Am I the only one who doesn't really like red velvet cake?

[JassyBaby]

To me red velvet cake isn't what everybody makes it to be. I don't know what it is for me exactly. It just seems that the cake its either to dense or the flavor is just to pungent. It seems as if the rest of the world is just fascinated by it and I can't understand why. It's just not appealing to me. I sorta cringe at the sight of them. Although, I do eat the icing off of the cake but that is as far as I will go. I won't eat a whole cupcake. Am I the only one who feels this way about red velvet cake.?

 

[espeons]

I don't really like it either, for the same reasons as you. It does look impressive, but I don't think the taste is all that great, and often it isn't light and fluffy enough like I would prefer my cakes. I think it's good if you're going for looks and style, but if you're going for taste and texture I would prefer to stick to something simpler. I know looks are important but I prefer to focus on taste when I bake.

 

[Tracky]

I agree with both of you,cant understand why people rave about it! Like the name but not the cake,lol.

 

[NThomas]

I love authentic red Velveeta cake. Since the craze has become so popular, it seems like everyone and their momma wants to bake red velvet everything. There is just something wrong about being able to buy a red velvet cup cake at walgreens. Now we have the red velvet pancakes , lattes , cookies, brownies , and red velvet cheese cake. Some many of these items taste nothing likes true red velvet cake. I think many more people will come to dislike red velvet cake as it becomes less authentic and taste nothing likes what it is truly meant to be. So many people have never tasted real down home from scratch red velvet cake just cheap imitations.

 

[OhioTom76]

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Red Velvet cake essentially just chocolate cake with red food coloring? I think the only differences I've noticed in recipes, is that it also calls for some buttermilk and perhaps some brown sugar instead of regular sugar. However, I've also seen these ingredients in traditional chocolate cake recipes as well, in particular, the buttermilk. My grandmothers recipe for chocolate cupcakes calls for it too.

I enjoy Red Velvet cake essentially the same way I enjoy Chocolate cake. I just don't often bother making it myself since I don't typically have food dyes on hand and I hate making a mess with them.

 

[DancingLady]

I don't like it because of the food coloring. I can always taste the food coloring no matter what brand or how tasteless it claims to be. I don't think it's good for you to eat that much dye either. It's a pretty fake, but not really that tasty.

 

[cupcakechef]

I really like red velvet cake, for the reasons other people seem to dislike it! I love dense, heavy cakes rather than light and fluffy ones - so that's a big plus for me. Another reason I think I like it is partially because of nostalgia reasons. I grew up in Australia but moved to America later in life, and in Australia at the time red velvet cake wasn't much of a big thing. So I guess the cake reminds me a bit of moving to America, my husband (who loves it!) and exciting life changes. Funny how certain foods can trigger good memories and that's a big part of why we like them!

 

[connie]

I'm with you on not liking it as well. Just the concept of it puts me off and I just can't imagine eating it. I don't like the idea of a cake mix as it is, but the idea of a red chocolate cake - is that really what it is? - is alarming to say the least.

Mind you having just looked the recipe up and found this one with beetroot in it, I am now intrigued and wondering if I can make one..
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1912636/red-velvet-cake. Well I was right up until the 2 bottles of red food colouring and a note that natural colouring will not work. Yuck... artificial colouring. Nope I will stick with a chocolate colour and not have a red cake I think!

This recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/southern-red-velvet-cake-recipe.html) uses buttermilk and 1fl oz of red food colouring. Could be a great cake to make if you are hosting a child party!

 

[kammy]

I will have a slice of red velvet cake occasionally but it's really nothing to write home about; I am not caught up in the craze at all. When it comes to Black Forest Cake however I am a fanatic; just the taste of the cherry pie filling ,cherry liqueur and the alcohol have me on high. I will have a slice of Black Forrest Cake at any given time f the day.

 

[connie]

When it comes to Black Forest Cake however I am a fanatic;

you have just reminded me of some of the Black Forest Gateaux that I had in Germany as a teenager which were truly stunning. Oh they were fantastic and I could eat plenty of them at the time as well.

 

[Tina Nord]

I have never really liked red velvet cake either. The cake itself kind of tastes bland to me. When I have chocolate cake, I want to have chocolate frosting on it as well. The cream cheese frosting is kind of a disappointment.

 

[Diane Lane]

I don't mind it, but wouldn't go out of my way to eat it, and from what I've heard, it's a labor-intensive process to make it. I have limited energy and dexterity, so I pick and choose my battles of what I want to cook and bake, and so, although I would eat it if it were served to me, I wouldn't make it myself.

 

[Trellum]

I love red velvet cake, but hen again, there are very few cakes I wouldn't eat, lol. The only thing I font like about it is the exaggerated use of food colouring.

 

[RedShoe]

This thread started 3 years ago, and we see RVC hasn't lost it's grip on the world!

I'm with OP, I'm not a fan at all. 20 years ago it fascinated me and i made one from scratch. Way too labor intensive. Once i figured out it's a COCOA, not Chocolate, flavored cake, it demystified it for me. I'll make it if ordered, but it doesn't have a staple place on my menu because it's so cliche and flavorless now. When i do make it, i use this amazing chocolate red wine that kicks it up a notch and intensifies the color.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Red Velvet cake is a farce. It’s nothing more than a chocolate cake with a whopping 2 oz of artificial red food coloring. It’s the biggest crock of BS in baking. Red Velvet cake was marketed by the Adams extract company in the 1940’s on the back of their boxes as a way to sell more extract and red food dye.

All that food color is extremely unhealthy.

