Type | Layer cake |
---|---|
Course | Dessert |
Place of origin | United States |
Region or state | American South |
Main ingredients | Flour, buttermilk, butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and/or cream cheese icing |
Red velvet cake is traditionally a red, crimson, or scarlet-colored [1] layer cake, layered with ermine icing. [2] Traditional recipes do not use food coloring, with the red color possibly due to non-Dutched, anthocyanin-rich cocoa, and possibly due to the usage of brown sugar, formerly called red sugar. [1] [3] [4]
Common ingredients include buttermilk, butter, cocoa, vinegar, and flour. Beet juice or red food coloring may be used for the color. [3]
In the 20th century, "velvet" cake, a soft and velvety crumb cake, came to be served as a fancy dessert, in contrast to what had been the more common, coarser-crumbed cake. Around the turn of the 20th century, devil's food cake was introduced, which is how some believe that red velvet cake came about. The key difference between the two cakes is that devil's food cake uses chocolate and red velvet cake uses cocoa. [5]
Adams Extract is credited with bringing the red velvet cake to kitchens across America during the Great Depression era, by being one of the first to sell red food coloring and other flavor extracts with the use of point-of-sale posters and tear-off recipe cards. [6] [7] When foods were rationed in the US during World War II, bakers used boiled beet juices to enhance the color of their cakes. Beet was and is used in some recipes as a filler or to retain moisture. [8] The cake and its original recipe are well known in the United States from New York City's famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which has been dubbed the confection Waldorf-Astoria cake. However, it is widely considered a Southern recipe. [9] Traditionally, red velvet cake is iced with a French-style butter ermine icing (also called roux icing though, while containing butter and flour, it is not made from a roux), [10] which is very light and fluffy, but time-consuming to prepare. Cream cheese frosting and buttercream frosting are variations that have increased in popularity. [11] [12]
Red velvet cake may also have roots in black foodways and is sometimes considered to be soul food in the South. The color red is often used in Juneteenth celebrations to symbolize bloodshed in the fight against slavery. It is also used to remember the lives of Black ancestors before emancipation, as it honors those who did not have the opportunity to taste the freedoms of today. [13]
In general, red foods and red drinks typically consumed during Juneteenth have links to kola nuts and hibiscus, two West African foods. In the Yoruba and Kongo heritages of West Africa, things of red colors symbolize divine spiritual powers. The practice of eating red foods during Juneteenth may have originated from enslaved individuals being brought over to America from the Yoruba and Kongo cultures, who infused their culinary traditions into their food practices in America. However, red velvet cake in particular was only introduced in the 1930s when red food dye was developed. Since then, red velvet cake became part of African-American home cooking. [14]
Nicole Taylor, a cookbook author, described red velvet cake as a staple that only came out in Atlanta during special occasions, such as Christmas, Juneteenth, and other big celebrations. The color red also symbolizes joy, which explains its use as a celebration cake today in black communities. Many experts consider the cake to have origins in 1911 when Rufus Estes, a formerly enslaved person and chef, incorporated a recipe for a sweet velvet cake in his cookbook. However, the infusion of the color red into these cakes is a more recent innovation. Therefore, there is debate over whether red velvet cake is truly considered soul food, as historians and culinary experts disagree about whether red cake in particular should be part of black food history. [15]
In Canada, the cake was a well-known dessert in the restaurants and bakeries of the Eaton's department store chain in the 1940s and 1950s. Promoted as an exclusive Eaton's recipe, with employees who knew the recipe sworn to silence, many mistakenly believed the cake was the invention of the department store matriarch, Lady Eaton. [16]
Since the late 20th century, red velvet cake and red velvet cupcakes have become increasingly popular in the US and many European countries, especially around Christmas and more recently (since the 2010s) Valentine's Day. A resurgence in the popularity of this cake is attributed by some to the 1989 film Steel Magnolias , which included a red velvet groom's cake made in the shape of an armadillo. [9]
Ingredients vary based on the era and area of the world. James Beard's reference, American Cookery (1972), describes three red velvet cakes varying in the amounts of shortening, butter, and vegetable oil. All used red food coloring. The reaction of acidic vinegar and buttermilk tends to better reveal the red anthocyanin in cocoa and keeps the cake moist, light, and fluffy. This natural tinting may have been the source for the name "red velvet", as well as "Devil's food" and similar names for chocolate cakes. Today, chocolate often undergoes Dutch processing, which prevents the color change of the anthocyanins. A reconstruction of the original red velvet cake involves reducing or eliminating the vinegar and colorants and using a non-Dutched cocoa to provide the needed acidity and color.
