Red Velvet cakes had been made since the 18th century. Cooking recipes called for the use of cocoa to soften the flour and make finer texture velvet cakes. This smoother mixture gave these delicious cakes the name Red Velvet cakes.
A Mahogany cake was also quite popular which incorporated cocoa and the coffee (its cousin being Devil’s chocolate Cake). By the early 1900s food recipes surfaced for the making of cocoa velvet cakes, red cocoa cakes, & other varieties of cakes.
While no one is quite sure where cupcakes came from, it is considered that the cupcakes made an appearance in the United States in the 19th Century. Known as Fairy Cakes in the United Kingdom, cupcakes changed the way of how cake was made and the mothers across the land lauded the sweet blessing.
Red Velvet Cake and Cupcakes in World War 2
During World War 2 soldiers and the civilians had to ration off food & supplies. Baking items such as sugar and butter were a part of the daily rations. So as a result, some bakers decided to use beet juice in the cakes. You can still find red velvet cake and cupcakes recipes today that call for beet juice.
The red color of beets makes the cake and cupcakes have a much more delicious appeal. However, not only does the availability of beets make the cake pretty, but they also make the cupcakes and cake soft. Beets actually work as a filler that keeps your cakes and cupcakes fresh.
People were quite happy to buy a red velvet cakes because the cake felt more special. The reddish look of the sweet dessert isn’t very essential to the flavor of the cake. Instead, the red color of the cake is more of a conspicuous statement piece to impress guests.
Today, many people go crazy over being able the dessert to their menu items. You can find the delicious red velvet cake, cookies, cupcakes and in some restaurants even red velvet chicken!
Present Day Red Velvet Cake
Present day Velvet Cake depends more on red food coloring than it does on the beets. Reason behind why food coloring is used to give the cake and cupcake is because of its signature color and because of the technique cocoa is now processed in the United States.
Most of the cocoa available in the online stores and groceries stores is known as the Dutch process cocoa. The thing here is the real and natural coca is fairly acidic. When the cocoa is processed, the acid is decreased while creating a dark rich brown color.
It is the acid in the real cocoa that reacts to the fresh buttermilk creating a reddish color. Because natural cocoa is not as widely available, bakers choose instead to use the Dutch process cocoa and then add food coloring to give the cupcakes and cakes their color.
Eating a Red Velvet cake or cupcake can make you feel young again & with the variety of flavors and other frostings that have progressed over the years, there isn’t an appetite or sweet dish that can’t be solved with a tasty velvet cake and cupcake.
