I'm baking Cakeman Raven RV for a tasting next Sat. and it seems truly revolting to me. I'm 8 wks pg, so that may have something to do with it, but the entire jar of food coloring freaks me out. I really want to chuck it and try one with beet juice for color or something.
I made that recipe a couple of weeks ago. The amount of red dye kinda turned me off too but the cake turned out fantastic! Everyone raved about it. One way you might make the red deeper and perhaps not use as much is to increase the cocoa powder. It will give you a deep red instead of the bright red. Congrats on your pregnancy! 
Other people will like it. It's a rather good RV cake recipe.
You would think that amount of red dye would affect the taste, but trust me it doesn't. But if it really makes you feel uncomfortable, natural red dye (like from beets) can also be used...as this is what was used with the original red velvet cake .
I don't use food paste though - I actually just use the liquid red food colour - between the cocoa and the liquid colouring - I got a gorgeous red colour!
I'd never even heard of this Cakeman Raven person until I saw this story. Not so impressive.
http://ht.ly/2QS8S
I'm with ya' Leah. I think Red Velvet is just not good cake. It doesn't taste like anything to me.
... the entire jar of food coloring freaks me out.
I'm sure you know this but throwing it out there - the 2 tablespoons/1 oz. of red food coloring is referring to the liquid kind like you get at the grocery store, not the Wilton or Americolor gel/paste type food coloring. Still gross, I agree.
I love making the RED VELVET CAKE and my family, friends and co-workers rave about the flavor, moistness and the overall look of the cake. I get orders all the time for making this delicious chocolate/devils food cake. I think it's absolutely delicious. But that's just my opinion. You know, maybe it the way I make mine. You know how we doctor the WASC cake, well that's how I do my Red Velvet Cake. It's all in how you treat I mean make it.
Happy Caking
It doesn't taste like anything to me.
same here. I always describe it as "chocolate cake with red food coloring....big deal." Maybe I haven't tasted the right one or something, but there's no "unique" flavor to it as far as I can tell.
amen to indydebi--as always!! i thought it must have been cuz im an aussie LOL
I can't bring myself to make red velvet because of all the food colouring...and as others have said it's just chocolate cake that has been coloured, so it's not going to taste any better for the addition of all that colour. It does look a bit special...although perhaps I only think that because here in Australia it's uncommon.
I'm with you all...I have made it for clients, but I detest the use of so much artificial colouring for no good reason. Its never made sense to me. I have been investigating using beets for natural colour b/c it goes against my business philosophy to make the red-colouring-heavy one.
... the entire jar of food coloring freaks me out.
I'm sure you know this but throwing it out there - the 2 tablespoons/1 oz. of red food coloring is referring to the liquid kind like you get at the grocery store, not the Wilton or Americolor gel/paste type food coloring. Still gross, I agree.
Uh oh. I read somewhere to use an entire jar of Wilton Red-red (and not No Taste Red), so that is what I did. They turned out ok, I guess. I did a 6" and a dozen cupcakes. I suppose the thrill is in the frosting, because it tasted like it was trying to be a chocolate cake but needed more chocolate. I'll sample it with both white Chocolate and cream cheese bc. And maybe that "boiled frosting" that southerners seem to think go with rv.
If I can muster the energy, I'll do a beet juice one.
I'm making a batch of red velvet muffins (no frosting) for my friend on Wednesday... I'm freaked out about the red coloring, but even more freaked out about the taste...
She's a chocolate girl, and this batter doesn't say "chocolate" to me...
How does it taste? Like chocolate wanna be? 
Should I even go for the red velvet batter or make a batch of plain chocolate muffins with some red frosting? 
As a southerner, I need to stand up for my old friend red velvet. Red velvet is NOT chocolate cake. It's essentially a buttermilk cake, the small amount of cocoa is added to cover the taste of the food coloring. If you sell it like a chocolate cake, you'll be in trouble. If you eat it expecting chocolate, you're in trouble. Also, there are a lot ofbad recipes out there. I have people beg me for my recipe (it's a family one) and tell me they've never had one like. So keep trying recipes.
Also, to the OP, congrats on the pregnancy! I'm also about the same amount preggers, and the morning sickness has been so bad I'm a little scared to start a cake today...and it's red velvet, lol....
