oil instead of butter, and I'm interested to see what effect that will have on the cake.
I did see that episode of Throwdown, and I felt so bad for Cakeman Raven!!! I mean, how bad would it suck for Flay to come in and make a better cake than the Cakeman??!! So, I'm glad to hear his recipe dries out
I think I'll add Martha's and Raven's recipes to my list, and try Sarah's again, but take out some cocoa and add the vinegar. I'm pretty certain that the vinegar adds to the colour.
I am dissappointed in the brides' choice of icing though...she doesn't want cream cheese, just regular ol' buttercream. For some reason my usual not so sweet BC tastes like pure sugar on RV, so I'm considering using a SMBC instead. She's chosen to fill the cake with Choc ganache.
I'm skipping the liqiud food colour alltogether, and going with Americolor gel instead....I'll let you all know what I find. There needs to be a RV scratch-off!!!! LOL
I'm still trying to find a recipe that reminds me of the red velvet I'm used to. I find 1 bottle of red food coloring is plenty, prefer buttermilk recipes over vinegar recipes, and like the ones with more cocoa in it than just a few tablespoons.
I don't like the RV that are the super bright reds. Those look artificial and unnatural. To me, RV has that deep gorgeous red it gets with some chocolate mixed in. GL finding a recipe! I love the stuff.
I didn't realize that recipes were either buttermilk or vinegar. I have seen buttermilk only or a combination of the two, never just vinegar...
Man, this is a project! LOL!
I use buttermilk in my RV cake, I don't know why, I just always did
GL!
Jodi
A true to it's roots RV cake does have buttermilk and vinegar in it and just a hint of cocoa. A couple of Tablespoons, that's it!
The traditional icing for that cake is a cooked flour one. Do you have a recipe for that? Maybe the bride would like it if she's asking for an old fashioned RV! But if she thinks it's a chocolate cake colored red, just go with the vanilla BC. 
Just a final note, after baking and eating (back to the gym I go!) a lot of red velvet recipes, my winner turned out to be Martha Stewart's RV. I was disappointed, I'm not a fan of MS, but her cake was fabulous. It baked up perfectly level in the pans, and tasted delicious. Firm cake, but not too heavy, and it was very moist. And, as with most scratch cakes, it got better and better everyday!
Thanks for taste testing those recipes for us. I will have to grab that Martha Stewart recipe and see how I like it.
Paula deen has a great Red Velvet Cake...I made it a month ago and it tasted great. Down to the frosting she puts with it.
I googled "martha stewart red velvet recipe" and got several options from her site. Which cake did you make? Can you post a link?
Ponderiffic, here you go...sorry about that, I don't know why I didn't include it in the first place!
http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/recipe/red-velvet-cake?comments_page=1
I didn't try the frosting that usually goes with a red velvet cake, my bride only wanted regular buttercream....
Has anyone tried this one..from joy of baking?
http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCake.html
I haven't tried that one, but I take offense to this line:
It is really a Devil's Food Cake that has red food coloring added to it.
No, it's not! 2 TBS of cocoa does not make a chocolate cake. 
I am curious about the entire cup of extra oil in the Martha Stewart's recipe. Those 2 are extremely similar except for that.
We need to do a scratch off for Red Velvet!!!
Ok, and since you need someone to taste them all, just so you can get an equal assessment, I will volunteer my services. Just in the name of good caking, mind you......
LOL cownsj, it's like doing a public service right?
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