I have been asked if the RVC can be made more 'choclatey'! Being a newbie, I tend to do exactly as it says on the tin! Would adding, say an extra tablespoon of cocoa affect the texture? And I've scoured the internet and found that some use beet or red wine vinegar for colouring - I wouldn't be keen on using either, but what about red wine - or is this too heavy?

If I am not mistaken I read somewhere that red velvet is colored german chocolate, I personally would do a wasc (possibly replace the sour cream with german chocolate pudding) and if it affects the color too much some red coloring as well.

I'm still trying to figure out this whole RV thing and have done so much baking over the last month trying and experimenting with all the different scratch RV recipes. I love chocolate cake but RV has it's own distinct flavor and so many people think RV is a chocolate cake when it isn't.

If you add more cocoa, it will make it chocolatier but also darker so you'll have to add extra red coloring to it as well. I have not noticed it changing the texture but definitely the color is darker and deeper (almost brown).

Here's a Waldorf-Astoria Red Velvet that I tried this past weekend. Very moist and chocolatey plus a little denser and worked perfectly as a layer cake and cupcakes (my favorite so far). If the link doesn't work, try RecipeZaar and search #8972 (http://www.recipezaar.com/Waldorf-Astoria-Red-Velvet-Cake-8972).

There are a couple posts on here doctoring up a Duncan Hines Red Velvet mix and adding chocolate pudding to it too:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-596179-red.html+velvet+duncan+pudding

Good luck!

Thanks Angel Food4 - however, I cant get the first link to work (google tells me its 'broken'?!) - and we dont get Duncan Hines here in the UK - or not that I know of. I tend to do all my baking from scratch, I don't really use boxed recipes, so if you know of a UK equivalent, I'd be most grateful, otherwise thanks for your advice - I think I;ll just have a tamper around with the recipe.

I don't like chocolate cake, but love RV because as AngelFood said, it has its own distinct flavor. Sort of a light cocoa. If the client wants a more chocolatey cake, it's best they order a chocolate cake because RV and chocolate are two different things.

My favorite recipe for RV is Smitten Kitchen's (Google for her web site). I use just a blob of gel paste color and forgo the step where she says to dissolve it in water. Just mix it into the batter.

Yay! - the link finally worked! I'll give that a try this weekend. Thanks Angel for your advice, much appreciated.

And thanks to everyone else who took the time to reply.