Red Velvet’s sweet return

THIS CLASSIC CAKE FROM THE 1800s MADE FANFARE FROM SPARSE INGREDIENTS

Save money by making your own rich, red velvet cake and impress everyone who gets a slice. Most of us can’t resist a slice of red velvet cake, so it’s high time we learn to make it ourselves.

With creamy cheese icing, a red velvet cake has to be one of the most decadent cakes around.

WHAT IS RED VELVET CAKE?

These cakes became popular during the 1800s when cocoa powder was used to make cakes softer. The term ‘velvet’ is actually used to describe the cake’s finer crumb – a finetextured cake covered in cream cheese icing. Between the 1920s and 1950s, red velvet cakes became incredibly popular at parties.

Traditionally, the mix between cocoa powder, vinegar and buttermilk would have given the cake its dark, crimson colour. But during World War II, ingredients such as butter and sugar were sparse, so people began mixing beets or beet juice into their cake to create the red colour we know today.

When cake makers stopped using beets, major cake companies began creating mixes that contained red food colouring.

WHAT FLAVOUR IS IT?

Red Velvet cake has a slight chocolate taste. That’s because the cocoa powder mixes into the cake batter. You’ll probably taste the cream cheese icing more than the cake crumb.

When making red velvet cake, beat your cocoa powder mix with your flour and eggs, so the mix is evenly distributed. If you’ve mixed your eggs and flour right, you should have a reddish, fluffy mix.

WHO INVENTED THE CAKE?

Although there is no definitive answer for who created the first red velvet cake, we know who created the first red food-coloured red velvet cake. In Texas, during the 1920s, the use of food colouring was popular. Adams Extract Company was the first to create a red-coloured, red velvet cake mix.

In the 1950s, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York was the first to begin serving the cake. The mix was then used in kitchens across America. From then on, red velvet cake became a household favourite.

HOW TO MAKE IT

If you’re looking to ditch the box and make red velvet cake from scratch, then grab some buttermilk, cocoa powder and vinegar.

These three heroes are going to put the ‘red’ in red velvet cake. When mixed together, these ingredients make a chemical reaction creating the strong reddishbrown colour we see today. If you want a stronger, more vibrant colour in your cake, add a few drops of red food colouring. If one big cake is too much for you, try red velvet cupcakes, a tray bake, or decadent red velvet doughnuts.