Red Velvet Chocolate Cake
- Rate152
- Comments()
Holiday Baking 2002, Special Issue 2002
- Yield Makes 1 two-layer cake
Add to Shopping List
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter, for cake pans
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour, not self-rising
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- Seven Minute Frosting Seven-Minute Frosting
Directions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans. Sprinkle with flour, and tap out the excess; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk cake flour, salt, and cocoa; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and oil, and beat on medium speed until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add food coloring and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
- In a small bowl, mix baking soda and vinegar until combined. Add to batter, and beat for 10 seconds. Evenly divide batter between the prepared pans.
- Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool in the pans for 5 minutes. Remove from the pans, and return to the rack to cool completely.
Cook's Note
If you want your cake to be even redder, increase the food coloring by one to three tablespoons.
Recipe Reviews
More from Food
New From Our Blogs
-
an ode to vinegar
Everyday Food Blog, February 22, 2012 -
Three Oscar-Themed Dinner Parties
Taste of the Test Kitchen, February 22, 2012 -
today's recipe: pork tenderloin with sauteed apples and leeks
Everyday Food Blog, February 21, 2012 -
today's recipe: Huevos Rancheros
Everyday Food Blog, February 20, 2012 -
today's recipe: Chicken and Lentil Burger
Everyday Food Blog, February 19, 2012
This is the best red velvet cake ever!!! I've been baking cakes regularly for three years now, and this is my most requested cake. I do have my own cream cheese frosting recipe that I use with this cake. This cake is moist, not too sweet, great color. But one has to REALLY follow the instructions, esp the last part, where you only stir in the batter, the baking soda with vinegar for "10 seconds". One time I wasn't paying attention and overstirred.The batter overflowed while baking!
I absolutely love this cake delicious!!
i used coolwhip +(store bought) cream cheese frosting, folded it together and BAM!! AWESOMENESS!!
This was a wonderful cake. My family and I really enjoyed this cake. However I made a cream cheese frosting.
Absolutely THEE best red velvet recipe I have made. It was so incredibly moist that you could even eat it without any frosting!! Thank you Martha this will be a definite keeper!!
I made this cake for an audition for a TV show in the UK. I was really pleased with it. The frosting looked great, the cake tasted good. (I put a bit in a cupcake case and baked it) Took it along and the two celebrities judging had this to say on the crumb: " too doughy" "bland" "flavourless" "left a baking soda tang in the throat" . The frosting was not nice apparently - the meringue should taste of smooth caramel and have a bit of a crust. I was at a loss.
Made cupcakes - very moist and yummy! Changes I made were: regular flour in place of cake flour (didn"t have any in the pantry) and only about 1/8th cup of red food coloring ( all I had on hand). I also used a cream cheese frosting. Recipe is a keeper!!
Yes Claire86 I did have to add extra time too it .The middle was a little wet still when I first tested it..This tasted delicious however when it was finish! :)
Where do you purchase Red Food Coloring in that amount...the ones we buy here in Ottawa the bottles are about 1 inch high not 1/4 cup in that!
Where do you purchase Red Food Coloring in that amount...the ones we buy here in Ottawa the bottles are about 1 inch high not 1/4 cup in that!
Did anyone else have to add an extra 10 minutes to baking time??? When I tested the cakes at 30-35 mins they were NOT done! Jiggly in the middle and the cake tester came out with wet cake batter on it. :P I followed the recipe strictly, so I'm not sure what happened...BUT, they sure turned out delicious!!
Try this version. Make 2 cakes batches, 1 red and 1 green but use ONLY 1/8 cup (2 OZ) green, trust me on this one for the 2nd cake. Make 3-8 inch layers of each batch. Assemble 2 cakes, one red/green/red and the other green/red/green. Frost and decorate with silver cake beads and glitter for a frosty, snowy, dreamy look. When you cut the cake it is beautiful. I also grew up with the cake and this is my version. Enjoy
Ack, never mind - I must need eye glasses. Swear I did not see the buttermilk ingredient first time I looked. Sorry! But try buttercream frosting - it really is delicious too. :)
Love ya Martha, but no, red velvet cake is NOT simply chocolate cake with lots of red food color! I've grown up loving my Mom's authentic southern red velvet cake recipe, it calls for buttermilk and has many differences from a standard chocolate cake recipe. Also buttercream frosting, although cream cheese icing seems to be the standard now - I understand what is considered authentic depends in part on region.
