Is Red Velvet Cake The Same As Chocolate

Why Is Reddish Velvet Block Red?

The tale of how this uniquely American dessert got its striking hue requires a flake of a history lesson.

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Yous may accept heard it said that red velvet cake is just chocolate block with the addition of red food coloring, merely that is actually non the case. The block'southward classic cherry-red hue actually came as a past-product of the combination of ingredients used to create its signature "velvety" texture. Let's expect at the layered history of this iconic cake.

The Origins of Red Velvet Cake

Reddish velvet cake has a rather lengthy origin story. In fact, it dates all the fashion dorsum to the Victorian era. Starting in the 1800s, cooks began adding cocoa powder to cake mix to soften the poly peptide in the flour. Before this, cakes had a drier, more than crumbly texture. Calculation cocoa pulverisation resulted in a lighter, fluffier cake, eventually earning the proper name "velvet cake."

Meanwhile, another cake that used cocoa pulverisation was on the rise: devil's food cake. This intense chocolate cake was made with egg yolks, resulting in a rich, fudgy cake. According to cookbook author Stella Parks during her appearance on The Splendid Tabular array, velvet cake and devil's food cake crossed in the early on 1900s to create the ground for what we now know as red velvet cake.

The recipe rose in popularity during the Depression era, as it used cocoa pulverization and not chocolate confined, which were more expensive. As the recipe made its manner to the American South, buttermilk became a central ingredient. The reaction between the buttermilk, vinegar, and blistering soda helped to aid in the leavening process — but it also caused something else to happen.

up shut slice of red velvet cake with frosting

Pictured: Southern Red Velvet Cake

| Credit: Meredith

How Did Ruddy Velvet Block End Upward Red?

Cocoa powder contains an antioxidant called anthocyanin, which is pH-sensitive, meaning it reacts to acids and bases. When raw cocoa powder reacts with acidic ingredients such as buttermilk and vinegar, it turns night red. Although, the resulting cake is more than of a ruby-red brown color and not the gaudy carmine color you lot become from using food coloring.

Today, yous're non going to be able to recreate that natural reddish-chocolate-brown hue with your run-of-the-mill, Dutch-processed cocoa powder. That'south because most cocoa powder is now processed with an alkalizing agent in order to neutralize the acerbity. In social club to achieve the same results today, yous'd have to apply raw cacao powder. Here's how to make ruby-red velvet cake with no food coloring.

The Evolution of Red Velvet Cake

World War Two and Beets

Starting in World State of war Ii, many baking products were rationed, which led some cooks to apply beet juice to make red velvet cake. It non simply gave the block a carmine hue, but it also made it super moist. You can yet find recipes for Red Velvet Block with Beets today.

Adams Extract Company

The true popularization of cherry velvet cake is largely credited to food coloring manufacturers. Cherry-red velvet cake's bright colour had a lot of appeal, and recipes somewhen started calling for the utilise of blood-red food coloring. A visitor out of Texas known equally the Adams Extract Visitor began selling bottled cherry nutrient coloring with tear-off recipe cards for red velvet block. And since their aim was to sell more than food coloring, the recipe chosen for a lot of it, taking the cake from its carmine-brown roots to the eye-catching red tint we know today.

Waldorf Astoria Hotel

Effectually the same time, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York began selling their famous red velvet cake, dubbed the Waldorf Astoria cake, and the hotel claims to exist the birthplace of the block to this day. At the aforementioned time, Eaton's department store in Toronto began selling cherry-red velvet cake, crediting Lady Eaton as the creator. But historians generally agree that both of these establishments just capitalized on a cake that was already growing in popularity throughout the country.

Juneteenth

In recent history, cherry velvet block has become synonymous with Juneteenth celebrations. Not just does the colour red symbolize the bloodshed of the enslaved people who never experienced liberty, but it'southward too a symbol of strength and spiritual transformation in West African cultures. This is why you'll find tables full of red soda (such equally Texas-made Big Red Soda), watermelon, barbecue, and red velvet cake. "A lot of people who celebrate Juneteenth won't celebrate Juneteenth without information technology," culinary historian Adrian Miller told the Washington Mail service.

Favorite Ruby-red Velvet Cakes

Whether you prefer to get back in time and make the cake the one-time-fashioned style, or you're a fan of the stunning red color you can only really get from food coloring, we take a lot of red velvet cakes to choose from. And don't forget the cream cheese frosting!