What the hell is red velvet cake?

[Kali]

Somehow aquired a box of cake mix - Red Velvet - looks like ketchup when mixed :puke:, really RED cake, flavor not really identifiable....WTF?

[salin]

1. only had it once, and it was delicious

but created by a masterful chef. Maybe the red is a strawberry?

[Orsino]

2. It's ambrosia.

No, I'm not sure what flavor it is, either. But it's one of the things you eat in heaven after you've been particularly good.

[supernova]

3. Red Velvet cakes are

very popular down here, esp at Valentine's.

[Lavender Brown]

4. they are usually chocolate cakes with red food coloring

[spindrifter]

5. Red Velvet cake is spectacular, but

I have never heard of a mix for it--it's chocolate cake with beaucoup red food coloring and traditionally has a white frosting made w/ cream cheese.

[StellaBlue]

6. It's a Southern thing

I made one for my colleagues in the UK last Easter (we all took goodies to work, and I thought I would be typically sacreligious/ironic), and they had the same 'WTF?!' reaction.

You know that groom's cake in 'Steel Magnolias'? The one that's shaped and looks like an armadillo? That was red velvet.

And it tastes like it sounds. Red velvet. Always blood red, always with cream cheese icing.

mmmmm




RECIPE from Paula Deen:

Cake:
2 cups sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 ounces red food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
Icing:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup melted marshmallows
1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans


Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into 3 (8-inch) round greased and floured pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from heat and cool completely before frosting.

Icing:
Blend cream cheese and butter together in a mixing bowl. Add marshmallows and sugar and blend. Fold in coconut and nuts. Spread between layers and on top and sides of cooled cake.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_30653,00.html

[Bzzzz]

14. I love...

Paula!!!

[leftofthedial]

7. why is there a picture of Elvis on the cake?

and he's dressed up like a bullfighter!

WTF??

[Kali]

8. Here is what I found - yeah southern and the flavor - chocolate

color - food coloring - oh well

from some cooking site:

Red velvet cake recipes and other interesting cakes
Although the details are sketchy at best, red velvet cake is not as Southern as many like to think. The story, which began circulating some time in the 1940s, claimed that Manhattan's elegant Waldorf-Astoria granted a diner's request for the recipe, then a short time later sent her a bill in the amount of $100. The angry woman, apparently with revenge in mind, then began circulating the recipe along with the story. Another "baked" legend with the same storyline is the $250 Chocolate Chip Cookie, also known as the Neiman-Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.
Home cooks do seem to love cakes with an unusual story or a "secret ingredient." Wacky cake, tomato soup cake and mayonnaise cake are just a few of the unusual cakes we all have in our recipe files, so it's no wonder Southern cooks embraced the delicious and colorful red velvet cake.




Despite its rather tainted roots, the cake turned out to be a winner, perfect for Christmas, Valentines Day, and just about any occasion.
Most of the red velvet cake recipes below come from forum members and many include a cream cheese or cooked frosting recipe, but it would be delicious with any white frosting you choose.
Enjoy!

[hippiechick]

9. if you use cream cheese frosting and refrigerate it for a tic ..

... before serving, then it's :loveya: extra yummy

From what my real-cook friends have told me, it's a pain in the arse to make from scratch, so I've always used a box mix when I make it.


:hi:

[Guava Jelly]

10. this is my late grandmas recipe

[bamademo]

13. I made one almost exactly like that last week during Bama's Bowl Game

Crimson and white, you know. People had foodgasms when they ate it. It tasted just like my Granny's <sniff, RIP, Blanche and Ester>. It's very good. I got a Cobalt Blue Kitchen Aid as a gift for Christmas so I've been on a baking trip.

[Guava Jelly]

16. I actually have it posted on my familytree page

[Lavender Brown]

17. Recipes are great heirlooms

I wish I had my grandmothers' recipes like that. Is that her writing?

[Guava Jelly]

18. yup

for some reason i cant post the picture
http://www.shivelyfamily.com/FamilyHistory.html
towards the bottom is my grandma


here she is with my late grandpa

[Lavender Brown]

21. I love family photos

:)

[crispini]

20. Oh, I am SO saving that

someday, someday, I will make cake again. :P

[undeterred]

11. The * and his family had it for Thanksgiving.

[caty]

12. Here's a recipe

if you want to try one from scratch.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/chocolatecakes/r/blbb146.htm

[Magrittes Pipe]

15. A red, velvety, orgasm.

[qnr]

19. In addition, it is the subject of an urban legend:

http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/cookie.asp