Best recipe for Red Velvet cupcakes (chemistry)?

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PhilippeJoneson

Assistant Cook
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Messages
12
Before we go off on how you can't virtually taste the baked goods,
I want to ask which you think would taste better, or which you would follow personally.

Here are my options:
Red Velvet Cupcakes « Baking Bites
Cupcakes - Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe from WomansDay.com
Cupcakes: Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe : Paula Deen : Food Network
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9cxBhTj9Nw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UXVqmM63fU&feature=fvwrel

I tried this one today (came out dry, I yielded 10 cupcakes:
Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe - Allrecipes.com


And I know to try out the cream cheese frosting/icing ontop.

However, I've also been recommended Mascarpone frosting and purchased Mascarpone cheese to try it.

I have one shot, and my goal is about 30-60 cupcakes.

From speculation and elimination, which do you think would work best?
 
i'd buy a cake mix. lol. no i really did, was a limited offer at my market. going to make cupcakes out of one of them. my four year old great granddaughter is going to help me. didn't think she has enough of an attention span for the from scratch ones.
 
I have decided to go with Paula's myself!

And thanks for the welcome :)


Anyways, I was thinking to myself,
Would I rather use Vegie oil or substitute it for melted butter?

What do you think?

And what's your opinion on knocking the cocoa powder up to about 2 - 3 teaspoons or 1 table spoon. (I want to keep the nice, velvety color, while pushing some sweet chocolaty taste in.
If I do opt for more cocoa, do I have to increase the amount of sugar and buttermilk to keep it proportional? (sweet + moist)?
 
If you only have one shot at this I wouldn't start changing the recipe. You can't tell what the consequences of any changes would be. There are so many variables to baking, more so than with cooking. Just go with what you think is the best recipe as written.
 
I realize this, so I went on to reading the comments;

Most 5-star ratings have altered the recipe to:
2-3 tbs of Cocoa (more chocolate)
cut the oil use by .5 of a cup (less oily)
added .5 cup of buttermilk (makes up for the lost oil, and allows to take care of the cocoa)

The 1-star ratings were in part due to the fact that there wasn't a strong chocolate taste and that the cupcakes were extremely greasy and oily (had to be thrown out).

Thinking about it, 1.5 cups of veggie oil is quite a handful, and Im thinking of following the suggestions of others'.


With one shot though, this is about a 50,50 chance type of thing.
 
Just keep in mind that reviews are from a multitude of people and are their opinions. I've seen bad reviews for things I thought were awesome.....and good reviews for things I personally thought were awful....

I think I would stick with the recipe.
 
To each his own. I can't help myself....I start experimenting with virtually every recipe that comes across my counter, even from the first time I make it. But it's true that this is not easy to do with baking as it is with cooking, so walk wary.

If you really want to give it a shot, make a micro version of the recipe and cook a few cupcakes, see how they come out. If you like the results, forge ahead. If you don't, stick with the recipe.
 
Sweet!

So ill try small servings of each.

Do you think water may be a temporary substitute for the coloring? (adds the moisture, but not the colors, as I don't have much on hand and would like to use those for the final product)
 
Sweet!

So ill try small servings of each.

Do you think water may be a temporary substitute for the coloring? (adds the moisture, but not the colors, as I don't have much on hand and would like to use those for the final product)

So, the above quote still stands, however, my eye caught another recipe:


Red Velvet Cupcakes | recipegirl.com


So now it's Paulas:
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe : Paula Deen : Food Network

vs the recipegirl:
Red Velvet Cupcakes | recipegirl.com


Im not seeing outrageous amounts of oil being used, so I'm thinking the butter would be a bit better.

What's your take?
 
Sweet!

So ill try small servings of each.

Do you think water may be a temporary substitute for the coloring? (adds the moisture, but not the colors, as I don't have much on hand and would like to use those for the final product)
Noooo, definitely do not sub the food coloring for water. Either leave it out or use a different food color if you don't want to waste your red. Or run to the store and buy another bottle of red, if you have less than a full bottle you probably don't have enough for this recipe.

So, the above quote still stands, however, my eye caught another recipe:

Red Velvet Cupcakes | recipegirl.com

So now it's Paulas:
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe : Paula Deen : Food Network

vs the recipegirl:
Red Velvet Cupcakes | recipegirl.com


Im not seeing outrageous amounts of oil being used, so I'm thinking the butter would be a bit better.

