Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Recipe File What Does Red Taste Like?
Posted by Nicki Wood on Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 10:57 AM
It was either the Lee Brothers or Paula Deen who said it best: Red velvet has always seemed to me to be a name in search of a flavor.
I've read a lot of cookbooks, and as best I can tell, Red Velvet originated as a way to dress up a cake with no other flavoring than a spoonful of cocoa. The originals used a "poor man's buttercream" (flour and milk cooked to a sauce consistency then whipped with margarine) while a cream cheese frosting is the usual topping now. To me, that's not a flavor profile.
These Red Velvet Cake balls were as close to good as it gets for me. The cook combined cake with frosting, then dipped them into more frosting. A few included coconut, which was a good idea. A little orange zest would have been good, too.
Still, I don't get the appeal of Red Velvet Cake. If it were white cake, or yellow cake, would people get worked up about it?
Comments (9)
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I personally could not agree more...what is the big deal about a cake with food coloring? That said...where did you get the Red Velvet Cake balls?
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Red velvet cake always makes me think of my great grandmother who made them for special occasions. As a young child, it seemed SO exotic to get to eat bright red cake. These days, I'm only in for the cream cheese frosting. But I am most definitely not turning away from cake.
I've never understood the appeal and people seem genuinely shocked when it's been offered to me and I decline. I'm glad to find someone that finally agrees with me!
Thank you! I have never really understood what the hype over red velvet cake was, other than the unnatural color. I always think of a cake someone made once, shaped like an armadillo or other animal that when you cut into it was bizarrely red. Never been a fan since I saw that.
Yes, where did you get the cake balls? Or is there a recipe? I'm always willing to still give it a shot and hope to find red velvet that is tasty.
The recipe was explained to me, but not written down. I think a cake was baked, possibly from a mix, and the warm cake was mixed with frosting in a bowl. Piees were scooped out and rolled into balls, then the cake-n-frosting balls dipped into more frosting, possibly warmed and thinned to a dipping texture.
I love red velvet cake. That is, the original RVC made with buttermilk and vinegar, with the cooked icing. (Love cream cheese icing, but it doesn't belong on RVC.) I think it has a distinct, if delicate, flavor. Not everything has to be a flavor bomb to be tasty.
P.S. Nice explanation of cake balls here -- they're all the rage in baking circles. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/cake-pop-lesson-1-the-cake-ball/
P.P.S. The RVC as an armadillo was in Steel Magnolias. It was a joke -- that yes, RVC made into an animal, esp one with grey icing, would be unappetizing.
Here's the recipe for the red velvet cake balls:
http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2007/12/red-velvet-cake-balls.html
