Grandmother Paula's Red Velvet Cake

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Show: Paula's Home CookingEpisode: My Grandmother's Table

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (376)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(376)

Cook Time:
25 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
16 to 20 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: 2 hr 0 min
Cook: 25 min
Total:: 2 hr 55 min

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Ingredients

Cake:

2 cups sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 ounces red food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar

Icing:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup melted marshmallows
1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into 3 (8-inch) round greased and floured pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from heat and cool completely before frosting.

Icing:

Blend cream cheese and butter together in a mixing bowl. Add marshmallows and sugar and blend. Fold in coconut and nuts. Spread between layers and on top and sides of cooled cake.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Grandmother Paula's Red Velvet Cake
rose oxnard, CA 02-08-2010
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best cake ever
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

one of the best red velvet cakes i ever made. its nice and miost , you cant stop eating it!!!!!!!1
recipe Grandmother Paula's Red Velvet Cake
darren MIAMI, FL 02-07-2010
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Great Cake...
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This is the first time I tried a Red Velvet and it is by far the best red velvet cake I have had. It was very moist. The only... thing is the baking time it took longer to bake than it was stated. It took 50 mins to bakeRead more
recipe Grandmother Paula's Red Velvet Cake
Christine H, NY 01-31-2010
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Wonderful!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I've never had red velvet cake before, so I don't know if this is what it's supposed to taste like, but this cake is... fantastic. I followed a couple of the comments that said to make sure your ingredients are at room temperature, to make sure you have cake flour, to make sure you have unsalted butter, and to use marshmallow fluff for the icing. I also used apple cider vinegar cause that's all I had on hand. It turned out great! Thanks for all the tips everyone! Also, I made these twice. The first time I didn't have buttermilk and substituted milk and lemon. The second time I used buttermilk. Trust me, milk and lemon are no substitution. It came out fine the first time, but there's something about the buttermilk that gave it a better taste! I also agree with some of the comments that said to only use 1 ounce of food color and 1 ounce of water. 2 ounces was too much and turned our tongues red, haha! This cake is soft and moist and not too sweet and is perfect with the frosting.Read more
recipe Grandmother Paula's Red Velvet Cake
Anthony Brainerd, MN 01-30-2010
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PAMELA: RESPONSE
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

Actually, the two changes you made did influence your sunken cake. First, the pH of Buttermilk is 4.41-4.83, the pH of Lemon... juice is 2.00-2.60, and the pH of milk is 6.5-6.7; this means you did not have enough acid in the mixture to create the ?rise? (or air pockets) in the cake to support the middle. The milk was too alkaline and neutralized too much of the lemon juice. Second, you increased the mass of each cake. Rather than having 1/3 of the batter in each pan you had ? the batter in each pan. This means that there would be more surface area at the center of the cake and you would need more support to be able to keep the extra mass up. With the added batter, you also may have had an under-done center of the cake. More than likely the acid was the culprit. If you would have baked the cake longer you would have altered the texture and the moisture and still probably not have achieved the un-sunken cake you want. Hope this helps. I gave this 4 stars, because this was just a response to someone's query and I did not want to influence the rating too much.Read more
recipe Grandmother Paula's Red Velvet Cake
Patricia St. Clair, MI 01-30-2010
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BAD
Rated: 1 stars out of 5

I followed the recipe exactly. I made cupcakes instead of the cake. The overflow of the batter stuck to the cupcake pan and... I had to use a knife to get them off. And the center of the cupcakes collapsed. What a mess! Not good at all. I didn't even want to give it one star.Read more
recipe Grandmother Paula's Red Velvet Cake
DESIREE BERKELEY, CA 01-29-2010
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THANK YOU PAULA
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I do a lot of baking but had never done a red velvet cake. I made this cake for the office and now they want it every... week!!!! The only thing I changed was added a bit of veg oil and increased the cocoa a little. The flavor is so good and great texture. Thanks for another great recipe Paula!!!!Read more