Most definitely a southern girl and RV is a favorite of mine but only the recipe my mother makes and only when she makes it. I can't get it to come out exactly like she does but she uses an oil recipe that calls for 2 bottles of red food color (yeah two). What makes hers so different is the texture. It isn't a stiff cake but rather a dark red, moist, velvety, crumby creation that really just kind of melts in your mouth. She stacks three inch and a half high layers with a sour cream/cream cheese icing and lots of PEE-CANs (maybe that's what makes it so southern). It really isn't a cake that would allow for perfect roundness or sharp clean edges like a decorated cake but it freezes beautifully.
I use Chef Stef's recipe, with cake flour instead of AP (which makes all the difference in the world to me... no corn meal smell and taste) and cider vinegar in place of regular.
My family and anyone else who I've made this for LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe! It took me a while to find the RV recipe I really liked. I will say that I prefer the cooked frosting with it though. Like a PP said, cream cheese just seems to mask the flavor, while the cooked frosting lets the cake be the star.
The best way to describe a real red velvet cake to me is it's like a butter cake with a slight tang (from the vinegar). Not enough to really notice, but enough to set it apart from plain butter cake. It's really not supposed to have a chocolate flavor to it, just enough to hint at it. To me the appeal of red velvet is the cream cheese frosting along with the bright red color and the indistinguishable flavor of the cake. If done correctly, it's amazing. I have a recipe that is very old and calls for vinegar and buttermilk and a couple of tsp's of cocoa powder. I love it!
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed what Florian said! I was like what?, i thought red velvet was a buttermilk cake with a hint of cocoa?! oh well , i use the cakeman raven recipe as well but with dark dutch process cocoa and it it my best seller, I always sell out when I do the markets, personally red velvet isnt my favorite, but you know what they say,
if something isnt broken , dont fix it !
lol
Just wondering if you make any adjustment to the recipe for the dutch processed cocoa since it is alkalized or, do you just do a straight up swap?
Hi SweetSuzieQ
I actually just swap the regular cocoa for the dutch dark cocoa, my cake comes out a ruby red not bright red, and I have been told its amazing, I sell out every weekend and get orders from ppl just to make sure its there. I never gave any thought to the fact that the dutch process cocoa is alkalized, would that change a recipe?
From what I have read, without adjusting the baking soda (which I believe is in dutch processed) the cake can sink but, clearly you haven't had that problem!! LOL
Oh, I actually didnt know that! My cupcakes dome really nicely and I havent had any problems with sinking, I buy the Costco brand of dark dutch cocoa if that make any difference? I like to experiment so I just happened to try the dark cocoa by chance and we all loved it 
You probably did the right thing...LOL...I made a Red Velvet cupcake recipe today and used the dutch and omitted the baking soda and, they sort of domed up at the bottom of the cupcake (very weird like reverse sinking).
I was watching fabulous cakes the other day and someone one the show mentioned using beet juice to give the rv cake the red color instead of food coloring. During the cake tasting the customer said it was delicious.
Do any of you use beet juice? Can you share your recipe? It sounds interesting.
This is the one I use:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/red-velvet-cake-recipe/index.html
I've used Cake Man Raven's but I like Bobby Flay's better.
Cakeman's recipe uses 1c. buttermilk. I already have heavy whipping cream. Could I use 1 c. of heavy whipping cream instead of the buttermilk?
This may be a stupid question, but I've never made red velvet cake before. How would this affect the cake?
I wouldn't try the red velvet cake with Heavy cream. It might change the texture of the cake.
I made red velvet cupcakes and my buttermilk was too old, It had seperated maybe if I had shook it up it might have worked ,but anyway my cupcakes didn't rise. So I make sure my buttermilk is fresh and I shake it up first. Now you can make buttermilk with whole milk by adding one tablepoon of vinegar or Lemon juice to one cup.
I once heard a story of the beginnings of the Red Velvet cake had something to do with a chocolate shortage? Anyhow, supposedly bakers began using beet juice to darken the chocolate cake when they were forced to ration the chocolate. So I guess if that story is true, it was originally intended to be a diluted chocolate cake...
sorry for being off topic but thought it fit somewhere!
One more question about Cakeman's recipe:
It indicates that all three round cakes should bake at the same time, but I only have one pan.
If the remaining batter is sitting while one pan bakes at a time, will this somehow affect the batter/cake?
Thanks for the help.
One more question about Cakeman's recipe:
It indicates that all three round cakes should bake at the same time, but I only have one pan.
If the remaining batter is sitting while one pan bakes at a time, will this somehow affect the batter/cake?
Thanks for the help.
One more question about Cakeman's recipe:
It indicates that all three round cakes should bake at the same time, but I only have one pan.
If the remaining batter is sitting while one pan bakes at a time, will this somehow affect the batter/cake?
Thanks for the help.
I think it does, it probably doesn't have a huge effect on it but I've seen differences when I waited to bake the batter. The taste is still the same but it doesn't rise as much as it would have. This has just been my own experience might be different for others.
One more question about Cakeman's recipe:
It indicates that all three round cakes should bake at the same time, but I only have one pan.
If the remaining batter is sitting while one pan bakes at a time, will this somehow affect the batter/cake?
Thanks for the help.
Hopefully we are talking about the same version -- the version I am familiar with uses baking soda as its leavening agent. Baking soda reacts with acidic ingredients--the vinegar and the buttermilk will both start to react with the baking soda. Generally goods with baking soda need to be baked immediately as the reaction starts once it comes into contact with the acidic ingredients.
You will likely find that the longer the batter sits the less it will rise--there may not be much left by the time you get the third cake in the oven. Less rise will impact the texture of the cake--it will be more dense.
Red velvet originally came around before everything was processed. When it was in it's natural state there was a chemical reaction between the cocoa powder and the acid in the batter that in turn made it red. Everything we do now is because of all the processing that our ingredients go through these days.
Anyways, I used to be on the same page as most of you about red velvet being over-rated and nothing special, then on a hunt for a good recipe I compared a whole bunch to see any variations. I tried one that stuck out to me, it had much more cocoa than the rest. It's in Confetti Cakes Book and I absolutely loved it! Usually I taste, then say ok and stop. But this one... I kept eating, so I decided it must be really good! lol I also saw that Ron Ben Israel uses the same recipe
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