Red Food Coloring Cocoa Powder. A cake that has been around for almost a hundred years deserves a special place in every baker's kitchen. You can also use red velvet in things such as cookies and cinnamon rolls, too, using the cake mix.
What's important is that you have to use gel food coloring though. Red velvet cake isn't just a chocolate cake with red food coloring added. Whereas the original recipe (pre-Adams Extract) used raw cocoa powder, most cocoa powders sold now are "alkalized" or "dutched." A chemical reaction once explained the deep red, but modern cooks achieve it by tempering the brightness of food coloring with the traditional addition of brown cocoa.
Natural cocoa powder is best for red velvet cake.
Tap pan firmly to settle the batter and remove large bubbles.
Mix in the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and food coloring until creamy. A deeper diver into cocoa: The Best Cocoa for Red Velvet Cake The original Red Velvet Cake was actually a chocolate cake with a slightly red tinge to it. Cocoa powder Mix three parts corn syrup thoroughly with one part water in a large bowl.