What's the big deal about red velvet cake?

[Worfiedoodles]

Red Velvet is my favorite.

We have a 24hr cupcake ATM near us & I can tell you, when they've run out of Red Velvet, it's a very sad drive back home.

What?! a 24hr cupcake ATM?! Now this is a trend I would like to see catch on!

Maria

 

[luvsJack]

someone just dropped some cake balls off for our office. The cake is red velvet.

I ate half of one and it is sooo sweet it makes my teeth hurt!!!

The candy coating stuff is way, way too sweet for red velvet.

 

[tvguy]

That's because you weren't in the South, LOL.

A classmate of mine from HS took a job cooking on an offshore oil rig. One of the standard chores she did every single day was bake a dozen red velvet cakes; the men practically rioted if it wasn't available for dinner every single night. In the South it's very much a guy thing, and I've never met a male Southerner who didn't love it. Women tend not to be so manic about it.

The lady who made my wedding cake also made the infamous Armadillo Groom's Cake for the film production of Steel Magnolias. She said that they made over 60 of them for the shoot, and they ALL were eaten instantly as soon as each take was over; the crew couldn't get enough.

Regional differences are fun though. My wife.....who hates fruit cake....was horrified to discover after she married me that the traditional wedding cake in Canada is a fruit cake. My mom is from Canada and my wife got dragged to a lot of my cousins weddings up there, and of course it is RUDE not to have a bit of wedding cake.

 

[NotUrsula]

Regional differences are fun though. My wife.....who hates fruit cake....was horrified to discover after she married me that the traditional wedding cake in Canada is a fruit cake. My mom is from Canada and my wife got dragged to a lot of my cousins weddings up there, and of course it is RUDE not to have a bit of wedding cake.

Yes, well, it's one of those fun little Southern secrets that we actually tend to like fruitcake in the South, too --- but only if it's GOOD fruitcake. (read that as homemade, not store-bought.) Not for wedding cake, though; that being the traditional UK/Irish thing.

(And yes, I did have fruitcake at my wedding because my Irish mother would have been mortified if I didn't, but it wasn't THE cake. THE cake was Italian Cream, which is another "Southern thing", or perhaps more accurately, a New Orleans thing. (And a dang delicious thing it is, IMO, in spite of having nothing to do with either Italy or actual cream.))

 

[TLSnell1981]

this is how I make my buttercream- but I use butter instead of shortening. It is SO GOOD!!

I use butter for buttercream, thus the difference between the two icings.

 

[luvsJack]

Yes, well, it's one of those fun little Southern secrets that we actually tend to like fruitcake in the South, too --- but only if it's GOOD fruitcake. (read that as homemade, not store-bought.) Not for wedding cake, though; that being the traditional UK/Irish thing.

(And yes, I did have fruitcake at my wedding because my Irish mother would have been mortified if I didn't, but it wasn't THE cake. THE cake was Italian Cream, which is another "Southern thing", or perhaps more accurately, a New Orleans thing. (And a dang delicious thing it is, IMO, in spite of having nothing to do with either Italy or actual cream.))

Another good cake!! Mom used to make one every holiday. I have often wondered why it was called Italian Cream. I figured it was actually an Italian recipe.

 

[bcla]

I bought a red velvet cupcake at Bouchon Bakery at the Venetian in Las Vegas last year. Man was that good. Cream cheese icing and an extremely flavorful cake. On top of the icing was some sort of silvery candy. It wasn't sprinkles but these balls of metalized sugar. Best part was that it cost $3.25. We were walking around the Venetian and noticed some high-end stuff like donuts for $9. They were beautifully made, but $9 for a donut?

The cupcake looked like this one (but with a more perfect fluting pattern), but without the chocolate pieces on top:

They have variations on this depending on the time of year as well as the mood of the manager.

 

[Andtototoo]

I've never understood what the big deal is about them, to be honest.

 

[bcla]

I've never understood what the big deal is about them, to be honest.

There's no big deal to anything if the execution is poor. However, even relatively mundane food items can be incredible with the right amount of quality and attention to detail.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

What?! a 24hr cupcake ATM?! Now this is a trend I would like to see catch on!

They're very popular in Dallas & SoCal
http://www.sprinkles.com/cupcake-atm

 

[wilkeliza]

They're very popular in Dallas & SoCal
http://www.sprinkles.com/cupcake-atm

We have one in NYC. Love their cupcakes and the ATM is right next to my boyfriend's parents town house so when ever we go to visit them we get dessert there. My pup is a massivr fan of their puppy cupcakes.

 

[luvgoing2disney]

Probably, a cooked milk recipe....milk, granulated sugar, flour, shortening and vanilla.Yum!

That's the one my mon used and it made the cake so moist as it would usually settle in the cake portions. I lost my mom last year but hope to find her recipe. She was great Southern cook!

 

[U2_rocks!]

Regional differences are fun though. My wife.....who hates fruit cake....was horrified to discover after she married me that the traditional wedding cake in Canada is a fruit cake. My mom is from Canada and my wife got dragged to a lot of my cousins weddings up there, and of course it is RUDE not to have a bit of wedding cake.

Yes, fruitcake is the traditional wedding (and Christmas) cake in the English-speaking Caribbean as well. Ours is very rich and alcoholic with a marzipan icing layer and then royal icing on top - so yummy! You can't eat a lot of it at a time though, because it's so rich.

 

[mombrontrent]

For what it's worth I am Canadian and I have never heard of or been served fruitcake at a wedding. I remember seeing them around Christmas time as a kid but it's been years since I have seen one and never at a wedding.

 

[SirDuff]

For what it's worth I am Canadian and I have never heard of or been served fruitcake at a wedding. I remember seeing them around Christmas time as a kid but it's been years since I have seen one and never at a wedding.

Neither have I.

Of course, saying that something is the traditional wedding cake in Canada is like saying something is the traditional wedding cake in the US. It is nonsense. Canada is huge with many diverse areas with their own traditions. And, given how many immigrant families we have, many of these traditions refer back to other countries.

 

[SirDuff]

I bought a red velvet cupcake at Bouchon Bakery at the Venetian in Las Vegas last year. Man was that good. Cream cheese icing and an extremely flavorful cake. On top of the icing was some sort of silvery candy.

Silver dragees?

http://www.fancyflours.com/category/silver-dragees

 

[Worfiedoodles]

They're very popular in Dallas & SoCal
http://www.sprinkles.com/cupcake-atm

Now I'm really wishing we had Sprinkles! Also, wouldn't this be a great idea for WDW?!

Maria

 

[bcla]

Silver dragees?

http://www.fancyflours.com/category/silver-dragees

Close. The ones I saw weren't so shiny - more a satin finish.

 

[tvguy]

Yes, fruitcake is the traditional wedding (and Christmas) cake in the English-speaking Caribbean as well. Ours is very rich and alcoholic with a marzipan icing layer and then royal icing on top - so yummy! You can't eat a lot of it at a time though, because it's so rich.

Yeah, my mom's older sister made a killer dark fruit cake from, and her younger sister made a killer light fruit cake. No booze in either.

My wife's stepfather loved STORE bought fruit cake. But he always poured a whole bottle of brand on it and let it sit for 2 weeks first.

 

[Andtototoo]

There's no big deal to anything if the execution is poor. However, even relatively mundane food items can be incredible with the right amount of quality and attention to detail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP_ilWDzaJ0