What, Exactly, Is The Flavor Of Red Velvet?

A red velvet cake topped with cream cheese frosting is always a crowd pleaser. It's a sweet that has permeated culinary culture. Even fast food chains have served red velvet desserts. Despite its popularity, it can be hard to categorize since its flavor is difficult to describe. Is it vanilla, chocolate, or some other indulgent ingredient that makes this cake so delicious? As it turns out, a red velvet cake's flavor may be more buttermilk than chocolate or vanilla. 

The main difference between a standard chocolate cake and red velvet cake is the vinegar and buttermilk that go into a red velvet to give it a tangy essence. These two ingredients set this cake apart from others. Separately, each adds an acidic element to any dish, but together, that signature snap is sharpened, making it more noticeable for your palate and giving it that smooth buttermilk taste. They also help with the texture. When mixed with baking soda, it will create bubbles — just like when you mix these two ingredients to create a volcano in science class — producing a fluffy, velvety-light cake. But what about that chocolate taste?  

While cocoa powder is used to create this masterpiece, it's really only a tablespoon or two. This means you are not going to get the intense flavor you get with a chocolate cake. There is a sophisticated subtlety with the cocoa powder that allows it to mingle with the other ingredients without overpowering them. The cocoa powder is also what gives this cake its trademark red hue. When it reacts with the acidic ingredients, it forms the fabulous red cake. These days, red food coloring or beet juice may be added to make that color more intense.   

So, what accounts for that vanilla taste? