As horrifying as it is to think of dumping a bottleful of red food coloring into a cake, it’s Dweezil’s favorite, and tomorrow is his birthday.
I don’t see what the food coloring does, beyond ensuring you die of chemical-induced cancer before the diabetes kills you - I mean, surely a good cocoa + buttermilk cake + cream cheese frosting would taste every bit as good without the day-glo coloring, right?
Interestingly, I found one recipe at Epicurious that skimps on the dye - only a tablespoon (half an ounce) versus a full ounce bottle. If my fellow Dopers don’t come up with anything soon enough I’ll go with that one.
The one I make (my grandma’s recipe) is just a standard devil’s food with a lot of red food color. My sons always loved helping me make it because there’s a point where you put vinegar into baking soda. But I think any devil’s food cake mix, plus food color, would work.
Although it will not be as good as my grandma’s, and neither are mine.
Ok Ok Ok. Time out here.
Red Velvet was originally a brown with a hint of red from the interaction of the cocoa and the vinegar. It was not that garish red we associate with the recipe today. This shows the classic recipe (left) vs. today’s. Since then cocoa manufacturers have changed how they process the cocoa so no red tinge if you make the authentic recipe. Instead, you would make the recipe and add a little beet juice to give the cake that red undertone. If you want Red Velvet v. 2 (the original garish food colored one), the recipe is here.
And you’ll end up with something closer to the original in the link provided by Saint Cad. I made RVC for Valentine’s Day one year and ended up with a nice brick red.