red velvet cake

Buttermilk makes for a softer cake. Shortening is bad for you... far worse than a natural fat.

Red Velvet Cake

SLIMJEN1:
Good afternoon to you. Thank-you for the easy question. Jen, all you need to do is remove up to 25% of the granulated sugar from the recipe & replace it with honey oz for oz. Mix it in after the eggs. Reduce the temp. by 15 degrees because honey carmelizes easy.
Good luck & enjoy the rest of the day young lady.

~Z~BESTUS.:chef:

I based my recipe for red velvet cake...

on "Cake Man Raven's" recipe. I cut down the oil and made some other changes though. I use

2 1/2 c flour
1/4 c cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 eggs
1 oz red food coloring

I think that the vinegar was originally supposed to react with the cocoa powder and cause a reddish hue. But, since most recipes now call for red dye, I'm not sure if it's still necessary. But, red velvet cake is supposed to have a slight tang so I add it anyway. It may also help the baking soda react more than to just the buttermilk. Not sure. Also, the oil does help keep the cake moist and soft, even straight out of the fridge.

I always thought the vinegar was there to make the batter wort of gum up, creading a denser cake. Could be wrong, but the vinegar always seems to be what makes my batter go from a normal batter texture to a mush (which I generally think is indicative of red velvet cake). I can't think of any really good science to back that up, but that's how it seems when I make them.

i'm not sure if this would help any, but i had made a red velvet cake for FCCLA competitions and it was complete murder. anyways, my lab instructor told me to add the vinegar last. she said that adding the vinegar with the baking soda would cause bubbling and wouldn't mix correctly. i hope this helps a little. :smiles:

I have a chocolate cake recipie that calls for vinegar... however you have to add the vinegar last! .... don't know why but that is what the recipie says

this choc cake recipie uses no eggs!!!.......

Red velvet cake.

I have never tasted, made or seen a red velvet cake....
But do have a recipe for a wonderful chocolate cake, posted in here some where but I can post again if you are interested. :-))) qahtan

RENE:
Good morning. Generally Rene, when vinegar is employed in a baking recipe it is to inhibit the gluten from forming . That is why it is used in pie pastry. In chocolate cake recipes it will do that as well & as a added feature it makes the chocolate much darker or redder in it's appearance.
Rene I hope this info helps you.
Good luck in your baking & have a nice day.

~ZEE.:chef:

Hi!! ok thankyou for the information

This particular chocolate cake is supposedly the Starbucks black bottom cupcake recipie, Only I omit the filling and make a 4 layer cake from it...... also it uses cocoa and not melted chocolate..... it is always moist never dry and the texture is perfect

I had an old vegan chocolate cake standyby recipe (that people loved btw) and it was eggless. It called for coffee, oil, and vinegar which was stirred in last to react with the baking soda. It aided in leavening since there was no egg.

I also had a vegan red velvet recipe, and it called for sour soymilk. It does add a bit of tartness but the buttermilk keeps it moist and helps it rise.

Maybe there is some other scientific reason for it, but I dunno.