Hi Anitra! We actually tested using beet root powder in place of the red dye in our Red Velvet Cupcakes! You can read our findings here. If you’d rather not use red dye in this recipe, I’d suggest just omitting it rather than substituting for it. Omitting won’t affect the texture of the cake, just the color.

Hi April, if you’re traveling any significant distance, I’d recommend adding a couple wooden cake dowels just to be safe. Any cake made with a cream cheese frosting is going to be slightly less sturdy than one made with a stiff American buttercream. I also highly recommend using a Silpat or nonslip drawer liner to place underneath the container carrying your cake if you don’t have someone carrying it by hand. Lastly, I’d recommend getting the cake nice and cold in the back of the fridge before removing to transport to ensure the frosting doesn’t get too warm. Good luck!

Hi Denise! You got it, you’ll flip the bottom and top layers of the cake so that the flat side (aka the bottom) is the top of each. Doing this makes it a bit easier to ice and decorate the cake. These layers are relatively thin and don’t puff up very much when they’re baked, so the cake will not be wobbly. I hope that helps! Can’t wait to hear how it goes!

Your cake is so beautiful!

Hi Nura! We haven’t tested this recipe using only one cake pan, as it was written to fill either 3 8-inch cake pans or 2 9-inch cake pans. If you wish to just make one large cake layer, you may need to do some experimenting, as the bake time will be much longer. Alternatively, you could try halving the recipe and using a single cake pan. Remember to fill the cake pan only about ¾ of the way full to ensure even baking and to prevent spillage. Let us know how it goes! Happy baking!