Red Velvet Cake- the basics

There are a lot of good box cakes.  It's something you can make in a pinch when you are short on time and ingredients and need to bring a dessert.  You can even doctor up box cakes to make them into something extra delicious by adding canned fruit, sour cream, applesauce, etc.  But red velvet cake is just not something that can come from a box.

For starters, a good red velvet cake recipe uses buttermilk or sour milk (vinegar + milk) and a small dose of baking soda and vinegar to give it a slightly tangy, sour taste.  Your red velvet box mix contains sugar, flour, shortening, cocoa powder and baking soda, plus a lot of stabilizers and preservatives.  It only calls for eggs, oil, and water.  So no matter what, you are going to miss that delightful hint of tang that a true red velvet cake gives you.  And although the box might say it's moist and delightful, it's not going to hold a candle to a true red velvet cake.

The other key piece that makes a made-from-scratch red velvet cake so much better is the proportion of cocoa powder to flour.  In a box cake, you are kind of stuck with what they think tastes best, but at home, you can play a little bit more to decide how much cocoa flavor you really want in the cake.

The origin of red velvet cake is unknown, but it's been around for a while.  In the 1920's, it was the signature dessert at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.  Legend has it that in the 1960's a patron asked for the recipe and she received it, but was billed a LARGE amount for it.  She payed it, but then spread the recipe in a chain letter.  Whether or not this is true, remains to be seen, but red velvet cake has since made it's way onto menus and into bakeries across the country.

My preferred red velvet cake recipe is here.  It's really moist and delicious and pairs well with a buttercream icing or a cream cheese icing.  It also makes a nice base for red velvet gobbs, although you need to add an extra egg and more flour for it to bind correctly.

If I've convinced you to abandon box cake mix for red velvet cake, but you still aren't in the mood to make your own, there are certainly a few places in town with a great red velvet cake.

Vanilla Pastry Studio:  they don't always have the "Elvis has left the building" red velvet cupcake, so you might want to call ahead, but April Simpson-Gruver makes a killer red velvet cake.
The Pie Place:  they always have cupcakes and they sometimes have cake.  Call ahead to have them set aside for you- they go fast!
Oakmont Bakery:  be prepared to be here staring at all the options and salivating for hours.  But also know that they have red velvet cake and red velvet cupcakes all the time.  The red velvet cupcakes are known as Red Carpet cupcakes and are superbly worthy of Sugar Loving cravings.

Oakmont Bakery’s Red Carpet Cupcake on the Sugar Love Scale
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