In 2008 the Center for Science in the Public Interest petition the US government to ban some of these artificial food colorings. They determined the artificial food colors are carcinogenic and cause hyper sensitivity and behavioral problems in children.

But the processed food lobbyists in Washington DC are extremely well funded and they contribute millions in campaign contributions every year. I used to work for one of the largest foodlobbyists, so I’ve seen first hand how they squash any opposition to the crap they put in food.

Europe is another matter. The European governments are not so easily swayed by lobbyists. So a number of European countries long ago banned food dye Red #40, Blue #1 & 2, and Yellow #5.

It’s disturbing that companies like Kraft Foods and Mars reformulated their products to comply with the food dye ban in Europe, yet they continue to manufacturer food products in the USA with these banned dyes (M&M’s, macaroni and cheese, etc).

I refuse to bake red velvet cakes and cupcakes. When I’m asked, I explain the health concerns surrounding red dye and the fact that so much red dye in fact ruins the taste of the chocolate cake. I will not feed a cake with 2 ounces of a banned dye to anyone, especially a child or pregnant woman. Most people don’t realize just how much dye is added to red velvet cake.

 

[TSun]

To me red velvet cake isn't what everybody makes it to be. I don't know what it is for me exactly. It just seems that the cake its either to dense or the flavor is just to pungent. It seems as if the rest of the world is just fascinated by it and I can't understand why. It's just not appealing to me. I sorta cringe at the sight of them. Although, I do eat the icing off of the cake but that is as far as I will go. I won't eat a whole cupcake. Am I the only one who feels this way about red velvet cake.?

I think it has no real flavor and don't understand the craze either. Maybe it is the Cream cheese icing on top that does it....who knows...

 

[Akos]

Red Velvet cake is a farce. It’s nothing more than a chocolate cake with a whopping 2 oz of artificial red food coloring. It’s the biggest crock of BS in baking. Red Velvet cake was marketed by the Adams extract company in the 1940’s on the back of their boxes as a way to sell more extract and red food dye.

All that food color is extremely unhealthy.

In 2008 the Center for Science in the Public Interest petition the US government to ban some of these artificial food colorings. They determined the artificial food colors are carcinogenic and cause hyper sensitivity and behavioral problems in children.

But the processed food lobbyists in Washington DC are extremely well funded and they contribute millions in campaign contributions every year. I used to work for one of the largest foodlobbyists, so I’ve seen first hand how they squash any opposition to the crap they put in food.

Europe is another matter. The European governments are not so easily swayed by lobbyists. So a number of European countries long ago banned food dye Red #40, Blue #1 & 2, and Yellow #5.

It’s disturbing that companies like Kraft Foods and Mars reformulated their products to comply with the food dye ban in Europe, yet they continue to manufacturer food products in the USA with these banned dyes (M&M’s, macaroni and cheese, etc).

I refuse to bake red velvet cakes and cupcakes. When I’m asked, I explain the health concerns surrounding red dye and the fact that so much red dye in fact ruins the taste of the chocolate cake. I will not feed a cake with 2 ounces of a banned dye to anyone, especially a child or pregnant woman. Most people don’t realize just how much dye is added to red velvet cake.

This is very deep. Thanks @Norcalbaker59. You've given me a lot to think about. There's so much noise about red velvet cake here and it seems without that a baker can get to do someone's wedding cake. I'll talk to those who'll listen for health reasons.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

This is very deep. Thanks @Norcalbaker59. You've given me a lot to think about. There's so much noise about red velvet cake here and it seems without that a baker can get to do someone's wedding cake. I'll talk to those who'll listen for health reasons.

Sometimes it’s difficult to get beyond the hype. Fortunately in the US the red velvet craze is dying down some. It was so ridiculous that people were marketing non-food items such as candles as “red velvet” scented. It was really ridiculous for a while there.

 

[Akos]

Hahahaa

 

[MixUp]

Sometimes it’s difficult to get beyond the hype. Fortunately in the US the red velvet craze is dying down some. It was so ridiculous that people were marketing non-food items such as candles as “red velvet” scented. It was really ridiculous for a while there.

I'm making kind of a necro-post by resurrecting this old thread, but if I'm not mistaken, Red Velvet wasn't always made with gallons of dye. The dye was Adam's company's "cheat" to doing RVC the "easy way". Originally it was boiled beets that added the color, and made the cake much richer and more savory than a simple chocolate cake with bitter petrochemicals flooding it, the same way using lard as a fat can add a nice savory note to otherwise sweet goods. On the rare occasion I find a baker insane enough to boil beets to do it the right way, it's quite enjoyable and very different from other cakes. But finding that is a rarer thing that finding someone that makes pumpkin pie by straining their own crook neck gourds.

The ugly fad was, if I recall, a mix of it having played a role in some movie, I forget which, and simply because it was "different" and was a marketing hook for the food industry. The popularity in taste, I'm convinced, is simply because most of the public actually has no taste whatsoever for quality baked goods, and food in general, despite gourmet food spending going through the roof. Most people can't taste the difference between a "bakery" that just makes boxed cakes, a supermarket bakery, and a real scratch bakery and sees them all as equivalent quality. Presentation and image is what most are tasting. Though, sweet cream cheese and petrochem bitters, I admit, does have kind pleasant mix on the palate that either one on its own does not.

A real RVC with real beet juice is actually a great cake. It's also not as "hazard red" color in bright primary colors, but is a darker, deeper "drying blood red" that some might not find as appealing as food science chemicals, but looks more like a deep red stained chocolate. Most will never get to taste one. And you'd have to truly hate yourself to try to make one.