Red velvet cake
 A four-layer slice of red velvet cake | |
| Place of origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | Baking powder, butter, buttermilk, cocoa powder, eggs, flour, salt, vanilla extract, vinegar, and/or cream cheese or ermine icing |
Red velvet cake is a red-hued chocolate layer cake with cream cheese or ermine icing. The origin of the cake is unknown, although it is popular in the Southern United States and has been served as a dessert at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel since the 1920s. Both the hotel and Eaton's in Canada claim to have developed the recipe.
The cake became popular from the 1990s through the 2010s in the United States to the point that other food products were being made to mimic the flavor and other consumer products were being made to mimic the scent.
The main ingredients of the cake are baking powder, butter, buttermilk or vinegar, cocoa powder, eggs, flour, salt, vanilla extract, and in most modern recipes, red food coloring.
Background
[edit]Recipes for "velvet cakes", designated so because of the fineness of their crumb texture, date to the 1800s but include a variety of types of cake, including pancakes, whose recipes called for ingredients like almond flour, cocoa or cornstarch to soften the wheat flour proteins and make finer-textured cakes.[1][2] At the time, brown sugar, which was also called red sugar, was more readily and cheaply available than refined white sugar, and may have turned the cakes "vaguely reddish", according to Stella Parks.[2]
The first recipes for chocolates cakes also appeared in the late 1800s, and some recipes called for buttermilk or another acidic ingredient, which when combined with the raw cocoa powder commonly available at the time turned the batter and resulting cake a naturally-occurring burgundy color. Cakes from this type of recipe include red devil cake, mahogany cake, and oxblood cake.[1][2] According to Parks, the concept of a velvet cocoa powder cake originated in the early 20th century when the recipes for mahogany cake and devil's food cake were merged.[3]
Later, during rationing periods around World War I and the Great Depression, recipes were developed using vegetables, fruits and their juices to partially replace the moisture from dairy and eggs; cakes made with beets were red, and chocolate cakes made with beets were burgundy.[2]
When artificial food colorings were developed in the 1930s, manufacturers marketed them by developing recipes in which they were called for, including to enhance naturally-occurring colors from the other ingredients.[2] One such recipe was created by the Adams Extract Company after owners John and Betty Adams ate the cake at the Waldorf-Astoria; the company's recipe was based on mahogany cake and called for red food coloring and ermine icing.[1]
Creation
[edit]Although the dish is popularly associated with the cuisine of the Southern US, it is unknown where the red velvet cake originated.[4][5][6]
Red velvet cake became a famous dessert at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel in the 1920s. According to John Harrisson and John Doherty, the authors of the Waldorf-Astoria Cookbook, the red velvet layer cake is considered a Southern recipe.[5] During World War II, the Adams Extract company used red food dye to produce a recipe similar to Waldorf-Astoria.[7] Their recipe thereafter became renowned throughout the country.[2] In the late 20th century, the cake regained popularity as a result of the 1989 film Steel Magnolias and the Magnolia Bakery, which opened in New York City in 1996.[8]
In Canada, the cake was popular in the 1940s and 1950s.[9] It was featured at restaurants inside Eaton's department store in Toronto and was widely attributed as a favorite of Flora Eaton.[1] The Lunch with Lady Eaton cookbook refers to it as a "exclusive sweet recipe of Eaton's".[6] Both the Waldorf-Astoria and Eaton's claim to have created the red velvet cake.[2]
Ingredients and preparation
[edit]The primary ingredients of red velvet cake are baking powder, butter, buttermilk, cocoa powder, eggs, flour, salt, vanilla extract, vinegar, and generally red food coloring.[4][5][10] Typically the batter is made using the creaming method.[10]
Most modern recipes call for a cream cheese frosting, but some recipes call for ermine icing.[4][5][10]
Variations
[edit]Red velvet cheesecakes, cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls, lattes, teas, waffles, Pop-Tarts, and sundaes exist.[1][11] The flavor has also been used in protein powders and vodka and the scent in candles and air fresheners.[1]
In culture
[edit]The cake was not particularly popular until it was featured in the 1989 Steel Magnolias, which resulted in an immediate increase in interest in it.[1][5][9]. In 2002 Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey used it as their wedding cake.[5] Eventually it became trendy in upscale bakeries.[1][5][9] By 2009 it was part of 1.5% of all US menu items and by 2013, 4.1%. By 2014 it had become "a national commercial obsession" according to Kim Severson of The New York Times, who described it as the cake having "got its sleeve caught in the American food merchandising machine".[1]
According to Nicole A. Taylor, red velvet cake, like other red foods, is commonly served for Juneteenth celebrations.[2] However, it is not a dish that is otherwise closely associated with African-American culture.[1]
Although the cake is often considered a southern cake, Virginia Willis described categorizing the cake as part of southern cuisine as "insulting on some level culturally".[1]
Reception
[edit]James Beard considered it bland and uninteresting.[1] Angie Mosier of the Southern Foodways Alliance said, "It’s the Dolly Parton of cakes: a little bit tacky, but you love her".[5] The owner of a bakery that makes red velvet cakes and cupcakes told the New York Times, "People love it, and I don’t understand why."[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Severson, Kim (May 12, 2014). "Red Velvet Cake: A Classic, Not a Gimmick". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Galarza, G. Daniela (June 11, 2021). "Red Velvet Cake is 'the Color of Joy.' Here's How It Rose into America's Dessert Canon". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ^ Lam, Francis (October 6, 2017). "The Evolution of Red Velvet Cake, An Iconic American Dessert". The Splendid Table. Archived from the original on December 22, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Red Velvet Cake Recipe". Betty Crocker. January 6, 2025. Archived from the original on February 5, 2025. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Fabricant, Florence (February 14, 2007). "So Naughty, So Nice". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ a b Anderson, Carol; Mallinson, Katharine (2004). Lunch with Lady Eaton: Inside the Dining Rooms of a Nation. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-1-55022-650-8.
- ^ Holland, Kimberly (August 8, 2023). "Was The Original Red Velvet Cake Created In New York City?". Southern Living. Archived from the original on December 20, 2024. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ^ Narula, Svati Kirsten (February 14, 2015). "The Rediscovery of Red Velvet Has Gone Way Too Far". Quartz. Archived from the original on January 20, 2025. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Red Velvet Cake". Betty Crocker. January 10, 2017. Archived from the original on January 21, 2025. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
- ^ a b c Severson, Kim (June 4, 2024). "Southern Red Velvet Cake". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 27, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
- ^ Miller, Josh (February 3, 2025). "14 Decadent Red Velvet Dessert Recipes". Southern Living. Archived from the original on February 5, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Red velvet cakes at Wikimedia Commons
