The velvet cake dates back to the Victorian era, where it was a fancy dessert enjoyed by the upper classes. The term ‘velvet’ in itself suggested how the cake was a delicacy in itself, with a soft and velvety crumb.
Fast forward to the Second World War, when foods were scarce and hence were rationed. Bakers of those times had no options but to use boiled beetroot juice to enhance the colour of their cakes and make it more visually appealing. Additionally, since beetroot was cheap, it acted as a great filler in a lot of recipes, and also helped to retain moisture. This is how the cakes ended up being red, and hence the name ‘red velvet cake’.
What Made Velvet Cake Turn Into Red Velvet?
Interestingly, traditional recipes never called for any artificial food colouring. Instead, the red colour was a result of the beetroot juice, as well as due to the unprocessed cocoa powder that was used back in those times. (Cocoa powder these days is Dutch-processed, which means that it is alkalinized to remove the acidity of the cocoa powder). That is to say, the cocoa powder was acidic, and contained what is known as anthocyanins. These anthocyanins are naturally occurring pigments that turn red in the presence of an acid. And since a traditional red velvet cake will always call for acidic ingredients such as buttermilk and vinegar; the cake batter is red as a result of this scientific reaction.
However, it was not long before the red velvet cake was highly commercialized, and Adams Extract, a company from Texas, introduced the red food colour to popularize the cake and bring it to kitchens across America. These days, however, cream cheese frosting and buttercream frosting are much more popular and synonymous with the red velvet cake.
Another Version of Red Velvet’s Origins
One account traces back to Jan Brunvand’s The Vanishing Hitchhiker, the book credited with launching the American urban legend fascination. In the 1920s, a woman had dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. She was so enamored with her dessert – Red Velvet Cake – that upon her return home to California, she wrote to the chef and asked for the recipe. He sent it to her in return mail, along with a bill for $300.
That story spawned Red Velvet’s many other names, including Waldorf-Astoria Cake, $300 Cake, Red Waldorf cake, Red Carpet Cake, Red Mystery Cake, Flame Cake, Red Regal Cake, Red Feather Cake, Feather Devil’s Food Cake, Red Devil’s Food Cake …. “
Variations of the red velvet cake are also gaining a lot of popularity these days, with home bakers and chefs across the globe adding their own innovation and personal touch, from the red velvet cake to the red velvet icecream cake, and from the keto red velvet cake to the vegan red velvet cake. Not only this, the flavour has increased so much in popularity these days, that it is not uncommon to come across red velvet cookies, red velvet brownies, red velvet brownies, red velvet shakes and smoothies, and so much more. Red velvet protein powders, waffles, alcohols, etc. are also gaining more and more popularity these days, and the flavour and scent is now also used for candles, soaps, air fresheners, etc.
You can easily make a red velvet cake at home from scratch, using just basic ingredients; though all modern recipes will definitely call for lots of food colour. This is because the cocoa powder these days is all Dutch processed, and in the absence of any natural scientific reaction; a colouring additive is needed. Moreover, with the commercialization of the flavour, most people tend to associate a good red velvet cake with a stark bright red colour, and anything less fancier than that is discarded on the grounds of not being authentic enough.
What Kind of Frosting?
White. But flavor? It depends. Two kinds of frosting are most popular for red velvet.
Butter Roux Frosting. Also called Ermine Frosting or Boiled Milk Icing, this traditional red velvet topping is creamy and light, made by cooking milk and flour together, then adding sugar and butter. It’s yummy, but a lot more work than …
Cream Cheese Frosting. Made from scratch or prepared, cream cheese frosting’s popularity grew in the mid-twentieth century.
More Red Velvet Trivia
Red Velvet Cake grew further in popularity after its cameo appearance as an armadillo-shaped groom’s cake (with gray frosting) in the 1989 feature film USA. Till now in Instagram Era, its Viral Cake.
Shineroad is coming up with own verison of Red Velvet cake with our product.
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