OK..............so a girl ordered a 2-tier cake with one layer butter recipe yellow ("the only cake the babymama can eat") and the other layer red velvet. First she told me cream cheese frosting for both tiers. I asked if she was sure because I had never had anyone ask for cream cheese on a butter recipe cake. She then said, no, she wanted buttercream on both.
The red velvet layer is in the oven right now.. and it just does not smell appetizing as it bakes like other cakes do.
So I ask, what is everyone's obsession with red velvet? What is it supposed to taste like? Do some people order it simply for the cake and NOT for the cream cheese icing???
craziness!
Bleh.. me neither. I make it, but I don't like it. If I gag when I taste the batter or a scrap, then I know it's perfect.
I've discovered recently that I don't care for RV either. Now, I absolutley love the cream cheese icing on it so maybe that's why I've eaten it for so many years.
My mother says red velvet is supposed to be buttery tasting with a hint of chocolate. It's not supposed to taste like chocolate. It's definately different. I hated that cake when I was a kid, wouldn't touch it!
But now I like it. It does smell funny, i think maybe it's the food coloring. I've added food coloring to my batter a few times, and every time the cakes have smelled funny, but tated good.
I have noticed from traveling to different parts of the US that Red Velvet cake is different. I offer clients "City" Velvet or "Country" Velvet. The difference is City is the dark deep red chocolate cake(yuucck) and country is the yummy super moist buttery bright red cake(yummm). After I break it down many people say they always wondered why the cakes are so different depending on where youve had it, so I guess it's a demographic thing? (I live in SC) But I love country velvet cake with cream cheese and pecans!always a big hit!
I agree with Tiffany29 - it's supposed to have ahint of chocolate. But I can never get over all that red food coloring in it. Just thinking of ingesting all that red dye - yuck.
I absolutely love RV, especially the Southern RV recipe by Cakeman Raven. My co-workers fight over it whenever I bring cupcakes to work.
A ha! I am from the south and have always wondered why people on CC say RV should taste like chocolate! It definitely doesn't in the southern version. I didn't know there was a "city" version!
It has a buttermilk/slightly vinegar twang that is just delicious with cream cheese icing! The hint of cocoa powder in there supposedly covers up the potential bitter taste of all that red dye. It's not meant to impart a chocolate flavor with such a small amount, relatively speaking.
I need to google the history of RV and figure out why it needs to be artificially red! Maybe back in the day it was beet sugar?
I agree 100% with Chasey....RV is NOT chocolate cake at all!!! Not even in the slightest!! It is a traditional Southern Buttermilk Cake. It has a taste all it's own. You either love it or hate it. I happen to love it while my bakery co-owner hates it!
The origional red color came from fresh beet juice and red cabbage juice. The combination of the vinegar with the cocoa created a reddish when combined with the soured milk (today being buttermilk). The colored "juice" simply intesified the color.
Some people just don't like it. I'm one of the ones who loves it. It depends a lot on the recipe.
There are some that are just gross, and don't even think about boxed red velvet.....bleck, I don't even consider it red velvet, it's just red cake. But Paula Deens, Cake raven, Waldorf, they are all really good. Buttermilk vs milk w/lemon or vinegar makes a big difference. I will run to the store if I'm out, because you can't make a good RV without buttermilk.
Yes, here in the South it has a subtle flavor. It seems to me (but who am I?) that it is somewhat a fad...just like the cupcakes.
Here in the South we make our cake with very little cocoa and traditionally you are supposed to make a flour based icing which is sooo far away from cream cheese...but make no mistake, if I'm gonna eat RV, I'm gonna slap on the cream cheese (it's not my favorite).
Makes me think of the first time I tried to make dark red icing and used regular wilton red food coloring...OMG I thought I was gonna die when I tasted it----YUCK Maybe that's why I have an adversion to this strange southern creation from grannies past!
Bleh.. me neither. I make it, but I don't like it. If I gag when I taste the batter or a scrap, then I know it's perfect.
LOL!!
I recently just started adding rv to my list of flavors offered. At first I made the box ones and doctored it with buttermilk and vinegar. Then out of curiosity I made from scratch and WOWIE!! what a difference.
It was also suggested to use cooked icing and I did that too. A little more labor intensive but well worth it.
Flies out the door around here.
I watched cupcake challenge the other day and every bakery said RV was their best selling flavor. I don't really get it, but maybe that's because when I make it, I use a boxed mix. I'm thinking I need to try making it from scratch!
[quote="mandysue"... I use a boxed mix. I'm thinking I need to try making it from scratch![/quote]
You most certainly do! Like previous posters said, there are hundreds of recipes out there, so be prepared to try more than one. It truly is a love or hate relationship. I'm making RV cupcakes for my brother's housewarming this weekend, actually... using the recipe Bakerella posted on 2/22 because it just looks delicious!!!