This cake is AMAZING! I made it for an Aunt's Birthday and everyone LOVED it! Avery one raved about how moist it was. I used the cream cheese frosting instead of the 7 minute and it was a great pairing. A cousin liked it so much he asked ME to make the same cake for him for his birthday and not his Aunt who is an expert baker! Thanks Martha!
Lil help needed pls. I own an OTG - Morphy 28 ltrs. A newbee to baking - Can I pre-heat the otg at 350F for 10 mins? - At what temperature do I bake the cake for 30-35 minutes (as mentioned)?
I made this cake for a birthday party and was so happy with the results! I only added a 1 oz. bottle of red food coloring, instead of the 1/4 c. (2 oz.) the recipe calls for, which produced a very red cake and used Martha's cream cheese frosting instead. What a great recipe. I will definitely be adding it to my repertoire.
Hi,
I am from Israel. I wish to know how much butter need to use for this cake (gram). We have a deferent quantity here.
thenks,
Adi
I wanted to do something special for my husband on his promotion to captain. Searching for a recipe for a chocolate red velvet cake I found and trusted this one ..OF COURSE ANYTHING THAT HAS THE NAME MARTHA STEWART ATTACHED HAS TO BE A GOOD RECIPE. Two hours after the cake finished baking it was gone and my husband was in his favorite chair asleep and happy. Thanks Martha.
I made this for a Mothers Day luncheon. It was the best cake EVER !!!!!!!
Anyone know the conversion to use gel food coloring instead of liquid?
This was an amazing cake for a friend's birthday. So moist and delicious! I also used the cream cheese frosting recipe found here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/ultimate-cream-cheese-frosting
The cake was alright but I hate the icing.
Excellent! Extremely moist and delicious. I found the red coloring to be fine as is and not necessary to add more food coloring. I prepared with cream cheese frosting and it was wonderful. I highly recommend and will definitely make again and again!
This is the best chocolate cake I've ever made - or tasted. I use vegetable oil instead of canola oil.
This is one of the best red velvet cakes I've had! It came out very moist and delicious! I used the cream cheese frosting and got many compliments.
This is a great cake that isn't hard to make, yet very impressive! I loved it, so moist, chocolatey, and pretty! I used a thick chocolate ganache frosting and it came out decadent!
Try the wonderful cream cheese frosting that is listed with Martha's hummingbird cake. It is delightful and I am using it today with this recipe.
The frosting link is working again. If you run into trouble, here's the web address for it:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/seven-minute-frosting?lnc=5a79cf380e...
The frosting link is working again. If you run into trouble, here's the web address for it:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/seven-minute-frosting?lnc=5a79cf380e...
Fantastic. I made cupcakes from this recipe and they were divine, very moist and spongy. I topped them with cream cheese frosting, haven't tried the 7-min. frosting yet.
the seven minute frosting recipe is unavailable ! someone have it???
My Valentine's Day cupcakes were moist and yummy! Baked about 20 minutes, topped with Seven Minute Frosting. They looked so pretty that I didn't even add sprinkles! I'll keep this recipe...
I made Valentine cupcakes with this recipe (and Buttercream frosting). I agree with the previous comment: check on the cake! I baked the cupcakes for 25 minutes. I didn't have cake flour, so I used all purpose flour, sifted it 3 times, and remeasured. They are the best cupcakes I've ever made.
This recipe is Fabulous! I searched for THE Perfect RV Cake recipe, and this is it. It's light in texture and has an excellent crumb. It's not heavy like a lot of other homemade cakes. The flavor is yummy, and the cake was very moist. I baked it for 28 minutes. I would recommend checking the cakes before the minimum baking time. I added an extra tablespoon of coloring. It had a nice, dark red color. Thanks Martha for delivering a cake recipe with everything I was looking for!
This was delicious. My in-laws say it's the best birthday cake to date. I'm going to use this batter to make cupcakes for Valentine's Day.