By Nikita Toppo
Ruby red and moist, with a pillowy crown of cream cheese frosting, the red velvet cake is one of the favourite desserts all over the world.
Velvet cakes first came into existence during the Victorian Era. It was during the 1800's that recipes would frequently call for the use of cocoa for luxury cakes.
Around the 1900's cake recipes with cocoa as the main ingredient began to surface. People were finding recipes for cocoa velvet cakes, red cocoa cakes and other "cocoa" types of cakes. Finally, around 1943, a popular cookbook, "The Joy of cooking" written by Irma S Rombauer debuted a red velvet cake.
During WWII soldiers and civilians had to ration off food and supplies. Baking products like sugar and butter were a part of the rations. As a result, some bakers chose to use beet juice in their cakes. You can still find red velvet cake recipes today that call for beet juice.
Red velvet cakes may have also had its roots in the Afro-American culinary culture. A mainstay in Juneteenth celebrations, red velvet cakes are a part of a larger spread consisting of all red coloured food.
Did you know that red velvet cake has hundreds of different names? Some popular ones are red carpet cake, red mystery cake, flame cake, and authentic red velvet cake.