Red velvet cake is a red-colored layer cake with cream cheese or ermine icing. The origin of the cake is unknown, although it is popular in the Southern United States and has been served as a dessert at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel since the 1920s. Both the hotel and Eaton's in Canada claim to have developed the recipe. Ingredients of the cake include baking powder, butter, buttermilk or vinegar, cocoa powder, eggs, flour, salt, vanilla extract, and, in most modern recipes, red food coloring. The cake's popularity declined after Red Dye #2 was linked to cancer in the 1970s but has since improved in the United States and elsewhere.
History
thumb|A recipe for red velvet cake in [[Ladies' Home Journal, 1927. It is identified as "Red devil cake."]]
It is unknown where the red velvet cake originated, although its popularity in the Southern United States dates to the early 20th century. Recipes for "velvet" cakes, so called because of the fineness of their crumb texture, date to the 19th century but include a variety of types of cake, including shortcakes and pancakes, whose recipes included ingredients such as almond flour, cocoa powder or corn starch to soften the wheat flour proteins and make finer-textured cakes. At the time, brown sugar, which was also called red sugar, was more readily and cheaply available than white sugar, and may have turned the cakes "vaguely reddish," according to pastry chef and food writer Stella Parks. During World War I and the Great Depression, cakes made with beetroot were red, while chocolate cakes made with beetroot were burgundy-colored. Their recipe thereafter became known throughout the country. In the late 20th century, the cake regained popularity as a result of the 1989 film Steel Magnolias, which featured the cake in a scene. By 2000, red velvet cakes were experiencing widespread popularity. However, with most recipes including chocolate, food writer Stephen Schmidt described their appearance as "often more ruddy than truly red."
In Canada, the cake was popular in the 1940s and 1950s. It was featured at restaurants inside Eaton's department store in Toronto and was widely attributed as a favorite of Flora Eaton.
The batter is made by first creaming together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Separately, cocoa powder and red food coloring are combined and then integrated into the mixture. The remaining ingredients are then added, mixed, and blended. After pouring the batter into a cake pan, the cake is baked for 20 to 25 minutes and cooled before adding icing between the layers. Other cake variations include red velvet bundt cake, doberge cake, ice cream cake and cheesecake. Non-cake alternatives of red velvet cake include red velvet cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls, lattes, teas, waffles, Pop-Tarts, and sundaes. The flavor has also been used in protein powders and vodkas and the scent in candles and air fresheners. However, it is not a cake otherwise closely associated with African-American culture. Although the cake is often considered a Southern cake, chef Virginia Willis described categorizing the cake as part of Southern cuisine as "insulting on some level culturally."