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Yall ret-ta talk about red velvet? https://twitter.com/EatWithNia/status/1320843175032987654
Hate it or love it red velvet cake is that girl. Always in the middle of a controversy, red velvet has a long and very spotty history in America and Black people.
Some say that it originated in the south, Maryland to be exact in the early 20th century, (Maryland is below the Mason-Dixon Line and therefore in the South. Debate your bald auntie).
Red velvet cake is a take on the fancy dessert velvet cake, that is a soft and velvety crumb cake. This is different than the coarser-crumb cake you are accustomed to eating from your local grocery store or your granny’s kitchen. The texture is literally velvet soft.
During the same time, red velvet was having its coming-out party, devil’s food cake was making its debut to the world. Some say this is how red velvet actually came to be.
The mahogany cake (below)- which is the cousin of the devil’s food cake, was the result of using coffee and cocoa instead of chocolate and developed a reddish tint bc of the acidic ingredients. In contrast, the devil's food cake is made of chocolate but has a deep brown color.
For those of you calling red velvet out of its name saying it’s just red dye #5 chocolate cake - AHT AHT! Put some respect on her name! Red velvet is made with COCOA and devil’s food cake uses chocolate.
One of the original recipe(s) also calls for softened flour, a combination of cake and pastry flour is low in gluten and give foods a finer texture, hence the soft velvet crumb.
The term velvet cake comes from the Victorian era and helped people differentiate btwn sponge and pound cakes. Sponge cakes are dense and chewy and use(d) almond flour that is now replaced with wheat flour.
Pound cakes, on the other hand, are dense but soft. During the Victorian era cakes made with cocoa were considered luxury cakes.
What’s the difference btwn using cacao and chocolate? Cacoa has little if any cocoa butter. Chocolate has cocoa butter. Bc there’s no cocoa butter in cacao, it’s thought to be healthier since it is lower in sugar, fat and isn’t as processed as chocolate.
Those of you loving red velvet so you can get your cream cheese fix, guess what? It’s time we pull that cream cheese wig off, bc red velvet is actually supposed to be made with an ermine icing.
WTF is ermine icing? It is a boiled milk icing also known as a flour buttercream or butter roux icing.
So it’s ok but I know most of you are only eating red velvet for the cream cheese! I see you.
Modern versions of the cake call for non-Dutch process cocoa, vinegar, and/ or buttermilk! Red velvet cakes uses the buttermilk or vinegar to activate the baking soda which also aids in its fluffiness and velvety texture.
Some people use Valrhona chocolate in place of the non-Dutch processed cocoa. No judgment.
HOWEVER, if you want to use non-Dutch processed cocoa, it’ll cost ya! Non-dutch processed cocoa is hard to find. Dutch-processed cocoa has a weaker color and doesn’t have the same chemical reaction from the buttermilk that non-Dutch cocoa has.
Stay away from the food color if you want your cake velvety and a dark or crimson red as nature intended.
In 1943, @TheJoyofCooking made one of the most prominent mentions of Red Velvet cake. It was the first national mention of the red cake.
During WWII, food was rationed and as a result, the recipe had to be tweaked to accommodate. Sugar and butter were just a few of those foods. It was during this time that beets or beet juice were introduced to the cake. The color made the cake more appealing.
Although there is no real evidence to support it started in the South, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC claims it created the cake when it was added to the menu during the 1950s.
The Adams Extract company, in Gonzalez, TX, says they are the original owner creator of the cake dating back to the 1920s. The company claims during the Great Depression they created the recipe to lure customers back.
Before food coloring was a thing, the cake was actually rust-colored. I’m looking all you bakers out there with Kool-aid and Fanta cherry colored cake! The cake should not be bright red. Some newer versions use pomegranate to obtain the red color.
According to food historian @SoulFoodScholar, red velvet was actually more of a Christmas cake and did not become apart of the African American food canon until the 1950s.
I wasn’t able to find any info on when ermine icing was replaced by cream cheese frosting. But the Philadelphia Cream Cheese company said cream cheese frosting became a part of its recipe book in the late 1940s.
Here's a recipe for ermine: https://www.wilton.com/easy-ermine-frosting-recipe/WLRECIP-8801.html
Here's a recipe for ermine: https://www.wilton.com/easy-ermine-frosting-recipe/WLRECIP-8801.html
Now some say that red cake was served at Juneteeth celebrations in the south but that is still up for debate. It allegedly is served at celebrations as it represents the bloodshed of African American ancestors.
Gonzalez, TX, home to the Adams Baking Company, is about 3 hours from Galveston, TX, where Juneteenth happened. I'm not saying they stole it, but I'm not saying they came up with it either.
That is the abridged version of red velvet's history in America. Red velvet like many African American's can not trace its roots.
