I am seriously curious… Why do people want to eat all that food dye and not just make a nice moist buttermilk cake. Am I missing something? It’s just the color right?
It is a unique flavor… not my favorite…. but that is my guess. Also I think as much as some say white frosting is typical…. most I know look for cream cheese frosting. Cream cheese frosting is popular.
But isn’t it just a nice buttermilk cake with such a pinch of cocoa as not to notice .... Is it the flavor of the food dye and cocoa? But cream cheese is the main deal in cream cheese frosting…. This is just a cake dyed red. Oh well…. whatever. LOL! I heard that it even has “after effects” if you eat enough of it. LOL….
That is funny. I have never heard of the after effects part…but I do know some people who are real red velvet cake fans. However, I do think the taste is distinct from just a buttermilk cake. I really think people like it because it is different. LOL
I used to really feel the same way and sometimes I still give an eye roll when people ask me to make red velvet for them because there are so many other flavors I get way more excited about. The truth is though it does have a distinct flavor. In my recipe I don’t use a “pinch” of cocoa, I actually use 2 heaping tablespoons so while it is definitely not a chocolate cake the flavor is more than whispering of the cocoa. I liken it to that song you hum but don’t know the name of, just a familiar melody in your head, well this is a familiar taste for your tongue though you can’t quite call it if you don’t know the ingredients. I hope that made some type of sense.
I think it is the unique color, unseen in other cakes. But I’m with you. I can’t bring myself to use a bottle of red chemicals. I tried Red Velvet Cake both with beet juice and jamaica (red hibiscus) tea. The color was not that noticeable. In the future, I’ll stick with a naturally colored cake that still tastes great.
I, too, keep wondering what the fascination is. No way I’m going to dump a bottle of food coloring into a cake. There are enough other cakes out there.
I just told the chef at a popular restaurant that their cake was dry. I had purchased their Red Velvet a few times in order to get an idea of how it is supposed to taste. He told me that folks start calling early in the morning for their Red Velvet. Meanwhile, he gave me a slice to test and report back. Also, there is a popular bakery (cake place) in DC whose offerings include Brown Velvet. It appears to be Red Velvet with out the food coloring.
By the way, I am tasting the Red Velvet at this moment but find it hard to evaluate it because it is a confectioner sugar based frosting (but not cream cheese :(
i completely agree with your inquietude! red velvet isn’t just a red cake. it is a unique synergy between the artificial red food coloring (which adds visuals plus a slight bitterness in taste), plus a hint of chocolate, and some acidity. this plus the cream cheese frosting (and Rose has upgraded level of finesse by using white chocolate and a touch of almond essence), makes a cake worth its name and test.
people do love this cake, and it is extremely popular as a wedding cake flavor!
but of course, it isn’t a cake i would eat every day.
I think a lot of the appeal is the shock of bright red cake against white icing. I’m from the South, so I don’t know if I’m allowed to say it, but it’s definitely not a cake I get excited about. There is barely discernible cocoa flavor along with the weird tingly acidity, which I think comes from the vinegar and food coloring.
I do remember my mother making the cake long ago and it was much more of a chocolate cake with a reddish hue than the bright red cake you see everywhere now.
Also I think another reason it became so popular was the guaranteed moistness of the cake because it is normally an oil based cake. I personally never get a bright red color but I also use just a bit of the gel paste, so I am definitely not going for the novelty of it. I know novelty works for a lot of people but I could not in good feeling do that with the bottle of food coloring. Also one must realize that it is highly unlikely 2 different bakeries will taste alike as ranges for the cocoa go from 1 tsp to 1/4 cup in recipes. I developed my recipe based on someones great grandma from the south recipe and was able to come up with a version I actually liked. I figured someone alive & baking back then might have some knowledge worth checking into.
C Renee I am sure that frosting is called a cooked frosting which is the old time traditional frosting for red velvet, though most now utilize the cream cheese for it’s simplicity.
Also I think another reason it became so popular was the guaranteed moistness of the cake because it is normally an oil based cake.
That reminds me of something I read awhile ago about this cake. “Velvet” or “velveting” referred to a method of cake preparation that resulted in a moist crumb. The “red” came into play because of the quality of processed cocoa back in the day—it reacted with the leaveners and the oven heat to produce a red-tinged cake. Once better quality cocoa was available, the reddish hue was gone but cooks began using red food coloring to make up for the appearance. So really, way back when, red velvet cake was Devil’s Food Cake, just with a different quality cocoa than we have now. (This is all per Shuna Fish Lydon.)
I’m a Southerner, and as I posted elsewhere, it’s something of a regional specialty. It’s beautiful—the dark red cake with brilliant white icing, and the taste (1/4cup dutch-processed cocoa powder in my grandma’s recipe) is delicious. It wouldn’t be the same without the red color; in my opinion, the way a food looks definitely adds to the taste. In the south, red velvet cake is often made around Christmas and Valentines, so there are often nice memories associated with the cake. I’ll forgive the chemical coloring. I love the cake.
I know you’re asking a serious question. However, it’s sort of like asking someone from Scotland what’s the fascination with haggis. Or someone else why mushy bread soaked in milk is comfort food when they’re sick. Gack, my husband eats pickled herring from a jar. He grew up eating it, but I don’t understand his love for it. At all. There are gazillions of food habits of some people that other people don’t understand.
Red velvet cake started as a regional specialty; some people grew up with it, have fond memories of it, the flavor and color “do it” for them. Since then, other people have tried it and either liked it or didn’t. Or they aren’t willing to try it because it isn’t appealing to them. I grew up with it. I love it. To eat a slice or two once every 3 or 5 years or so isn’t going to make me fret about a bottle of red food coloring going into the entire cake.
