Go to the Recipe: The Only Red Velvet Cake Recipe You’ll Ever Need
James, I want to try this recipe but I am confused about the volume of boiling water; did you add 440 gm of boiling water to the batter mix; thanks
the ingredient list includes 440 gm of water, divided; but the instructions only say "boil the water"; is it 440 gm minus 100 gm for the syrup that goes into the batter?
I got the regular marketing email today and saw this pic of this cake and thought I'd take a look. Much to my dismay, I saw cream cheese in the ingredients list. This cake is meant for Ermine icing. That's what was always put on red velvet cake before someone in the 80s decided to pop open a can of Pillsbury cream cheese icing rather than spend the 10 minutes making the correct icing. Since this is ChefSteps, I'd hope that proper research into the cake would have happened. Why, if I already know what icing? Because the Ermine icing recipes I have found seem to be missing technique, which is why I come to places like Chefsteps.
Hi Carly
I have the exact same problem. The cake is moist, tender and flavorful. Everywhere I go people love this cake and offer to buy one from me. But because its so tender these cake are hard to work with. Ive substituted cake flour for AP flour and they are still too tender. Someone please help us to stabilize this otherwise perfect cake!!
The cake came out great - moist and dense, but the frosting is way too sweet and has no tangy cream cheese flavor, so overall the cake seems flat in flavor and very sweet. Compared to other recipes for cream cheese frosting, the sugar and butter are too high in this one. My preference would be for something that highlights tanginess (and consume less sugar !) . Thanks for the great cake recipe!
make sure you find heat stable colours
Okay!
Awesome
A fine cake! Received rave reviews. A suggestion or two:
1. Taken from Southern Living Carrot Cake recipe - On removing the cakes from the oven, pour the warm syrup over each layer. The syrup will soak into the cake rather than making a sticky coat on top of each layer.
2. 10 grams of liquid food color seems to be appropriate.
3. Chill the layers before icing. A crumb coat on each layer makes for a cleaner final product.
4. Save a little icing to color red and use it on the side of the finished product - gives a nice look to the cake.
I have made quite a few of these, following this recipe, But there was something missing. on my second one I made minor adjustments and added 1 cup of espresso coffee not real strong(depending on your taste) I added this to the water weight just before boiling. also crown royal with the syrup. I've been using 9" cake pans instead of spring forms just add parchment paper in the bottom. A trick that I use to easy handling is to refrigerate the cakes for a couple of hours to over night or put them in the freezer for 3- 6 hours then put the syrup on, working with one at a time.
I have been asked how much do I want for a cake, one dude offered me $150 for one, wow
Hi there! The measurement on the ingredient list and method is not the same. Please do double check on it. Thanks
I've tried every type of food coloring there is from gel to powder and even old fashion liquid and the cake keeps turning brown after baking. Far from red. is it due to the hot water over activation the coco powder or what because I've never had this problem with other velvet recipes.
Any suggestions for converting this to high altitude? Mine just lava-d over and make a horrible mess. The flavor is spot on, has anyone tried raising the temp or adjusting the ratio? Thank you!!
Me too. The cake collapsed for me as well. 3 layers seems to be to heavy to support the bottom layer. Also, the cake crumbles and breaks apart to easily. I will try one more time and let the cake rest longer (maybe overnight) before assembling. Very disappointing that my first ChefSteps recipe wasn't a success. Especially when most ChefSteps recipes use very hard to find ingredients (Tartaric acid & Glycerol monostearate). Like my grandmother always said. "If you can't pronounce the ingredient then you shouldn't use it". All natural ingredients is how cakes were created and made in the past.
Yeah, like would yellow cake need the water? I'm assuming no, since it's used to bloom the cocoa 🤷🏽♀️
Mine turned out fine with 340g of water
Great Cake but 340g of hot water is too much. Batter came out runny and didn't set up very well. Recommend using less than half this.
I have been making red velvet cake since 1969 and have never used a cream cheese frosting which I think detracts from the flavor of the cake. I use an American buttercream (which is less sweet) but you can use an Italian or Swiss buttercream as well (recipes for all three available online - just Google). A less sweet buttercream really lets the flavor and texture of the red velvet cake shine.
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/weight-vs-volume-speed
Largely because weighing your ingredients is far more accurate, and not to mention way faster.
So thankful to you Ama for your reply. I will try it out asap. as for your yellow cake recipe, is it somewhere on this site? I have not been able to find it on your profile anywhere.
Hi Alex,
Italian meringue buttercream is my go to. It's not overly sweet, which I can't tolerate, and delicious. You can even decrease the sugar. This is one of my most used recipes:
Ingredients
Directions
Heat 1/2 cup water and 1 cup sugar until 240-245 degrees (up to 250).
Beat egg whites with the remaining quarter cup of sugar until stiff but not dry.
Pour in sugar syrup in an even stream and whip until bowl is cool.
Slow incorporate butter until everything comes together.
Add vanilla.
For yellow cake, I've adapted the Chef Steps recipe with great results. Give it a go.
