What's the big deal about red velvet cake?

[superme80]

Not a fan of Red Velvet either. My DH's work threw us a baby shower for DS #2. One of his co-workers, who is an amazing baker, made a red velvet cake. I was not a fan. DH was in heaven.

 

[NewRVLady]

Red velevets actually didn't come from food coloring at first. It was a chemical reaction that caused them to be red.

Traditionally they were made with cocoa and either butter milk or vinegar plus baking soda. The butter milk/vinegar mixed with the baking soda gave it the "velvet" part of it's name since it eas light, airy, and smooth like velvet. Cocoa powder has anthocyanins in it. When that reacts with the acid it turns red (like a ph indicator) however now most cocoa powder is processed and nutralized so it doesn't work any more.

Now red velvet doesn't taste the same because it can easily get a chemically taste if you use food coloring instead of red juice.

Also the old time red velvet cake had a scratch recipe for icing that wasn't sweet
It was my favorite cake Mom would make from scratch- she has the 1950's recipe from the Waldorf Astoria

 

[Disneychick75]

I've had the original Red Velvet Cake and I don't like it at all.

 

[Minnesota!]

Red Velvet Cake is probably the only cake that I do not like. gag.

 

[marcyinPA]

I don't like it either. I love chocolate cake- deep, rich, dark chocolate. I'm sorry, but red velvet is NOT chocolate cake in my opinion.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Also the old time red velvet cake had a scratch recipe for icing that wasn't sweet
It was my favorite cake Mom would make from scratch- she has the 1950's recipe from the Waldorf Astoria

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

 

[minkydog]

I hadn't really even heard much about red velvet cake until I moved to the South.

I don't care for it, the only part I like is the cream cheese frosting. I love cream cheese.

Dawn

I'm right there with you. I was raised in the South and I'm not a fan of red velvet cake, but DH is so at least once a year I bake one for him.

 

[Sheree Bobbins]

Thank-you posters for sharing your opinions. I agree with those who say they can take the red cake or leave it. It was an interesting experiment to try a new cake recipe.

Now sour cream chocolate cake is one of my favorites, next to donuts.

 

[arminnie]

They were hot about 5 years ago, but have kind of faded around here.
.

No they were hot about 50 years ago. Really. My recipe is from the mid 60s. I don't think I've had one in over 40 years. That stuff the bakeries were selling was just awful - like most bakery cakes.

 

[marcyinPA]

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

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

 

[disney world dreamer]

it shouldn't be pink. if it was then i assume you used white cake instead of chocolate.
professionally made red velvet cake is truly amazing.
red velvet cake is in the bottom layer of tie dye cheesecake at pop century and its delicious.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

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.

 

[luvsJack]

No they were hot about 50 years ago. Really. My recipe is from the mid 60s. I don't think I've had one in over 40 years. That stuff the bakeries were selling was just awful - like most bakery cakes.

I am surprised that you haven't had one in that long. They are still popular here. And the last time I was in NOLA, the place we ate had it on the menu for dessert. And another place was advertising bread pudding made with red velvet.

Any church function, family function or any event that includes pot luck; SOMEONE brings a red velvet cake. Always love it when its one of the elderly ladies at church. Of course they seem to make everything taste better.




I think Red Velvet is one of those things that for some its the look of it is a turn off; dd always says "cake is not supposed to be blood red!"

And it can be almost sickly sweet by some recipes. And the frosting can be a make or break thing for some too.

Just a matter of taste.

 

[leebee]

I am not a huge chocolate fan- I can take it or leave it- so red velvet is the perfect cake for me. I have a decades-old recipe that I use, and I'd NEVER put cream cheese frosting on it! The frosting recipe that came with my red velvet cake recipe calls for cooking the frosting base, cooling it, then adding the sugar (and butter? can't remember, and I am at work so can't check). It is absolutely my favorite frosting recipe ever! I love my red velvet cake recipe; it's usually my birthday cake request!

… and others are right- the stuff from the box mix, most bakery recipes, etc., are totally gross. Red velvet needs to be properly made, from scratch, to be good!

 

[TireGirl]

I hadn't really even heard much about red velvet cake until I moved to the South.

I don't care for it, the only part I like is the cream cheese frosting. I love cream cheese.

Dawn

The cream cheese icing is definitely a southern thing. The recipe I use calls for whipped cream icing and it is devine

 

[tvguy]

No they were hot about 50 years ago. Really. My recipe is from the mid 60s. I don't think I've had one in over 40 years. That stuff the bakeries were selling was just awful - like most bakery cakes.

Everything cycles around, although I was around and am old enough to remember stuff from the mid-1960's, red velvet cake isn't a memory I have.

 

[U2_rocks!]

I don't like it either. I love chocolate cake- deep, rich, dark chocolate. I'm sorry, but red velvet is NOT chocolate cake in my opinion.

I find red velvet too sweet. Or maybe I just haven't had a good one. I prefer rich chocolate that isn't overly sweet. Or a good carrot cake that's full of real carrots, fruit and nuts - I can always scrape off most of the icing (I do like a thin layer of it).

 

[NotUrsula]

Everything cycles around, although I was around and am old enough to remember stuff from the mid-1960's, red velvet cake isn't a memory I have.

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.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I don't get it, either. I've had it once and it was ok, but nothing to ooh and ahh over.

 

[disney212]

If you get a good one it truly feels like velvet in your mouth.