In addition to the many variations of red velvet cake, there are various red velvet-flavored products, including protein powder, tea, lattes, Pop-Tarts, waffles, pancakes, and alcoholic beverages. The scent is used for candles and air fresheners as well. [12] For dietary restrictions, such as those due to allergies and ingredient sensitivity, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free variations are available. [17]
Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In some parts of England, the wedding cake is served at a wedding breakfast; the 'wedding breakfast' does not mean the meal will be held in the morning, but at a time following the ceremony on the same day. In modern Western culture, the cake is usually on display and served to guests at the reception. Traditionally, wedding cakes were made to bring good luck to all guests and the couple. Nowadays, however, they are more of a centerpiece to the wedding and are not always even served to the guests. Some cakes are built with only a single edible tier for the bride and groom to share, but this is rare since the cost difference between fake and real tiers is minimal.
Devil's food cake is a moist, rich chocolate layer cake.
Icing, or frosting, is a sweet, often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid, such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings. It is used to coat or decorate baked goods, such as cakes. When it is used between layers of cake it is known as a filling.
A layer cake or sandwich cake is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by frosting or another type of filling, such as jam or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for layer cakes; butter cakes and sponge cakes are common choices. Frequently, the cake is covered with icing, but sometimes, the sides are left undecorated, so that the filling and the number of layers are visible.
Carrot cake is cake that contains carrots mixed into the batter.
Chocolate cake or chocolate gâteau is a cake flavored with melted chocolate, cocoa powder, or both. It can also have other ingredients such as fudge, vanilla creme, and other sweeteners.
Chocolate liqueur is a chocolate flavored liqueur made from a base liquor of whisky or vodka. Unlike chocolate liquor, chocolate liqueur contains alcohol. Chocolate liqueur is often used as an ingredient in mixology, baking, and cooking.
Buttercream, also referred to as butter icing or butter frosting, is used for either filling, coating or decorating cakes. The main ingredients are butter and some type of sugar.
Dobos torte, also known as Dobosh, is a Hungarian sponge cake layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel. The layered pastry is named after its inventor, Hungarian chef József C. Dobos, a delicatessen owner in Budapest. In the late 1800s, he decided to create a cake that would last longer than other pastries in an age when cooling techniques were limited. The round sides of the cake are coated with ground hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts, or almonds, and the hardened caramel top helps to prevent drying out, for a longer shelf life.
Wacky cake, also called crazy cake, lazy cake, Joe cake, wowie cake, and WW II cake, is a spongy, cocoa-based cake. It is unique in that unlike many pastries and desserts, no eggs, butter or milk are used to make the cake batter.
Flourless chocolate cake is a dense cake made from an aerated chocolate custard. The origin of the cake is not clear. The dessert contains no gluten, which makes it acceptable for those with celiac disease, gluten-free diets, and during religious holidays in which gluten and grains are not permitted.
Chocolate salami is an Italian and Portuguese dessert made from cocoa, broken biscuits, butter and sometimes alcohol such as port wine or rum. The dessert became popular across Europe and elsewhere, often losing alcohol as an ingredient along the way.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chocolate:
Sponge cake is a light cake made with eggs, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain. The sponge cake is thought to be one of the first non-yeasted cakes, and the earliest attested sponge cake recipe in English is found in a book by the English poet Gervase Markham, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615). Still, the cake was much more like a cracker: thin and crispy. Sponge cakes became the cake recognised today when bakers started using beaten eggs as a rising agent in the mid-18th century. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 allowed the addition of butter to the traditional sponge recipe, resulting in the creation of the Victoria sponge. Cakes are available in many flavours and have many recipes as well. Sponge cakes have become snack cakes via the Twinkie.
Ganache is a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries, made from chocolate and cream.
Applesauce cake is a dessert cake prepared using apple sauce, flour and sugar as primary ingredients. Various spices are typically used, and it tends to be a moist cake. Several additional ingredients may also be used in its preparation, and it is sometimes prepared and served as a coffee cake. The cake dates back to early colonial times in the United States. National Applesauce Cake Day occurs annually on June 6 in the U.S.
Chestnut cake is a cake prepared using chestnuts. Chestnut flour prepared from cooked, ground chestnuts is used in its preparation, along with additional typical cake ingredients. It is sometimes prepared as a chocolate cake. Chestnuts are sometimes used in a frosting or glaze atop the cake, and it may be garnished with cooked or candied chestnuts. It can be prepared as a gluten-free dish.
White cake is a type of cake that is made without egg yolks. White cakes were also once known as silver cakes.