No, no, this is just to surprise her because she graduates on Wednesday
I'll go with chocolate muffins and raspberry frosting, good old things never fail 
Thanks! 
The only time I make red velvet is for my god-daughter's bday each yr. It's the cream cheese icing that makes it palatable. I only use KathyF's recipe... it's the bomb! (But I add more vanilla to taste)
Melanie Mc.
KathyF's cream cheese icing
16 oz. cream cheese
1C butter
1/2 C Crisco
1 T vanilla
1/2 t salt
3 1/2 lbs confectioner's sugar
Cream the cream cheese, butter, and Crisco together till fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add vanilla and salt. Gradually add the sugar. Takes a while to incorporate it all.
I like to describe red velvet to my friends as a water down version of chocolate cake with red food coloring. I think the original recipe had something to do with a small amount of vinegar added to the cocoa and that turned a reddish color. But that story could be an urban legend.
I agree that Red Velvet cake is kind of freaky ... but it seems to be growing in popularity.
I never attempted to try a RV cake until I moved to Texas ... it's huge here! The recipe I used at that time just said "one bottle red food coloring". So I used the little dropper bottle you get in the McCormick four pack, you know the ones with the cone tops, I think it was like a quarter of an ounce. While I managed to dye half my kitchen and various parts of my shirt red, the cake was an unappetizing pinky brown, lol. 
Has anyone made an RV without the red color? What color would the final cake be? I like the buttermilk richness of the cake, and the tiny hint of cocoa enhances that aspect. I definitely don't think it's attempting to be chocolate cake at all, RV is it's own flavor, and I'm thinking of making it without the color and calling it Southern Buttermilk cake and putting the horrifying artificial red out of it's misery.
As a southerner, I need to stand up for my old friend red velvet. Red velvet is NOT chocolate cake. It's essentially a buttermilk cake, the small amount of cocoa is added to cover the taste of the food coloring. If you sell it like a chocolate cake, you'll be in trouble. If you eat it expecting chocolate, you're in trouble. Also, there are a lot ofbad recipes out there. I have people beg me for my recipe (it's a family one) and tell me they've never had one like. So keep trying recipes.
Also, to the OP, congrats on the pregnancy! I'm also about the same amount preggers, and the morning sickness has been so bad I'm a little scared to start a cake today...and it's red velvet, lol....
Yep just had to go through this clarification with a bunch of co-workers. Having been trying different recipes and finally got around to RV. Was going to go with Raven's but too many people seemed to find it too oily. So went with one that was made with butter. Had many discussions with co-workers about how RV was not chocolate cake with red food coloring added.
Good RV should not taste like food coloring (yes it is possible). Not sure about the claim about the cocoa powder being there to cover the taste. But it does react with vinegar to add a reddish color to the batter, thus making the food coloring more effective (sort of like dying icing pink before trying to make it red).
As to flavor, the best descriptions characterize it as a buttermilk flavored cake. If it tastes like nothing then frankly it is a bad recipe. The flavor may be mild but it is certainly not tasteless--or it shouldn't be. After all that however I think RV is just a glorified cream cheese icing delivery system.
I have decided on this description that helps with understanding the flavor - Red Velvet should be like lightly flavored chocolate milk -you should still be able to taste the milk. If you add so much chocolate that you can't taste the milk - drink something else. i.e. make chocolate cake instead
As a southerner, I need to stand up for my old friend red velvet. Red velvet is NOT chocolate cake. It's essentially a buttermilk cake, the small amount of cocoa is added to cover the taste of the food coloring. If you sell it like a chocolate cake, you'll be in trouble. If you eat it expecting chocolate, you're in trouble. Also, there are a lot ofbad recipes out there. I have people beg me for my recipe (it's a family one) and tell me they've never had one like. So keep trying recipes.
Also, to the OP, congrats on the pregnancy! I'm also about the same amount preggers, and the morning sickness has been so bad I'm a little scared to start a cake today...and it's red velvet, lol....
Yep just had to go through this clarification with a bunch of co-workers. Having been trying different recipes and finally got around to RV. Was going to go with Raven's but too many people seemed to find it too oily. So went with one that was made with butter. Had many discussions with co-workers about how RV was not chocolate cake with red food coloring added.
