The ever famous Red Velvet!

This entry is an info as well as personal experience sharing to all. I am not a food critic or qualified food commenter because taste or preference of a person differs from one to another. It's a very subjective issue to be said and discussed. Nonetheless, here are something to share and probably something we can learn from..  


First of all, I must tell that my latest craze and favourite flavour is Red Velvet cake/cuppies!!!!! Sorry choco, life & circumstances change..and so do I.. The creamy cheese + tangy cake taste, pheww..i drool. 


Well, you cant love someone without knowing it. And thanks mr Wiki & Google for such info which I am sharing with you all..


What's a Red Velvet cake

A red velvet cake is a popular cake with a dark red, bright red or red-brown color. It is usually prepared as a layer cake topped with a creamy vanilla icing or most popularly, cream cheese icing. The reddish-brown color of the cake was originally from a reaction of the cocoa powder with an acidic ingredient such asbuttermilk; however red food coloring is often added.

Common ingredients include buttermilk, butter, flour, cocoa,and beetroot or red food coloring. The amount of cocoa used varies in different recipes. Cream cheese frosting is most commonly paired with the cake, as well as the traditional buttercream.^[1]

History of Red Velvet cake

James Beard's 1972 reference American Cookery^[2] describes three red velvet cakes varying in the amounts of shortening and butter. All use red food coloring, but the reaction of acidic vinegar and buttermilk tends to better reveal the red anthocyanin in the cocoa. Before more alkaline "Dutch Processed" cocoa was widely available, the red color would have been more pronounced. 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.^[3][1] While foods were rationed during World War II, bakers used boiled beets to enhance the color of their cakes. Boiled grated beets or beet baby food are found in some red velvet cake recipes, where they also serve to retain moisture.

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 to be the invention of the department store matriarch, Lady Eaton.^[4]

A resurgence in the popularity of this cake is partly attributed to the 1989 film Steel Magnolias in which the groom's cake (a southern tradition) is a red velvet cake made in the shape of an armadillo.^[1]In recent years, red velvet cake has become increasingly popular and can usually be found in most cupcake bakeries.


And actually I am not much of a cup cake person. I usually think or most of time found that the flavour and texture of the cake will change when you have as 1 whole cake compared to small portion of cup cake. But, as I am baking it, I tried to control the temperature of oven, arrangement of tray as well as the combination of the ingredient..and at last, I must again say that my RV cake and cup cake tasted the SAME! 


How to enjoy your RV cup cake


Due to the above, these past 2 days, I have been enjoying with no guilt of my RV cuppies. And I also found that, these delicious cup cakes must be eaten the right way or again the flavour and texture may change. As sometimes i observed that people simply squeeze the bottom part to push out the cup cake from the casing..that shall change the cake texture!


Step #1: Peel of the solo cup. Best when u place the cup cake on a plate. You may tend to squeeze the the cup cake while holding it.

Step #2: Using a fork, cut into 4 portions and ensure each potion should have it's cream cheese on top.

Step#3: When eating, ensure the cheese and the cake melts in your mouth to maximize the full flavour!

Step#4: Repeat step 1,2, 3 for your next cuppies..nyummmm..

What's the best RV cake taste

I have tasted few RV from several bakery shop as well as home-bakers and the best red velvet cake should taste as the following:

1. The cake should be moist, soft, fluffy and a bit crumbly. Not dry.

2. The cake should not taste bitter. The taste is creamy and delicate due to the combination of vinegar, buttermilk and cocoa. 

3. The cake should be using good quality butter to have the creamy taste. Not using oil, as the after taste is not enjoyable at all. (Sorry, I just cant have oil in my cake except for carrot cake)

4. The cream cheese should be very creamy cheese with a tinge of lemony taste. This cream cheese just the best complimentary to the cake.

How to get a best Red Velvet

I found below while google-ing, and I guess I do share it here.

1. The cake must have some cocoa, but not too much because it is not a chocolate cake.

2. The cake must have red food coloring; beet juice does not add the right kind of red.

3. The cake must have cream cheese frosting.

4. There should be pecans. (This was news to me.)

5. You must use high-quality ingredients, including White Lily flour, a Southern specialty flour.

6. Precise measurements and meticulous attention to detail are key for this cake; therefore, it must be made in small, easy-to handle, family-sized batches. (Mass-produced batter just doesn't cut it. Sorry, large-scale bakeries.)

7. You must use a hand-held electric mixer, not a stand mixer: Larger machines can over-mix the batter, which sometimes prevents the cake from rising properly. 

8. Red velvet cake batter needs vegetable oil, not butter or shortening. (ermmm..i still prefer butter..sorry!!)

I guess the above info sharing should be sufficient for all Red Velvet cake lover, especially me.. When i say i love something, i really mean i love it! Enjoy your Red Velvet cake!