Red Velvet Cake Taste Test!

So last week I decided to have a little red velvet taste testing session. I compared three cake recipes and two icing recipes. This is what it did to my kitchen... and I cleaned as I went! :/

One thing you definitely need with red velvet cake is plenty of red food coloring!

The batters all turned out so pretty and bright!

Ok, now to the point. The comparison! I cut three different recipe by four so I didn't have bazillions of cupcakes. 

                                          Batter #1:                                 Batter 2:

Batter 3:

And here is how they cooked up!

Ok, now onto the icings!

The first one I tried was a flour icing and can be seen below....and I uhhh...didn't make it right and it was uhhh...pretty bad. I'll have to try that one again sometime and see if it turns out better...

Next I made a vanilla icing with a vegetable shortening base and it was delicious! Definitely a keeper! Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the recipe!

Cupcake #1:

Cupcake #2:

Cupcake #3:

After they were all iced, it was time for the taste test! The best part!

After tasting all of them this is what I decided:

Cupcake 1: Very moist! Maybe too moist for a cupcake because it was hard to get out of the paper, but would be perfect for a cake. Also had great flavor! It didn't fluff up very much though.

Cupcake 2: A little dry. Easy to get out of the paper. Didn't rise very much. Overall, not great...

Cupcake 3: Beautiful, rose nicely. Came out of the paper easily.  Great texture. (And just so happen to be my mom's recipe! I guess mother really does know best!) Could use a little bit of a flavor boost compared to cupcake 1 though...sorry mom!

What I decided was that I basically want to cross the 1st and 3rd cupcake to get the flavor and moistness of the 1st, but the texture and looks from the 3rd. I also decided that chocolate cake is better than red velvet cake. Sorry, I know this is supposed to be about red velvet cake, but I like my chocolate cake better!

Ok, so for a delicious RED VELVET CAKE follow this recipe! (I will post a cupcake recipe once I play with combining the 1st and 3rd recipes) To make a fabulous, moist, flavorful two layer, 5 inch, round cake you will need (to make a 2 layer, 9 inch, round cake just double this recipe!):

• 1 cup FLOUR
• 1/2 tsp BAKING SODA
• 1/2 tsp BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 1 Tbs COCOA POWDER
• 1/2 cup CANOLA OIL
• 1 cup SUGAR
• 1 EGG, large
• 1/2 cup BUTTERMILK, room temperature
• 1 tsp VANILLA
• 1 tsp RED FOOD COLORING PASTE
• 1 tsp WHITE VINEGAR
• 1/4 cup BREWED HOT COFFEE

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 320 degrees F.
2. Mix the oil, sugar, and egg using an electric mixer. 
3. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, and food coloring. Mix until everything is well combined.
4. Mix in the vinegar and coffee. 
5. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 
6. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in the bowl of the electric mixer. 
7. Once all of the ingredients are well combined, divide the batter equally into greased and floured cake pans. 
8. Bake the cakes for 20 to 25 minutes.

To make the delicious VANILLA ICING you will need:

• 2 cup SHORTENING 
• 8 cup POWDERED SUGAR
• 0.5 tsp SALT
• 2 tsp VANILLA
• 6 oz. HEAVY CREAM

Directions:

1. Cream the shortening until it is fluffy using an electric mixer. 
2. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar. 
3. Add the salt, vanilla, and cream. Mix until well combined. 
4. If it is too thick add more cream, if it is too thin add more powdered sugar.

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Red Velvet Cake 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup FLOUR
• 1/2 tsp BAKING SODA
• 1/2 tsp BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 1 Tbs COCOA POWDER
• 1/2 cup CANOLA OIL
• 1 cup SUGAR
• 1 EGG, large
• 1/2 cup BUTTERMILK, room temperature
• 1 tsp VANILLA
• 1 tsp RED FOOD COLORING PASTE
• 1 tsp WHITE VINEGAR
• 1/4 cup BREWED HOT COFFEE

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 320 degrees F.
2. Mix the oil, sugar, and egg using an electric mixer. 
3. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, and food coloring. Mix until everything is well combined.
4. Mix in the vinegar and coffee. 
5. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 
6. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in the bowl of the electric mixer. 
7. Once all of the ingredients are well combined, divide the batter equally into greased and floured cake pans. 
8. Bake the cakes for 20 to 25 minutes.

---

Vanilla Icing

Ingredients:

• 2 cup SHORTENING 
• 8 cup POWDERED SUGAR
• 0.5 tsp SALT
• 2 tsp VANILLA
• 6 oz. HEAVY CREAM

Directions:

1. Cream the shortening in an electric mixer until it is fluffy. 
2. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar. 
3. Add the salt, vanilla, and cream. Mix until well combined. 
4. If it is too thick add more cream, if it is too thin add more powdered sugar.

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I found this red velvet cake on this website: http://vintagetrinkets.blogspot.sg/2013/08/red-velvet-cake-with-vanilla-cream.html