Cakeman Raven's recipe is good. I chaned a couple of things though.
Increase buttermilk to 1 1/2 c.
Decrease oil to 1c.
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1oz red food coloring
It was great! My 5 yr old loved it so much that she begged me for the frozen scraps. She said she didn't care if it was frozen it was so good!
born and raised in the south here... Nope not chocolate but small hint of cocoa taste. ALWAYS needs to have cream cheese frosting, never anything else, it should be against the law to serve any other frosting with it than cream cheese! LOL.
Ooooh, I don't like and I don't get the attraction that everyone seems to have with it.
I love the bright red red velvet cake with just a hint of chocolate. It's so moist and delicious. I have not tried Cakeman Raven's recipe, but I've been wanting too. Bobby Flay's recipe beat his on Throwdown. I think Bobby Flay used beets for an earthy red color. On the Food Network site though his recipe doesn't use beets. It's used red wine vinegar and food coloring. I use Paula Deen's recipe.
Paula Dean has 2 different recipes. Her RV cupcake one is the exact same as Cakeman Raven's RV recipe.
I noticed on DC cupcakes that they use red wine vinegar in their RV cupcakes too, but I wasn't sure what it why.
So glad I seen this. I just tried Paula Deen's RV whoopi pies and hated them! I thought it was a crappy recipe but maybe I just don't like RV. Are the grocery store version usually pretty good? I think I should give it a 2nd chance. The pies were very dense, is that a RV thing?
I can't make enough RV. Everybody knows I make them and whenever I do a family event, book club, etc. it is always RV.
Good to know it is supposed to have a touch of cocoa flavor. I developed my own recipe after not finding one I like. It seems to have all the flavors you all describe and it's super moist too!
Red Velvet is definitely NOT a chocolate cake, but a lot of people seem to think it is. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that the cake mix version is a chocolate cake mix with a lot of red food coloring thrown in, so that's why people think it's chocolate. The real red velvet is a buttermilk cake like other posters have said, but I still get people insisting that it's chocolate. When they did that Bobby Flay throwdown the woman who was helping him was giving him a lecture about red velvet not being chocolate in any way shape or form, which I thought was amusing.
Red Velvet is definitely NOT a chocolate cake, but a lot of people seem to think it is. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that the cake mix version is a chocolate cake mix with a lot of red food coloring thrown in, so that's why people think it's chocolate. The real red velvet is a buttermilk cake like other posters have said, but I still get people insisting that it's chocolate. When they did that Bobby Flay throwdown the woman who was helping him was giving him a lecture about red velvet not being chocolate in any way shape or form, which I thought was amusing.
maybe because most (that I have seen anyway) RV recipes call for cocoa powder? the chocolate taste is subtle for sure, I describe it as a tangy cake, probably due to the buttermilk or vinegar typically in the recipe.
it's yummy with cream cheese but definitely not my favorite flavor
Red Velvet is definitely NOT a chocolate cake, but a lot of people seem to think it is. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that the cake mix version is a chocolate cake mix with a lot of red food coloring thrown in, so that's why people think it's chocolate. The real red velvet is a buttermilk cake like other posters have said, but I still get people insisting that it's chocolate. When they did that Bobby Flay throwdown the woman who was helping him was giving him a lecture about red velvet not being chocolate in any way shape or form, which I thought was amusing.
maybe because most (that I have seen anyway) RV recipes call for cocoa powder? the chocolate taste is subtle for sure, I describe it as a tangy cake, probably due to the buttermilk or vinegar typically in the recipe.
it's yummy with cream cheese but definitely not my favorite flavor
It has a little, but not enough to make it taste like chocolate. It's a weird cake to try to describe to people, it has a taste all its own and you just can't describe what it tastes like.
born and raised in the south here... Nope not chocolate but small hint of cocoa taste. ALWAYS needs to have cream cheese frosting, never anything else, it should be against the law to serve any other frosting with it than cream cheese! LOL.
I disagree...LOL....I prefer the 'traditional' red velvet cake icing. Some call it Mary Kay Icing....it's my absolute favorite for red velvet. like auntginn said......
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 8:27 am Post subject:
I recently just started adding rv to my list of flavors offered. At first I made the box ones and doctored it with buttermilk and vinegar. Then out of curiosity I made from scratch and WOWIE!! what a difference.
It was also suggested to use cooked icing and I did that too. A little more labor intensive but well worth it.
Flies out the door around here.
Paula Dean has 2 different recipes. Her RV cupcake one is the exact same as Cakeman Raven's RV recipe.
I noticed on DC cupcakes that they use red wine vinegar in their RV cupcakes too, but I wasn't sure what it why.
I think it was apple cider vinegar, not red wine. I tried it and it really does change the flavor.
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