What's your take?
Hmmm....not sure about the vinegar in the new recipe....I've never heard of that. Maybe one of our more experienced bakers can explain the purpose of it?

A lot of people think Paula Deen's recipes use too much butter and generally I would agree, however red velvet cake should have a really smooth, rich and very moist texture and I think her butter portion does that. It seems the new recipe you found uses close to the same amount. The PD recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter which is 1 cup, the new one calls for 3/4 cup which is a stick and a half.

Answers.com - How many cups are in a stick of butter

I'm sure that both recipes would turn out delicious and I doubt you'll have any trouble getting people to eat them. ;)
 
Also....outrageous amounts of oil, outrageous amounts of butter....from a health perspective that's 6 to one, half dozen to the other. I think your calories will come out about the same.
 
:)
Cory, thanks for your input, it's been helping me loads!


In regards to the butter used in Paula D, I was referring to the oil (I see that you have corrected it with your previous comment :D ), but I'm seeing a 3/4 cup butter in recipegirl's and 1.5 cup oil in Paula's. I guess they're pretty close.


I think over my little research journey here, I have come to an understanding as to why vinegar is used in the red velvet recipes (Yea, includes Salt & Vinegar, coincidence? :) )

From what I can make out, the vinegar is used to react with the baking soda to make the cake lighter and fluffier (oxygen bubbles). And vinegar also 'pops' the color when reacted with the baking soda and coloring.

I have decided to try small yields of each, about 10 from Paula, 10 from Paula's commenters, and 10 from recipegirl, and I guess from there, I can get some feedback from my family before I bake the final product

(I love experimenting. Whole day in kitchen tomorrow!)



P.S. Before I manually start dividing and mess this up, is there any possible way to get part yields for these? (I want to make 10 instead of 2* (24?) )
 
P.S. Before I manually start dividing and mess this up, is there any possible way to get part yields for these? (I want to make 10 instead of 2* (24?) )

Go for 12 instead of 10, that will make the math much easier since is half of 24 so you just need to divide the amounts in half.
 
Go for 12 instead of 10, that will make the math much easier since is half of 24 so you just need to divide the amounts in half.
I'd actually cut it down even further, instead of making 10 of each I'd cut the recipe down to 1/4 (6 cupcakes) or 1/8 (3 cupcakes) of each. That way you're not burning so many ingredients....or your family's tastebuds....on the experiments. Unless you're positive they won't mind eating 30 cupcakes right before you bake another batch. I'm sure my husband wouldn't. :LOL:
 
Yay :)

Did a couple of experiments
I killed myself as I haven't had proper meals today (breakfast was just rushed egg, lunch was a mixture of pasta, ham sandwich, 2 mac and cheeses, lindor chocolate (crushed), cupcake frosting etc.. put together and eaten as a bet.

That's about it.
So when I Started trying cupcakes, it didn't go to well with my stomach. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a better taste at them. I'm doing it tomorrow for lunch.

Decided to go with Paula's modified recipe.
I upped the cocoa, and dropped the veggie oil, upped the buttermilk and upped the vanilla extract.


However, although moist and soft, the outer shell tends to be hard.
I know the rule of thumb is that once the cupcake is gently pushed from the top, it should spring back. That happened after I took it out of the oven, but 1 hr later, the outer shell, when pushed, just cracked. (Is that normal)?

And I noticed that the base of my cupcakes is a little burnt (but I'm pretty sure I didn't over bake it as 30 seconds before taking them out, it was REALLY soft and the toothpick didn't come out clean.
 
:)...I have come to an understanding as to why vinegar is used in the red velvet recipes...From what I can make out, the vinegar is used to react with the baking soda to make the cake lighter and fluffier (oxygen bubbles). And vinegar also 'pops' the color when reacted with the baking soda and coloring.
Yes, that's what I was thinking...that the vinegar makes the color brighter because it works when dying easter eggs too. You always add vinegar to the water & dyetablet when dying easter eggs to intensify the color. But I'm not wild about it making the cake lighter and fluffier because I like a denser cake. Lighter cakes remind me of box mixes, no?

I have a question for you. Did the extra cocoa you added affect the intensity of the red color? I would think it would make it darker and browner.
 
I always use Paula Deen's recipe whether its a layer cake or cup cakes,i use the recipe as it is,without any modifications,i dont think it needs any.Its the most moist,rich and delicious recipe for red velvet cake around! and i've tried many!
 

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