Good RV should not taste like food coloring (yes it is possible). Not sure about the claim about the cocoa powder being there to cover the taste. But it does react with vinegar to add a reddish color to the batter, thus making the food coloring more effective (sort of like dying icing pink before trying to make it red).
As to flavor, the best descriptions characterize it as a buttermilk flavored cake. If it tastes like nothing then frankly it is a bad recipe. The flavor may be mild but it is certainly not tasteless--or it shouldn't be. After all that however I think RV is just a glorified cream cheese icing delivery system.
Red velvet cake is , in fact, a mild chocolate cake with red food coloring added. The original red velvet cake did not even have red food coloring in it. Back before cocoa was processed as it is today, the reaction between the vinegar and the unprocessed cocoa would turn the cake a reddish brown color. This is also why Devil's Food Cake is named so...because of the reddish color the original recipe resulted in. Now, since unprocessed cocoa is less readily available in many areas, the recipe was changed to include red food coloring to mimic the reaction in the original recipes.
So, the cocoa is not added to cover the taste of the coloring. The cocoa was in the recipe before the coloring was. It's the coloring that was added to make up for the change in the properties of cocoa.
I don't care for it myself. Aside from the grotesque color, I don't find anything special or interesting about it.
I like to describe red velvet to my friends as a water down version of chocolate cake with red food coloring. I think the original recipe had something to do with a small amount of vinegar added to the cocoa and that turned a reddish color. But that story could be an urban legend.
I refer to it as "chocolate that can't make a commmitment." 
As bskinne said, I think it's not really intended to be considered a chocolate cake. I do use the original Waldorf Astoria recipe (which is on this site in recipes) that uses canned beets. You can't taste the beets and they do make it moist and somewhat red. I have a feeling it started out as a slightly red cake and it's evolved into a redder and redder cake over time to its freakishly red version that we see now.
I also think it's really funny that this is considered a southern recipe when the original was made in New York City. Go figure.
It doesn't taste like anything to me.
same here. I always describe it as "chocolate cake with red food coloring....big deal." Maybe I haven't tasted the right one or something, but there's no "unique" flavor to it as far as I can tell.
thanks Debi. thats what *I* always thought too.. i just never got the rave. i mean those from scratch i'm sure have a different flavor- guess i got jaded by a "red velvet" one i tried about 15 some years ago. hubby's super visor always got one from their secretary for his bday every year.. just raved about it was his favorite- was the only time he'd ask her instead of me to make one lol.. i found out she didn't do anything special. just a cake mix and red food coloring. i was like.. um hello? mine are BEtter!! lol they TASTE better...
not discounting that there are some red velvets out there that Are unique and great flavor- i just never have been able to experience them yet
can't wait!
As a southerner, I need to stand up for my old friend red velvet. Red velvet is NOT chocolate cake. It's essentially a buttermilk cake, the small amount of cocoa is added to cover the taste of the food coloring. If you sell it like a chocolate cake, you'll be in trouble. If you eat it expecting chocolate, you're in trouble. .
oh girl i'd LOVELOVELOVE to try this recipe! thank you for redeeming the cake with this gives me hope to be able to try a decent red velvet cake after all
don't suppose you know of a good one to try do you? 
I also think it's really funny that this is considered a southern recipe when the original was made in New York City. Go figure.
I'm pretty sure that it is a Southern Recipe. I've heard the Waldorf Astoria story, and I don't doubt that the Waldorf did serve Red Velvet Cake, but I don't think it was invented there.
I've heard it dates back to the Civil War and Southern wives would bake enticing cakes to keep their men at home. I've also heard that it's British and first appeared in America before the Revolution. And I've heard the Waldorf story.
I'm not saying any of these are the true story, but the prevalence of RV in the South makes me lean toward the Southern origin theory.
I just did a quick search for the "history of red velvet cake" (as a soon to be history teacher, of COURSE I'm gonna look it up! ). Pretty much every link I went into talked about the rumors and the myths surrounding this cake and the recipe, and not one of them could say for a fact where it started.
Things that make ya go "hmmmmmmmmm!"
I use Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix. My boss loves it. I just made a 3 D dog using Red Velvet. Everyone loved it. Tastes best with cream cheese frosting. But it is a pain when carving a cake what a mess.
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