This video is unavailable. Red velvet cake is traditionally a red, red-brown, crimson or scarlet-colored[1] chocolate layer cake, layered with ermine icing. It’s a basic mix of dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, etc. In the wet ingredients mixing bowl, you'll whisk 1 tablespoon red food coloring in with the other ingredients. As a result, it’s really easy for beginners to make. Beetroot is found in some red velvet cake recipes. [1][3][4], Common ingredients include buttermilk, butter, cocoa, vinegar, and flour. If you don’t use it, the cake will have a dark reddish-brown color. Today, red velvet cake gets its coloring from a huge amount of red food coloring dumped in mix, staining the cake a vivid red, but it wasn't always so. Make this cake up to 2 days ahead of time, storing it in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to serve. I’m so excited to be sharing this recipe with you today – Red Velvet Cake is one of my favourite cakes ever to make and this recipe is absolutely stellar! What Is the Purpose of Cream of Tartar in Scones? [17], Four-layer slice of red velvet cake from the Waldorf-Astoria, "The rediscovery of red velvet has gone way too far", "The evolution of red velvet cake, an iconic American dessert", "The Original Red (Wine) Velvet Cake Recipe", "Red Velvet, the 'Lady Gaga' of cakes, wears well during the holidays", "Cream Cheese Frosting for Red Velvet Cake", "Red Velvet Cake: A Classic, Not a Gimmick", "Cake Man Raven has flown the coop — no more red velvet cake in Fort Greene", "Just Beet It Vegetarian Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake – Blissful Basil", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_velvet_cake&oldid=984799748, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 22 October 2020, at 05:08. Your email address will not be published. For the brightest of red cakes, leave the amount at 1 tablespoon, or decrease it for a less vivid color. Search. Wash the large bowl and to it add the butter and cream cheese, mixing on medium-high speed with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. How to Use Beet Root in Baking & Coloring, ChEnected: Chemistry in Cake: Putting the Red in Red Velvet Cake, Joy the Baker: Bright Red Velvet Cupcakes. ), Healthy 2 Ingredient Slow Cooker Apple Butter, Easy 3-Ingredient Chia Seed Strawberry Jam, Crock Pot French Onion Soup With White Beans. Red velvet cake’s signature tang comes from vinegar, an ingredient that isn’t often found in devil’s food or classic chocolate cakes, and buttermilk. Watch … James Beard's reference, American Cookery (1972), describes three red velvet cakes varying in the amounts of shortening, butter, and vegetable oil. A chemical reaction once explained the deep red, but modern cooks achieve it by … [12], In recent years, red velvet cake and red velvet cupcakes have become increasingly popular in the US and many European countries. Ellen Douglas has written on food, gardening, education and the arts since 1992. The most pervasive theory about red velvet cake's creation is that bakers played up the chemical reaction between cocoa powder and either buttermilk or vinegar. The majority of these other flavor "velvets" do not have those ingredients which leads me to believe that it refers to the texture. Required fields are marked *. This natural tinting may have been the source for the name "red velvet", as well as "Devil's food" and similar names for chocolate cakes. Tips & Recipes for Stress-Free Holiday Entertaining!! Smooth the frosting over the top of the cake with a rubber spatula or an offset spatula until evenly distributed, creating a smooth top. [3], Velvet cake is thought to have originated in Maryland early in the 20th century. Looking for more recipes for Valentine’s Day? Because cocoa powder is not used to tenderize modern velvet cakes, you are unlikely to have to compensate for its omission. It creates a gorgeous red colour that Red Velvet Cake is known for and it has no taste, making it perfect for this homemade Red Velvet Cake recipe. Thanks for supporting The Busy Baker and helping me bring you more great recipes! Even when the recipe includes buttermilk or vinegar, the ingredients' acidity doesn't react with the Dutch cocoa used today. Add the other tablespoon of heavy cream if needed to achieve a fluffy texture. American, Dessert, North American, Valentine's Day. The cake contains such a small amount of cocoa, somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 tablespoons per 2½ cups flour, that it really does not taste like a chocolate cake. Ingredients vary based on the era and area of the world. A chemical reaction once explained the deep red, but modern cooks achieve it by tempering the brightness of food coloring with the traditional addition of brown cocoa. And unlike a lot of chocolate sponge recipes, which have a tendency to dry out quite quickly, I can safely say that this stays moist and still tastes fresh a few days later, making it a perfect cake to make in advance. Red velvet is a wonderful chocolate cake alternative, something a little different and is perfect for any celebration. Red velvet cake usually surfaces as a buttermilk cake with a lot of red food coloring in it to give it its distinctive color. It’s a really good idea to use gel or paste food colouring for this recipe instead of the liquid food colouring drops. Douglas has worked as a staff reporter for the Lakeville Journal newspaper group. Copyright © 2020 Leaf Group Ltd., all rights reserved. [2] Traditional recipes do not use food coloring, with the red color due to non-Dutched, anthocyanin-rich cocoa. My favourite red food colouring for this … Cocoas of the time contained compounds that, when combined with an acidic ingredient, turned reddish -- or dark red, factoring in cocoa's own brown color. The intriguingly dark color of red velvet cake has fascinated foodies since its origins in the early 1900s -- and everyone else after the blood-red hue became a punchline in the 1989 movie "Steel Magnolias." If you're not satisfied with the color after it bakes, adjusting the amounts of either the cocoa powder or the food coloring may lead to a more pleasing hue. Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite Valentine’s Day dessert? The scent is used for candles and air fresheners as well. Cooks may have also played with beet juice as a red colorant, again with the cocoa's brown darkening the beet's pinkish hue. Instead, keeping the addition of the cocoa alters the coloring's bright red to the traditional crimson color.