Red Velvet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Red velvet is a classic American dessert most common in the South but loved by millions all over the world thanks to its moist crumb, delicious flavor, and bright and attractive color. Made nowadays with red food coloring and cocoa powder to achieve the deep red color and flavor, red velvet batter can also be made with beetroot powder or natural food colorings if that's what you prefer. Our recipe also uses vanilla instant pudding in the batter to add moisture, flavor, and sweetness, as you don't need to add sugar to the batter. Besides the pudding, you need some baking staples that you might already have in your pantry, like eggs, milk, and oil. Plan ahead because even if the cake doesn't take long to prepare and bake, you need to cool it off completely before frosting it with our irresistible cream cheese and butter frosting. The cake is topped with crushed pecans for a crunchy touch, but if you need to abstain from nuts you can simply add the frosting and decorate it edible red flowers or firm fresh raspberries.

Red velvet has a humble origin and has been present in the American culinary tradition for over two centuries. What differentiates what we know as red velvet now from older editions lies both in the ingredients and even more in the color and overall aspect. Back then, the attempt was to create a cake that was softer and "velvety"—and thus fancier than the humble coarse-crumbed cake. The addition of cocoa provided color and perhaps the addition of vinegar made it a little red. But that cake transitioned to the bright red one we see today thanks to the FDA approving food coloring as safe for human consumption in the late 1930s. A Texan company that produced extracts and food coloring printed a red velvet cake recipe with food coloring on cards, revamped the distribution of its products, and before you know it the bright red velvet as we know it was born. Found in the form of cupcakes, cookies, shakes, and puddings, among many other treats, there's something special about red velvet cakes. Celebratory, pretty, and nowadays considered romantic and key in celebrating Valentine's Day, red velvet cakes are engraved in American culture.