RED Red Velvet Cake

I absolutely love red velvet cake and I use this recipe each time I make it. The end product produces a rich, deep red and moist, light texture. The deep red color is achieved using a combination of cocoa rouge and beet juice – it’s how I get my required daily serving of vegetable.

Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter
2 tbsp water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use E. Guittard’s red dutch cocoa powder – Cocoa Rouge)
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp beet juice (1 medium beet yields about 4 tbsp or you may substitute with food colour)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 F.

Place the butter, water, and cocoa in a saucepan and heat gently, without boiling. Stir until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Beat together the buttermilk, vanilla extract, eggs, vinegar and beet juice until frothy. Beat in the butter mixture. Sift together the flour, cornstarch and baking powder, then stir into the mixture along with the superfine sugar.

Pour batter into pan of your choosing and bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then place on a wire rack and cool completely before frosting.

Cut a slice, or just dig in and enjoy!

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Jacqueline: http://www.isugarcoatit.com | http://www.facebook.com/ISugarCoatIt

13 Comments

I can’t think of a better way to get in a vegetable serving. Looks great!

Benni - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adventures-in-Caking/128896783863694

Wow this recipe looks amazing, and look at the red you’ve achieved! Great job I can’t wait to try this out!

Esther @ The Frosted Cake Boutique | www.facebook.com/thefrostedcakeboutique

can i use oil instead of butter? and what is the best substitute for buttermilk? b’coz here in my place it’s hard to find buttermilk. tnx a lot.

Christina, I have not tried it with oil, but you can google how to make that substitution. Re: buttermilk, you can actually make it yourself, instructions here.

Jacqueline: http://www.isugarcoatit.com | http://www.facebook.com/ISugarCoatIt

If i don’t have E. Guittard’s red dutch cocoa powder, would i be able to use Hersey’s unsweetened cocoa powder ?

when I make red velvet cakes the centre is red and about an inch around the sides it goes brown why does this happen? I would love it to look as red as yours.

can i decorate this cake with Fondant?

Is this firm enough for fondant and construction cakes – I am looking for a good dense red velvet for this purpose that I dont have to bake in 2 tins

Janette, Jake's Cakes, www.facebook.com/eatJakesCakes