Favorite Red Velvet Recipes

Red velvet desserts appeared in the 1920s when the Adam’s Extract Company first shared their red velvet cake recipe. In 1943 it made its way into the Joy of Cooking cookbook.
The red color of the cake came from the chemical reaction between cocoa powder and buttermilk and vinegar. But beets, beet juice, and more common now, red food coloring can also provide the red hue. In general, “velvet” cakes were made as far back as the 1800s.

Though these recipes call for red food coloring, there is a reaction between the cocoa powder and the acid in the buttermilk and vinegar that produces a red-tinted batter. It’s the anthocyanin in cocoa, a pH-sensitive antioxidant, that reacts to these two acidic ingredients, creating the red color.
Adding food coloring produces the even more intense red color we tend to expect with red velvet desserts.

Despite the addition of cocoa powder, there’s only a very slight chocolate flavor in red velvet desserts. Almost negligible in my opinion, though many still think of red velvet as another kind of chocolate cake. Buttermilk helps add moisture as well as acidity along with the vinegar (though my palate isn’t sensitive enough to taste the acidity).
The frosting is a huge giveaway as red velvet cakes are usually frosted with cream cheese icing whereas chocolate cakes are traditionally paired with chocolate frosting.

Velvet Cakes date back to the early 1900s. Finer, softer, high-end cakes were called “velvet” in contrast to the coarser texture of regular cakes of that time period.

Originally, an ermine or roux frosting was used to ice red velvet cakes. Bavarian cream, white chocolate frosting along with traditional cream cheese frosting are also wonderful pairings.