I’ve never been a particularly adventurous person when it comes to eating. I like my tinned spaghetti, my Cadbury’s chocolate, my weetbix. Don’t get me wrong, I love to eat fancy food as well, I just don’t seem to get around to it all that often. Recently however, a switch has been flipped. I’ve found myself thinking “what’s all the fuss about xyz food?” And the food that has been pre occupying my mind was been Red Velvet Cake. When I saw this Red Velvet Recipe on the amazing Bakerella’s website I thought that this must be the time to take the plunge.
so…
Did it live up to the hype?
well… it was interesting to see the mix turn from a weird milky brown to blood red
ok so you cant really see that it’s blood red here. But you can see that I made a layer cake. Again. They’re so much fun, can you blame me? And see that filling? Its cream cheese frosting. Yummo!
And did I decorate that baby? You becha! I used these cute little hearts from Roberts Confectionery that I got at Peters of Kensington
Sometimes you just need to keep it simple. Stupid!
How good does layer cake look when you carve it up? All that cream cheese frosting…
The Verdict: well it was light and moist and my goodness, the frosting was amazing. I could eat whole bowls of that. The cake however, was not that amazing. It was nice… but I feel like its a bit of a mutant flavour. Not quite vanilla, not quite chocolate, not quite a discernible flavour of its own. Guess what cake? I want you to taste distinct! And you did not 🙁
So, my lovelies, what did I do wrong? Am I just not that enamored with Red Velvet or is there a better recipe I should be using? Advice please!! And are there any flavours that you have tried lately that you just weren’t that fussed about?
Never made a velvet cake before but check out the one in the december donna hay magazine p 181 – sounds much better – made with butter for a start, and no vinegar!
xx
I got to taste this one… I thought it was nice when i got a spoon of both cake and frosting. Cake on its own… well… i was amazed at the lack of flavour. I say try another recipe!
Thats what I thought Catrin. The consensus seems to be though that the Bakerella is one of the better recipes. I will try the Donna Hay one Melon if I can borrow your mag! 😛
I have my two kids begging me for some red velvet cake; i would do it, it just seems like I can’t justify all that sugar! yours looks very luscious with so many layers and that creamy frosting.
It is alot of sugar but the frosting is definitely the best part of the cake. It was very moist and creamy, maybe an adults only dish 😉
of course you can borrow it! 🙂
haha thanks Melon! Although I just bought it…
I am a red velvet convert. Its meant to be lightly chocolatey, but I swear the red gives it another flavour 😛
Also remember, if you are using aussie measuring cups, that it might mess up US recipes (I think Bakerella is from the northern hemisphere) particularly if you measure some thigns by weight and some by volume. US cups and TBSP are smaller
I use this recipe: http://sweetebakes.blogspot.com/2010/07/are-you-ready-for-best-red-velvet.html but I didnt use shortening, just more butter, and had good sucess.
The vinegar is fine – its what gives the amazing fluffiness! But I use apple cider just in case.
Hi Bron, thanks for your detailed reply! Im glad you said it should be lightly chocolatey because I definitely didnt get that from this recipe. Bakerella does use US measurements so I might be going wrong there. I will try your recommended recipe and also the trick with the apple cider vinegar. Thanks!
That’s the thing with red velvet, it’s not chocolate, and it’s not vanilla. It’s not meant to be distinct. It’s just a “light cocoa” cake. Most of the recipes I have seen, however, use 2T of cocoa and Bakerella’s only uses 1. I’m not sure that would be enough of a difference for you, though. My favorite version of this cake is a cupcake with a dollop of whipped cheesecake on the top in addition to vanilla frosting.