Red velvet cake is a type of rich chocolate-flavoured sponge cake that is coloured red, while a chocolate cake is simply a cake made with chocolate or cocoa. We use cocoa powder in both these recipes, but this does not mean that red velvet cake is a chocolate cake.
When a recipe for red velvet cake calls for cocoa powder, it means natural or unprocessed unsweetened cocoa powder, and not Dutch processed cocoa. Natural cocoa, unlike Dutch processed cocoa, contains the acidity that is needed to react with baking soda to make the cake rise.
Before this scheme, red velvet was made with cocoa powder, buttermilk, and vinegar. It’s the chemical reaction between the cocoa powder (which contains anthocyanin, a pH-sensitive antioxidant that reacts to acids) and the vinegar and buttermilk.
Red velvet is made using buttermilk, creamy cheese icing, and vinegar that have an acidic flavor. However, the sweetness of the cake balances out the acidity. The red coloring of food makes it have a slightly bitter taste. The over-coloring of the red velvet cake makes it have a bitter taste.
What Is Red Velvet?
While some people think the Red Velvet comes from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the 1920s, it’s actually a product from the Great Depression. It was a marketing ploy from Adams Extract, a food coloring company.
Luckily for you, red velvet can be used in a variety of desserts or breakfasts. These red velvet pancakes actually use the classic vinegar and cocoa powder combination to create its color (along with a little bit of red coloring). These cinnamon rolls and cookies use a cake mix, but are still oh so good.
Where does red velvet cake come from?
Before the 1920s, red velvet cake was more of a rust color than the brighter scarlet you usually see now. A chemical reaction among a few key ingredients occurred (more on that in a second) to create that deeper reddish tone naturally.
On top of having all the typical cake ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, and eggs), red velvet cake is also comprised of cocoa powder, buttermilk, and vinegar. When combined, these ingredients create the color as the cocoa powder reacts to the acids. However, if you try this today sans red food coloring, it might not turn out to be that red.
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