"I have never made a red velvet cake before, and decided to try this one. Based on the other comments, I used more cocoa powder (a total of 4 teaspoons and used much less food coloring because it was all I had and I don't like the bright red cake.

I made these into mini-cupcakes, and was very careful not to overbake them. I thought they turned out really well, and brought them to work to get the opinion of my Southern co-workers (who are more familiar with red velvet cake. Everyone thought that they were fabulous and the best red velvet cake they've ever had!

They make a great patriotic dessert if you top them with blue sprinkles!