Today I had a go at making Red Velvet Cake. One was a recipe I found on a UK cooking site and one was the Southern Red Velvet Cake posted by Aliee which is listed here in the Recipies sections. Both of them quite frankly tasted awful. Neither of them were 'red' and turned out a sludgy brown colour in spite of the inordinate amount of red food colouring used. The first recipe I tried didn't even bake properly and was too gooey to use and although Aliee's recipe gave a lovely moist cake, all you could taste was red food colouring!

I honestly do not understand how anybody could eat this cake and I was in tears with the first recipe, dripping cake batter all over my lovely oven which then took an hour to clean and then being disappointed again with the second recipe. I was then in tears at the amount of ingredients I had wasited in one day baking inedible cakes. I swear I followed the recipies to the letter.

Do you think it is a matter of taste or could it be that you guys in America have a better red food colouring than we have in the UK?

Theories would be welcome.

Much love,
ChilliPepper xxxxx

I got tickled reading your thread title. My first thought was, "It should have stated, 'How on earth do you clean up this mess!' ". Then as I read your post, it did mention the messy part. (RV batter seems to grow exponentially and get on everything in sight.)

Here's a recent fun thread about RV: "Red Velvet Taste Question??"
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=7256343&highlight=#7256343

Here's my response to the question:

Nobody and everybody "knows" what RV is supposed to taste like.

Nobody -- it is a recent fad and people think that if it's bright red, it's red velvet

Everybody -- Until it became a recent fad, red velvet was a cake made from scratch and EVERY recipe was different! So, people who say, "MY red velvet is the best", are probably right. BUT, their red velvet is probably different from the next person who says, "MY red velvet is the best".

This is the one which a lot of people use:

http://newyork.timeout.com/things-to-do/this-week-in-new-york/18938/recipe-red-velvet-cake

It's made by Cakeman Raven (I think that's the right name lol)... anyway I'd use gel colours rather than liquid to get a brighter red. I made it once and it baked fine but I thought the taste was a bit nothingey... if you know what I mean... not the recipe but the red velvet concept in general... not quite vanilla, not quite chocolate... blah is how I'd describe it lol.

I'm hoping Scp1127 chimes in as she is great with scratch recipes. If she has any tips I'd love to give Red Velvet another go to see if it can change my views of it.

Susan (scp) uses Cakeman's recipe. If you pm her she can help you with her modifications. I haven't tried his recipe. I use the Martha Stewart recipe with dark cocoa and Wilton no-taste red coloring. Mine also comes out more of a reddish brown.

If you can get some "no-taste" red food coloring then give that a try.

Hi

Just checked out the Cakeman Raven recipe and the only difference in that and the ones I tried is the use of oil instead of butter. I honestly think it's the red food colouring I used. I may at some point as suggested try using gel colour and see if that improves the flavour but I will not be trying it for a while. And I think you're right about the flavour of the cake being 'blah' as it is really 'neither nowt nor summat' as they say in Yorkshire! Do you think that's why a cream cheese frosting is used to give the whole thing some sort of flavour? LOL!

And yes, perhaps the thread should have been titled, "how do you clean up this mess" because it really did take ages! LOL!

Thanks for your quick responses.

Much Love,

CP xxx

I use Paula Deens recipe (found on foodnetwork.com) with some modifications and use plain old store brand red food coloring, it comes out super red. The flavor is more buttermilk than chocolate and seems to be the prefered flavor profile for red velvet here.

This is the recipe that my family has used for at least 50 years.
http://www.food.com/recipe/waldorf-astoria-red-velvet-cake-8972

I know a lot of people, especially in the south, put cream cheese icing on their red velvet cake, but I think this buttercream frosting makes it awesome!

I think red velvet is loathsome. Just the thought of all that coloring gets to me. Having said that, I will give chris' ago. Can it be made into cuppirs? Thanks

Im also from UK and I use the hummingbird bakery red velvet recipe and its lovely!

Only thing I found was that they recommend dr otker(spelling?) food colouring but its all natural ingredients in the uk so came out brown.

I always use the silver spoon red food colouring from sainsburys and it works perfectly with the amount in the recipe.

