Red Velvet Amish Friendship Bread

Growing up, I spent a few years of my childhood in the south–Texas to be exact. My palate is definitely influenced by that time in my life. I have a penchant for things that are fried and still have a craving for biscuits and gravy.

But the one thing I never seemed to get was red velvet cake. It just didn’t do anything for me, and I figured if I was going to have chocolate, I wanted it to look like chocolate. Plus we all remember the armadillo groom’s cake from Steel Magnolias. Yeah, that pretty much sealed the deal for me.

But with Valentine’s Day coming up, I wanted to add something new to the Recipe Box. I wanted chocolate. I wanted red. Which equals red velvet.

I always try to stick close to the original Amish Friendship Bread recipe, so I made one batch with a chocolate pudding mix in lieu of dutch-processed cocoa. This recipe (we’ll call it #2) was made into cupcakes. The cupcakes had a brighter red color and were delicious, especially when topped with our cream cheese frosting. Had I only made this recipe, I would have been really happy with how it turned out.

Red Velvet Amish Friendship Bread (With Pudding Mix)

Friendship Bread Kitchen

4.50 from 16 votes

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 2 cups flour
• 1 box chocolate instant pudding
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 ounces red food coloring
• 2½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 1 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C). Line a cupcake tin with baking cups.
• Sift flour with pudding mix, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
• Cream butter, sugar, food coloring and vanilla, beating until well aerated. Add starter, oil, eggs, vinegar, and buttermilk. Mix until well incorporated.
• Create a well in the flour mixture and slowly add the starter mixture, mixing until combined after each addition.
• Fill baking cups to ⅔ full. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
• Allow to cool then frost with cream cheese frosting.
• ENJOY!

Have you made this?Mention @friendshipbreadkitchen or tag #friendshipbreadkitchen!

But after I ate a bunch of those, I thought, You know, I really want to try this with the cocoa. I’m a gal who likes her chocolate, and I wanted to see if I could really vamp it up. This next version (we’ll call it #1) was made into a two-layer cake. Jackpot!

Red Velvet Amish Friendship Bread (No Pudding Mix)

Friendship Bread Kitchen

4.67 from 12 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 2 8-inch cake pans

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 2 cups flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
• 2¼ cups light brown sugar 1-lb box
• 3 tablespoons red food coloring
• 2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• ½ cup buttermilk
• Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350° F (176° C). Spray two 9" cake pans with baking spray and set aside.
• Sift flour with cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
• Cream butter, brown sugar, food coloring and vanilla, beating until well aerated. Add starter, eggs and buttermilk, then mix until well incorporated.
• Create a well in the flour mixture and slowly add the starter mixture, mixing until combined after each addition.
• Pour into prepared pans to ⅔ full. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
• Allow to cool. If making a double-layer cake, gently cut off the top layer of each cake with a serrated knife to create a smooth top. Frost the top of one of the cakes and then turn over the other cake and place it on top of the frosted cake, so that the cut areas are in the center of the cake. Frost the top of the cake or make another batch of frosting if you'd like to frost the whole cake.
• ENJOY!

Notes

If you're noticing crumbs in your frosting, just frost a thin layer over the cake and place it in the fridge to set. After 30-45 minutes, remove the cake from the fridge and frost a fresh layer over the old one.

Have you made this?Mention @friendshipbreadkitchen or tag #friendshipbreadkitchen!

I did a taste test with family members and friends, giving them a bite of recipe #1, recipe #2, and a store-bought red velvet. Only one person preferred the store-bought version, but everyone else was split down the middle in terms of flavor AND, once they saw the two different cakes, the color. I know I’ll be making both versions in the future, so I’m including them both here. Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

>> Have you tried this? Share your best pic with us or leave a comment below and let us know how it worked for you!