Go to the Recipe: The Only Red Velvet Cake Recipe You’ll Ever Need
Seeing as red wine pairs nicely with chocolate, would there be a way to substitute the vodka with red wine in the syrup?
Surprised to not see more pictures or any videos. Looks fantastic though!
Why oh why must you have used cream cheese frosting?! I grew up eating this cake and it never had cream cheese frosting on it. Ever. Cream cheese frosting is too strong for the subtle taste of a red velvet cake. The cakes I had growing up had 2 different kinds of a cooked white sugar frosting. One was a white flour and milk concoction whipped together with granulated sugar and I haven't seen the other since I was young. Cream cheese frosting came along later after it became popular in the 80s.
Why oh why do people have to Fking complain about something on every fking recipe???
In step 15 do you mean we should let it rest outside the fridge? Also what do you recon is the shelf life of this cake outside the fridge?
Why oh why must this cake look so good?!
More videos please!!!!!
How should I change the recipe if I live in Bogotá? I showld use a lot less baking soda and baking powder. 😧
What is subtle in the flavor of chocolate cake dyed red? Plus, you can put whatever type of frosting you want on the cake. What you are describing is usually called Ermine Icing and you are right, it was the original frosting for red velvet cake.
Please don't use bad language or be vulgar on this website.....It's a very classy website for people who are passionate about food and it's not a place for it.....Thank you kindly, Sam
I have always used beet juice for my red velvet cake because for some reason I can taste the bitter red food coloring and it has always worked great. But I cant tell my girlfriend , she hates beets. lol
Please make moooore videos about the recipes you upload.
With all respect, I'd have to pass trying a recipe if there is no video... this is the 2nd one this week... sigh
Dude, you might want to fill in the chefs at ChefSteps about that: https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/audio-at-chefsteps-explicit
I'd be curious to see your sources on this: I've seen recipes for cream cheese icing on red velvet cake going as far back as the 1950's. While I understand that it's not what mom used to make, it's their recipe, and they can do what they like.
That's your loss.
Because this is the internet, and sadly, some people haven't gotten a firm grip on their shoulders and pull their heads out of their collective asses.
Why not? As you're not trying to cook off the alcohol, a 1 to 1 ratio should work just fine in replacing the vodka with red wine. Give it a go, and let us know how it turns out.
why no video :-(
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.
Why bleached flour? Which flour is right with italian definitions?
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 ?
Can I substitute GMS with regular glycerol (liquid)? Any other close substitute?
"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.)"
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.
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.
Hi Clay! No "must"—you can use whatever frosting you like!
Hi Maria! Sorry you're disappointed but have you seen our Ultimate Chocolate Cake video? It's the same basic layer cake technique, so if you want to see the steps here demo'ed in a video, you might want to check it out! https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-chocolate-cake
Yes, we recommend resting it at room temp. It should last about a week!
I have seen you guys do a ton of background research on your recipes, so using the default icing and not even covering the options was a little disappointing. The recipe for the cake itself looks fantastic.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=266&dat=19610727&id=seQrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KWcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2924,6835138&hl=en
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19880202&id=c1NTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PoQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6379,443761&hl=en
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19780722&id=yBosAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7cYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4228,4136511&hl=en
Almost without fail, the recipes after about 1990 had cream cheese frosting, none of the early ones had it, however.
For decades people have used mysterious tomes known as "cook books" which contained only written lists and static pictures to convey information about a recipe and how to prepare it. While it may be a stretch for you to reach back to such primitive and counter-intuitive technology, I'm sure that you can summon the courage to do as your ancestors did and attempt to create something after you have only read the detailed directions provided without having a live demonstration. Consider it an experiment in living in the days of yore.
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.
The alcohol is being added the syrup to disrupt sugar crystal formation, not to impart a particular flavor (hence why vodka is used), but if you would like to add wine then that should be fine - just scale the vodka according by the alcohol volume of wine added, and run a test batch to make sure the consistently is of similar viscosity to the original syrup.
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 ?
Thanks for the feedback, Ana! We try to vary how we deliver content, but it's great for us to know that you'd like to see more videos!
Thanks for the feedback, Spencer! We try to vary how we deliver content, but it's great for us to know that you'd like to see more videos!
Thanks for your feedback here! We'll definitely take it into consideration.
Thanks for the feedback, Loukas!
Hi Aaron! We try to vary the way we deliver our content and producing some recipes without videos allows us to do a bit more, but it's great to know that you prefer the video option!
Not as beautiful due to uneven oven heating and lack of cake turner, but damn was it delicious...
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.
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!
Does that mean that if we just use plain flour for this recipe it will not work correctly? 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
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
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!!
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.
Thanks James!! Glad you guys loved it! Also, homemade rum! Sweet!
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?
Awesome! Thanks Karen!
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!
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?
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?
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.
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 :-(
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
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...
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
Hi, any recipe for a great plain vanilla cake?
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/
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.
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
Could I use liquid red food coloring instead of powder? I have so much of it at home...
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.
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!!
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