Just as I mentioned after baking the Ultimate Chocolate cake, this is an extraordinary cake as well. So grateful to ChefSteps. If there is somebody out there that has a moment to spare, I have a couple of issues to which I would love to gather some support. I am looking to perfect a vanilla/white icing that is less sweet, probably meringue based/mousse tasting. I am from US and understand we often have cloyingly sweet frostings where sugar dominates or obscures the more subtle flavors.
Also, could some one post a white/yellow cake equivalent as I want badly to make yellow cake as scrumptious as the red velvet and chocolate versions. Lastly, has anyone at ChefSteps or beyond experimented with adding more GMS and what was the result? For instance, why only 11g and not 20g?
weighing makes sure the recipe turns out right every time. there will be some slight variation using cup and tsp
new member, why is everything in grams instead of cup and tsp?
Could I use liquid red food coloring instead of powder? I have so much of it at home...
Hi
i do not get why this HUGE amount of sugar on the frosting
i have never seen this in any recipe or formula
could you please explain?
PS - also no vinegar? perhaps you prefer the tartaric acid?
regards
The cake turned out wonderful and got rave reviews. Had trouble with my icing sugar, so I actually turned the icing into a really yummy buttery caramel sauce instead. Just added heat and dessert was saved. Served with some of the chocolate caviar from another Chefsteps recipe and salt flakes. Wonderful.
http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=260984&source=sho_&utm_source=google%2Bshopping&utm_medium=organic%2Bgs&utm_campaign=google%2Bshopping&gclid=Cj0KEQjwhN-6BRCJsePgxru9iIwBEiQAI8rq87jOb-KrgEqDaQkii7Zd9dizCLwNYARGOkp4ictMUOQaAigE8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CNn12pXnmM0CFeZV2wod0NULdg I tried the carrot cake and it works with british flour u can always use the plain plus corn starch it works really well as they say here http://www.bexzwalker.co.uk/cake-flour-substitute-uk-how-to-make-your-own-cake-flour/
Hi, any recipe for a great plain vanilla cake?
Sean,
For every cup of cake flour use one cup All Purpose minus 2 Tbsp and add 2 Tbsp corn starch. Sift well.
In other words; one cup cake flour + 14 Tbsp AP flour plus 2 Tbsp corn starch
Another thing that came to my mind: many recipes warn you of over-beating the batter once you've added the flour to prevent too much gluten "formation" and the cake from getting tough. I've never over-beaten a batter on purpose and since this is an oil- and not a butter-cake the effect of over-beating may be not that huge, but maybe it helps...
Hi Carly,
I've just made the Ultimate Chocolate Cake (essentially the same recipe, although I skipped the syrup) as a three tier cake 10 days ago, which worked pretty well. Of course, the cake wasn't that huge (8'', 6'' and 4'') and the KitKat-bars plus some wooden skewers helped stabilizing the cake and enabled me to transport it by car. So, what I'm saying, it could work if you don't want to make a bigger cake and/or cover it in heavy fondant.
Substituting the cake flour with AP flour (all of it, though!) should result in a less tender cake - I think it's worth giving it a try! I'm planning to try the Ultimate Chocolate Cake recipe with some chocolate in it, as I was missing a more chocolatey flavor - if this results in a denser cake I will let you know. ;-)
Best regards, Alexa
After 3 more attempts, I have officially abandoned this recipe. I'm certain I'm following the directions to a T (other than 10" rounds instead of 9") and even bought a very precise digital scale to measure down to the .1g. No luck! It is so tender I can't stack the layers without them falling apart. This cake's sad broken pieces have ended up on my floor so many times... So, while it is still the most delicious cake I've ever had, the fact that it falls apart so easily means I'll probably never make it again :-(
Bleached flour is the correct word to use for "Cake Flour" as opposed to Strong Flour or "Bread Flour'. in Italy you could use "00" flour which is soft flour, suitable for pastries.
I just made this cake this morning, the texture doesn't turn out right. It has big bubbles instead the tiny. And it seems the cake collapsed during baking. I am wondering is there any temperature difference using convection oven or regular oven. In the chocolate video, it is the convection oven. Maybe I need to raise the temp to 350 if using regular oven?
Hi,
I wonder if you can use glycerol monostearate in butter based cake as opposed to oil. For example, I cannot see that a pound cake would or should be made with oil. Hence, my question is whether glycerol monostearate can be used in cake recipes is the main fat?
Has anyone tried just making this with Plain Flour? Can't get cake flour in the UK and have read people saying to just take some out and add corn flour but not sure about it. Don't want to use all of the ingredients up if it is going to fail!
Thanks!
Awesome! Thanks Karen!
Well, I got crazy and tried it with an extra egg yolk, no boiling water, and baked at 325. Resulted in a much denser crumb, but it's not as delicious as the first attempt was. I think 325 was a mistake - in the oven it smelled sunburnt. Maybe I'll try the original recipe again and this time use the syrup, which I haven't tried yet? Does the syrup make that big of a structural difference - does it hold all those delicious crumbs together? Guide me, ChefSteps! Oh, also, I should mention - I need these to be 10" rounds. I've been using 700g of batter per pan instead of 600g - perhaps not enough?
