Our friend @alessandrawhite has a birthday today (September3rd). This morning she showed us a lovely cake her partner @bitterirony had gotten for her. The cake was a Red Velvet Cake. A brief convo came up about how it gets it’s love red colour. I decided it might make for a post today.
There are many stories around about the origin of the red velvet cake. Most of what is known has been tracked through recipes appearing on cook books over the years.
It appears the roots of the velvet cake goes back into the late 1800s. Until then the crumb of cakes was rather coarse. At some point someone discovered mixing cocoa into the flour produced a finer textured cake.
Some different kinds of velvet cakes appeared like Mahogany which also had coffee added and Devil’s Food which used chocolate rather than cocoa powder which started to appear in recipes in the early 1900s.
The raw cocoa that appeared on shelves then was not like what we buy today. The pH level in it would turn colours in batters depending on what acidic ingredient was used. When used in a batter with buttermilks the batter took on a burgundy hue.
Many of the early recipes originated in the American South. The cake became a popular cake on Emancipation Day. Many saw the redish colour as symbolic of the bloodshed of the slavery era. The popularity led some to believe the origin of the cake was from that era. Food researchers don’t seem to think so. But, really, who knows?
It is known Red Velvet has been on the menu at Stein’s Bakery in Dallas, Texas since it opened in the early 1860s according to the family who purchased the bakery in 2002.
During WW1 rationing and then the Great Depression, bakers resorted to other ways to moisten cakes due to dairy and egg shortages. Many used fruits and vegetables they grew and were in greater supply. Among the choices was making cakes with grated beets or beet juice. Cakes made this way baked up into a distinctive red tint.
In the late 1930s the Adams Extract Co, based in Austin Texas, started bottling red food dye. By then government regulations control the the sale. They created a recipe card with a simple to make recipe using their red food die rather than beat juice.
The recipes for Red Velvet Cake, with and without beat juice, made their way north and eventually into the hands of the bakers at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City and the Eaton’s Department Store in Toronto, Ontario. Both prestigious firms debuted their versions and claimed they invented it.
Using the velvet word in the name of the cake provided the sense of luxury and smoothness that would appeal to the upscale customers of both establishments. There is probably little doubt the continued appeal of red velvet products has a lot to do with not only the flavour but the draw of the name.
This appeal was strengthen in 1943 when Irma S Rombauer included the recipe, with red food colouring, in her “Joy of Cooking” the iconic book that later inspired Julia Child’s career. Its appearance in the book was one of the first national mentions of the cake. A later edition of the same book was where I learned about the use of beets in the cake.
In our world of processed foods, you can buy mixes for different kinds of red velvet products like cakes, cupcakes, squares etc. Really, why not try it from scratch? There are lots of recipes to be found online.
Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.
NOTE: unless otherwise stated, all images are the author’s
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Shadows! I feel like I received two birthday cakes this year–one for breakfast and one on #HIVE. Was I able to make out your voice in the singing at @CreativeWorkHr? 🤷♀️ Not sure.
Thank you for the birthday wishes and for giving me some important information to ponder. If the red velvet cake is made with beetroot in the badder, does that make it vegan?? 🌱🌱
OH this morning ... my contribution was not inflicting my awful off-key sound into the joyful mix. As for your second questions.. I shall defer to D on that
A very interesting history of the red velvet cake. I never thought that it dates back to the late 1800s.
Happiest birthday to your friend :)
I do bake cake from scratch whenever I have the time but it's a lot of work until I discovered cake mix! True, the texture turns out differently sometimes but I still prefer the one made from scratch.
Beets! Good to know how red velvet cake came to be. Most food are as a result of experiments and circumstances.
Oh, and happy birthday, @alessandrawhite! 🙂
Fascinating history of red velvet cake, I never realized it went as far back as that!
Thank you for sharing your excellent post in the Silver Bloggers community @shadowspub! As a special "token" of appreciation for this contribution to our community, it has been upvoted, reblogged and curated.
Silver-Blond Lizzie
An interesting history. I am not a fan of Red Velvet cake, but I think it's because I can taste the coloring.
I believe it is true that cakes made from scratch have a better texture and taste than those made from a box. The only exception I know about from my experience is white cake. They both have the same texture and they both taste like they were made from a mix.
I remember having someone over for dinner to celebrate my husband's birthday. I had made a wonderful chocolate cake from scratch and was going to serve it for dessert. During dinner, the wife made a comment that she'd never had a good chocolate cake from scratch since they were always dry. Well, I didn't know if I should even serve dessert after that. But I did. I didn't tell her I made it from scratch.
She raved about how moist the cake was and how good it tasted. She asked what mix I used. I told her I made it from scratch. Yes, she was a bit embarrassed, but she did ask for the recipe!