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There are many stories around about the origin of the red velvet cake. Most of what is known has been tracked through recipes appearing on cook books over the years.
It appears the roots of the velvet cake goes back into the late 1800s. Until then the crumb of cakes was rather coarse. At some point someone discovered mixing cocoa into the flour produced a finer textured cake.
Some different kinds of velvet cakes appeared like Mahogany which also had coffee added and Devil’s Food which used chocolate rather than cocoa powder which started to appear in recipes in the early 1900s.
The raw cocoa that appeared on shelves then was not like what we buy today. The pH level in it would turn colours in batters depending on what acidic ingredient was used. When used in a batter with buttermilks the batter took on a burgundy hue.
Many of the early recipes originated in the American South. The cake became a popular cake on Emancipation Day. Many saw the redish colour as symbolic of the bloodshed of the slavery era. The popularity led some to believe the origin of the cake was from that era. Food researchers don’t seem to think so. But, really, who knows?
It is known Red Velvet has been on the menu at Stein’s Bakery in Dallas, Texas since it opened in the early 1860s according to the family who purchased the bakery in 2002.
During WW1 rationing and then the Great Depression, bakers resorted to other ways to moisten cakes due to dairy and egg shortages. Many used fruits and vegetables they grew and were in greater supply. Among the choices was making cakes with grated beets or beet juice. Cakes made this way baked up into a distinctive red tint.
In the late 1930s the Adams Extract Co, based in Austin Texas, started bottling red food dye. By then government regulations control the the sale. They created a recipe card with a simple to make recipe using their red food die rather than beat juice.
The recipes for Red Velvet Cake, with and without beat juice, made their way north and eventually into the hands of the bakers at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City and the Eaton’s Department Store in Toronto, Ontario. Both prestigious firms debuted their versions and claimed they invented it.
Using the velvet word in the name of the cake provided the sense of luxury and smoothness that would appeal to the upscale customers of both establishments. There is probably little doubt the continued appeal of red velvet products has a lot to do with not only the flavour but the draw of the name.
This appeal was strengthen in 1943 when Irma S Rombauer included the recipe, with red food colouring, in her “Joy of Cooking” the iconic book that later inspired Julia Child’s career. Its appearance in the book was one of the first national mentions of the cake. A later edition of the same book was where I learned about the use of beets in the cake.
In our world of processed foods, you can buy mixes for different kinds of red velvet products like cakes, cupcakes, squares etc. Really, why not try it from scratch? There are lots of recipes to be found online.
Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.
NOTE: unless otherwise stated, all images are the author’s
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