Dear Kim,
Thank you so much for your mother’s Red Velvet Cake recipe. I followed it exactly but accidentally put two tablespoons of cocoa instead of the one tablespoon as listed in your email. It didn’t affect the taste of the batter but I wouldn’t recommend licking the bowl. The batter isn’t as sweet as the prepacked cake mixes.
In addition, could you please double check the amount of red food coloring called for in the recipe? The 2 oz. suggested is an entire bottle! (Cool Jerk was a bit freaked out — but not enough to stop him from eating one as soon as it cooled down.) So I took a chance with only using four tablespoons of food coloring which was approximately half a bottle and the batter was a bright red.
I didn’t have any round cake pans and used the batter to make cupcakes instead. The recipe made a dozen regular cupcakes and three dozen minicupcakes which I shared with friends. As for the frosting, I did not use the recipe included since it included walnuts — Cool Jerk is allegic to walnuts — a whipped cream cheese frosting was used in replacement. It was still delicious and every Red Velvet cupcake had here in Los Angeles includes some kind of cream cheese topping so there wasn’t much of a difference of what I’m used to having.
I hope you’re doing well. I look forward to showing you and my brother around Los Angeles again and maybe we can go to a few cupcake places. Perhaps we’ll even have another Dr. 90210 sighting in Beverly Hills.
Take care,
-D
My Burning Kitchen 
Thank you for sharing the cupcakes with me and the boys. They loved them; perfect size for little hands and tummies. Yummy yummy!
It was so much fun "hanging out" with the boys! They grow bigger every time I see them.We'll see you again soon.
ohhh nice cupcakes! martha stewart feaured this recipe on her show once, baked by a lady also named Martha Stewart…and the recipe called for 2 bottles of red food coloring!
Hi Mita,Two bottles? Eek! I can only imagine what it would do to your system. In addition, a whole bottle of food coloring is not cheap…
my mother's secret recipe also uses one entire bottle of red food coloring… and she has been known to sometimes use two!
ohmygosh! the cupcakes you brought over you baked??? they were delicious!!! and i LOVED the frosting. i'm going to have to try it out!
Trin-Another story of food coloring? And yes! I did bake these wonderous cupcakes and my first time buying buttermilk too. Thank you for the compliment!The frosting is much lighter than I'm used to but it thought it didn't overwhelm the cake.
Here's the recipe for red velvet cake courtesy of Kim's mom.RED VELVET CAKE 1 cup of vegetable oil1 1/2 cups of sugar2 oz of red food coloring Mix oil, sugar and food coloring together ADD 2 eggs1 Tbs cocoa2 cups of self rising flour1/4 tsp salt1 tsp vanilla1 tsp baking soda1 cup of buttermilk Mix buttermilk and baking soda first then add the rest of the above ingredients. BAKE AT 350 degrees F for 25 minutes in 2 round cake pans for layering when cooled FROSTING 1/4 cup flour1 cup of milk Mix above ingredients place over medium heat stirring constantly cook to thicken to a paste consistency remove from heat set aside 1 cup oil1 cup sugar1/2 tsp salt mix above ingredients together and add mixture to thickened mixture combine thoroughly. Add 1 cup of chopped walnuts and mix to combine. Frost cooled cake.
Very nice! I made a red velvet cake last year and couldn't believe how much food coloring it required. Thankfully no one ended up with red teeth!