what exactly is red velvet

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Red velvet cake sounds so luxurious—like a soft, creamy, and expensive version of a regular cake, but so much better. Despite red velvet cakes popularity in recent years, most people have no idea what the dessert really is, assuming its chocolate cake with lots of red food coloring added. Although a traditional red velvet cake has elements of a chocolate cake, there are a few key ingredients that make it so distinctly different from other cakes. The list of those ingredients might surprise you!

what exactly is red velvet

Where Does Red Velvet Cake Come

Before the 1920s, red velvet cake was more of a rust color than the brighter scarlet you usually see now. A chemical reaction among a few key ingredients occurred (more on that in a second) to create that deeper reddish tone naturally. In the 1920s, food coloring company Adams Extract of course wanted to sell more food dye, and released a recipe made with red food coloring that really amped the color up to what we usually see today.

Food History: Red Velvet Cake

FAQ

What is the actual flavor of red velvet?

What flavor is red velvet? While there are cocoa undertones, red velvet is not chocolate cake because it balances both chocolate and vanilla flavors. It contains cocoa but not the same quantity as traditional chocolate cake, resulting in a more subtle cocoa flavor and tanginess due to the buttermilk and vinegar.

What is red velvet made out of?

Today, red velvet cake is made by combining cocoa powder, butter, sugar, eggs, and flour as well as buttermilk, vinegar, and red food coloring that gives the cake its iconic red tint. In a classic red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting is paired but the cake can be really be frosted with anything.

Is red velvet just dyed chocolate?

While Chocolate Cake is made primarily with cocoa powder and sometimes melted chocolate, Red Velvet Cake is made with a small amount of cocoa powder, but is also known for its signature bright red color, which is usually achieved by adding red food coloring to the batter.

What is the story behind red velvet?

In 1940, Texas-based food coloring and extract salesman John A. Adams and his wife, Betty, spent a weekend at the Waldorf, during which they sampled the hotel’s trademark red velvet. That experience inspired the couple to develop their own red velvet cake as a marketing tactic for the Adams Extract brand.

What is a red velvet cake?

So a true red velvet cake is exceptionally soft, with a red color that comes naturally from a reaction with un-dutched cocoa. Red velvet cakes are highly popular now, particularly since one featured in the movie Steel Magnolias in 1989. Whilst original red velvet cakes didn’t contain any food coloring, they often do today.

Why are velvet cakes red?

The cocoa gave the cakes a velvety texture and feel. When bakers added vinegar, baking soda, or buttermilk to their recipes to tenderize the cakes, the acid in those ingredients reacted with the cocoa, which was not Dutch-processed, to give the cakes a red tint. That color became a signature of velvet cakes.

What is the difference between red velvet cake and chocolate cake?

In contrast, our most popular chocolate cake recipe contains 3/4 of a cup of cocoa. This means that red velvet cake has a more subtle cocoa flavor overall, but one that’s no less delicious. When this cake first came onto the food scene in the early 20th century, red velvet cake wasn’t truly red.

When was the first red velvet cake made?

According to Southern Living, the first recorded recipe for a red velvet cake was published in 1911 as a combination of the mahogany cake and the also-popular Devil’s Food cake (in which chocolate is used instead of cocoa).

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