Hope that helps

Thanks, I will do a search for the recipe.

I sit back and watch all the fuss about red velvet cake. I know that it is high in popularity at the moment, and for the life of me, I can't imagine why. I made my first red velvet about 40 years ago, from scratch. Pretty blah. Over the next few years I tried several different recipes----blah. The with the recent increase in popularity, I thought I'd try it again. But my opinion remains the same. To me, it is just a chocolate cake that "didn't quite make it." (That could be because I am such a chocoholic. Don't give me a "tan" colored chocolate shake, I want it brown!) Many have asked for red velvet and I always feel somewhat apologetic when I make one. My own sister is addicted to Duff's red velvet flavor ice cream. I'm glad to find that I am not alone in not being a fan.
I guess there is one more recipe to try. I will have to see what a boxed mix RV tastes like. Anyone suggest which to try?

Jan

A friend asked me for one last week. I told her I couldn't do it because it is hard for me to make something I won't eat myself. I made a vanilla bean cake instead and she loved it.

WOWWWWWW!!!!!

Opened up an almighty can of squirmy things here didn't I?

Keep the suggestions coming you lovely cakey people because although I've persuaded the customer to change her mind and have my awesome carrot cake I am sure I will be asked for RVC in the future.

Much love,

CP xxxx

OK, I will try again. I just read several pages of the reviews with the recipe Chris posted. I guess I will modify my approach: instead of thinking a chocolate cake with a hint of buttermilk, I will picture a buttermilk cake with just a hint of chocolate. Maybe that will do it for me and I just might become a RV fan. At least, I won't apologize for making one again. OK, Chris, this one's on you! (Thanks for posting a new try.)

Jan

don't blame me if you don't like it though! LOL

Like I said, the icing is really what "makes it" for me. that butter icing is to die for.

not a fan but will try the new recipes

LOL! This made me chuckle!

I might be wrong, but the red coloring we use here in the states is actually banned in the UK. The red you get is actually safe for consumption whereas our red causes cancer. Kind of like how the UK has banned the import of any milk from the US.

Anyway, I use Americolor gel red. I only use 1/2 of what is called for. I also use red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar which helps to boost the red and makes it a nice brick color instead of fake blood color. I also only use dutch processed cocoa and an oil based recipe.

I love the flavor of red velvet cake, and think it's so yummy with plain, unflavored SMBC. It's one of my favorite flavor combinations.

I am in the US, I use McCormack red, and I also use apple cider vinegar.

I make this recipe. It's Bobby Flay's Red Velvet recipe that he used to beat Cakeman Raven in a Red Velvet Throwdown.

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

I really quite like the subtle chocolate flavour. And I don't use the measurement for the red food colouring. I use Americolor gel Super Red and put in enough to get the red colour I want. It's not 1 Tbsp as listed in the recipe.

These are cupcakes I made using this recipe
.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2028904/red-velvet-cupcakes

I bake a lot, always from scratch and usually my own recipes, but I love this red velvet cake from Cooking Light. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/red-raspberry-velvet-cake-10000000833335/
I was dubious at first, but it really tastes fantastic. It has a buttermilk flavor with a hint of cocoa and is very moist. I used less than half of the red coloring that was called for and it still had a satisfying red color (not super bright). Also, I don't use the frosting recipe included, but sub FromScratch's cream cheese SMBC from CC.

I've tried a few recipes and Martha stewart's is the keeper, nice moist crumb and easy to follow, not too much red colour either. I use the wilton red (no taste).and I like buttercream frosting instead of the cream cheese/fr.I have made a 3 trier wedding cake using the same recipe and it was a hit.

http://www.marthastewart.com/275387/classic-cupcakes/@center/276944/cupcakes

I second the Hummingbird Bakery red velvet recipe. You can find it online because when they published the book a few recipes were printed wrong so they had to release a couple of new pages, which is what you will find if you search. In that recipe, I use 1/2 tsp of Sugarflair Red Extra, and they come out beautifully. A cause for the browny red colour can be attributed to too much baking soda, I know that from experience... good luck and don't give up!!