Green Velvet Cake

Red velvet cake is rich, chocolaty, decadent, and ever-so-slightly tacky:

Just look at all that tasty red food coloring!

Green velvet cake is much the same, only way, way tackier:

Now that's class!

The only difference between red velvet cake and green velvet cake is the food coloring. I decided to "go green" with these cupcakes to celebrate St. Patrick's day. Also, I was almost out of red food coloring. (Trust me: there's nothing worse than pinkish-brown "red" velvet cupcakes. I know this from experience.)

I've been looking for a good red velvet recipe for awhile now. I tried one last summer that turned out dry and dull and underwhelming, just like any old box mix red velvet cake. *shudder*

 Trust me: it looks much, much better than it tastes.

Fortunately, I saw the Throwdown with Bobby Flay episode where Bobby takes on Cake Man Raven in a red velvet cake battle. Cake Man Raven is one of the most famous bakers in New York, and, of course, he trounces Bobby soundly in the episode. Since then, Cake Man has very kindly posted his secret recipe on FoodNetwork.com for my pilfering, and I'm gloriously happy about it.


In case you're (pitiably) unfamiliar with red velvet cake, it's basically a very soft, moist chocolate cake that includes vinegar and buttermilk. Apparently, old-fashioned cocoa powder would turn red when it came in contact with acids like vinegar and buttermilk, which is what originally gave the cake its red color. The vinegar and buttermilk also work with the baking soda to give the cake a light, fluffy texture.

Cake Man's recipe is a little unusual in that it calls for very little cocoa powder (only one teaspoon!) and a ridiculous amount of vegetable oil. CAUTION: Scroll down very quickly if you would like to actually enjoy eating these cupcakes.




The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil, which is a lot for any recipe. But because this recipe only makes about 30 cupcakes, each cupcake has about 3/4 tablespoons of oil it. Which is why they're so damn delicious.




Aaaaaaanyway. I tweaked Cake Man's recipe a bit. I wanted my cake to have a very fine crumb, so I substituted 1 1/2 cups of cake flour for some of the all-purpose flour. I also wanted a stronger chocolate flavor, so I replaced 2 teaspoons of flour with 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder for a total of 3 teaspoons of cocoa powder. And, of course, I substituted green, blue, and yellow food coloring for the suggested red.

But despite my modifications, the batter turned out beautifully smooth, sweet, and tangy.

"Double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!"

The cupcakes took about fifteen minutes to bake. They came out of the oven so deliciously soft and damp that I was glad I had made cupcakes; I don't know how anyone could tort such a cake--I imagine it would just fall apart with the effort!

Tender little green cakes, hot from the oven.

Unlike other red velvet cake recipes I've tried, this one had a very distinct flavor. The cupcakes didn't taste like chocolate, necessarily. Instead, they tasted like vanilla with a touch of fresh cream. But to say that these taste "like vanilla" is like saying that Michelangelo's David is a marble statue or that Sherron Collins is a basketball player: the content is correct, but the scope is utterly lacking. The flavor of these cupcakes is astonishingly complex, despite its prosaic components; the vanilla, chocolate, and buttermilk all play off each other to create a new flavor altogether. And trust me, it's a very good flavor.

I made a cream cheese frosting for these using Nigella Lawson's cream cheese frosting recipe, which is nothing but cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a squirt of lime juice for added tartness. The frosting was delicious as always, but not quite right for this cake.

A cupcake topped with gooey cream cheese frosting.

Next time I make these, I'll pair them with a light, puffy, tooth-achingly sweet buttercream to contrast with the rich pungency of the cake. And I'll make a double batch of both recipes to spread the cake joy farther and longer. I have a feeling that I could eat these cupcakes for weeks, if given the opportunity.

From now on, this will definitely be my go-to red velvet cake recipe, and it's good enough that I would love to make it for birthdays and celebrations, too. So be very, very nice to me, and you might just get a velvet cake in your favorite color on your birthday!