Thanks James!! Glad you guys loved it! Also, homemade rum! Sweet!
No, it really doesn't taste like vodka at all. The vodka just cuts into the sweetness so it's not cloying, but it doesn't taste like alcohol in our opinions.
I'm making my wedding cake this summer, and I've been through tons of red velvet recipes trying to find "the one." Made this cake a couple days ago, and it's far and away the most delicious red velvet cake I've ever tasted, let alone come out of my oven!
My question is... this cake was extremely tender. Falling apart tender. Tender to the point of there's NO WAY this could be a bottom layer for a 3-tier cake. What do you recommend if I want to make it more dense? Thinking I'll try eliminating the boiling water, cranking up the heat to 350, and... adding another egg? Substituting in some AP flour? You guys are the experts, eager to hear if you have any thoughts, or if the mere suggestion of something different is sacrilege!!
Just wondering with the syrup, can you taste the vodka? I am making this for my daughter's birthday so don't want it trading of booze! Thanks
The selection of vodka. I understand it's physical purpose, but recommend something extra; t.ex the polish vodka Zubrovka with the taste of coumarin (vanilla, cinnamon, marzipan) is marvelous
Does that mean that if we just use plain flour for this recipe it will not work correctly? Thanks.
Made this cake with my teenage daughter last night. The comments below regarding shelf life are laughable, because this cake barely made 24 hours before it was completely devoured by family and friends You guys knocked this one out of the park! In spite of the apparently inexcusable lack of professional video production (which we enjoy when presented) we were able to survive with the archaic use of the written word provided by the team. Ordered the GMS off of Amazon, never used it before but compared to other cakes we've made this was amazing. The only substitution we made was some homemade rum for the vodka.
All in all, a tremendous recipe, great fun with one of my teenagers, and perhaps a few too many carbs in my diet this weekend. Thanks to Chefsteps for a great experience for me and my family to enjoy, I cannot tell you how much we get from this site!
Hi! I would like to know if I could substitute tartaric acid with something else. I live in Tokyo and I can't find it here. Also, I can't find powdered food coloring. Can I use liquid or gel (like Wilton)? Thanks.
Not as beautiful due to uneven oven heating and lack of cake turner, but damn was it delicious...
Thanks much the time to answer , Peter . So , would you extrapolate/ generalize that for all cakes with baking soda in the batter I should switch to an aprés bake slam & eliminate the pre- slam .. or perhaps add 2 slams to every cake.. A pre and a post bake ?
Since there is baking soda in the batter, CO2 will be released as the cakes bake (along with some water that shifts from the liquid to the gasious phase). This is a desirous result, and the reason why it was added to the batter, but there are cases where the air pockets can become quite large rather than evenly dispersed. To counter these large bubbles you can slam the cakes on the counter, just like before baking, to collapse the larger bubbles (since they are less stable than their smaller brethren).
I am not very familiar with how beet vs artificial red stack up to each other, but I can only assume that either the artificial red was superior or it was what the Chef Steps team had lying around the kitchen.
I've been told that bleached flour isn't available in Europe. Here is a blogger that has researched extensively into how to have the flour available to her perform the same as cake flour would:
http://amerrierworld.com/kate-flour/
She heat treats it by microwaving it.
I've got a couple of questions. The recipe has baking soda, baking powder and tartaric acid. Since baking soda + tartaric acid (cream of tartar) = baking powder, why all three?
As far as Red Velvet being a chocolate cake, I've always called it a cocoa cake. I know, I know, chocolate cake is chocolate because of cocoa, LOL, but since Red Velvet has only 1/3 amount of cocoa as most chocolate cakes, it's really not that chocolatly. It really just has a hint of chocolate.
Where's the vinegar? A red velvet cake without vinegar is just a chocolate cake. My sister and I were dining at a 4 star restaurant once and had a piece of red velvet. It tasted nothing like red velvet in spite of being red. We looked at each other and at the same time said "No vinegar" and pushed it away. It really amps up the twang of the buttermilk.
"What we do know is that bleached flour is better able to form a matrix that can hold together a high-ratio cake. (High-ratio cakes are cakes in which the quantity of sugar and/or fat exceed the quantity of flour in the recipe.)"
Can I substitute GMS with regular glycerol (liquid)? Any other close substitute?
Does anyone know why slam the cake tins on counter after baking ( as opposed to my usual before baking)?
Thank you ! I'd also be curious why the food colouring was preferred to beets by Chef Steps ?
Why bleached flour? Which flour is right with italian definitions?
I love the videos too -- but I appreciate the challenges pumping em out so quickly and I know you're hiring more videographers for us. So thanks for that! I'd rather a couple recipes a week without videos than no recipes at all. Thanks for being awesome.
