I tried three different recipes this week, for a RV cake this weekend, and I was not happy with one or another thing. I have no experience with scratch cakes, and was a little hesitant to use one. The third thing I tried was just to doctor a DH box mix (German chocolate) and add *1/2 ounce* of dye as opposed to the full 1 oz. (I was originally looking for an all-natural recipe--tried the beet powder ones--but don't mind using a *reasonable* amount of dye!)

I really want to SEE the color of Sarah's scratch recipe before using it, so I know whether I will have to be adding a lot of dye to get the color I am looking for!

Thank you!

I am curious too! I can't seem to justify making a scratch version when it calls for a whole bottle of food coloring vs. doctoring a DH box mix that's $1.

If you use 1 bottle of red food coloring form the grocery store it is very red. I didn't take a pic after it was cut.

Strange, I just tried this recipe (I halved it, precisely), and the batter was not like typical cake batter--it did not pour but was thicker. I triple checked the ingredients, and triple checked my halving, and I have everything!

Is this normal!? It is in the oven, so I know I will eventually find out! I was just wondering if anyone had a comment on this consistency.

It's not always possible to halve or double a scratch recipe........you'll just have to see how it comes out.

I pretty shouldn't admit this but I usually take a chocolate box mix and add in gel Red Red color. Haven't had any complaints yet!

Linstead--I am using that as my back up! I wanted to try a scratch recipe so I could either avoid dye, or use half dye and half something natural. But after 3 recipes now, and not getting a great result, I am almost ready to use the German chocolate cake mix with added dye LOL!

I used German chocolate cake and added dye. . . it tastes just like red velvet, because a traditional red velvet is made with cocoa. I chose to test with German chocolate, simply because it has a more mild chocolate flavor (like red velvet's subtle chocolate flavor) and because it's lighter and I thought it would show more red when dyed.

Here's BC's version, modifying it's German chocolate box mix:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/red-velvet-torte-with-white-truffle-frosting/54f548ab-b232-4f05-97d3-ca15b0f4d98c

I pulled this one, too, before finding Sarah's scratch recipe:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/easy-red-velvet-cake/465a4893-8208-4753-9802-fa2c51d6379f

Whoa! You're in luck! I tried 4 different RV recipes to prepare for a bridal shower.

I happen to have an extra layer of Sarah's RV *tweaked* in my freezer. It's hard to tell from the photo, but Cakeman Raven's (bottom) is a lot brighter/truer red whereas Sarah's Tweaked recipe is a deeper color. Maybe the original recipe using more food color would give you a different result.

Of the 4 recipes I tried, I'd rank them in the following order just based on my personal preferences alone:

1. Rose Red Velvet Cake (from Levenbaum) which turned out very airy and moist. Not as acidic as Cakeman's and had a slightly detectable cocoa taste.

2. Sarah's Red Velvet *Tweaked* was by far the best tasting with it's heavenly buttery goodness. The cake would've been too dense for the bridal shower though...I think they're more used to crumbly cakes.

3. Red Velvet WASC from the thread "Gourmet Flavors" was tooo sweet for me. I didn't like the texture either, and it still tasted like white cake mix to me. Too vanilla-y.

4. Cakeman Raven's was probably the most authentic of all RV recipes I tried. There is a definite aciditiy to it, and I like my RV with a mere suspicion of cocoa as Rose would say. If you like truly Southern RV with a bright red color, this is your recipe.

Thank you! I like the consistency of Sarah's (with my slight changes, which may or may not have affected texture) for our purposes--one of the other scratch recipes turned out a cake that was way too light and fluffy to torte, fill and fondant.

On the dye--I really want to use less dye, rather than more! I ideally wanted one that used *no* dye, but you just can't get the same color (well, without tasting beets!!) The half dye half beet powder works wonderfully! Plus, the beet powder I found online is much much brighter red than the others I found online.

I keep trying to add the photo to my post, but it seems to not be working. Maybe there's some sort of lag time.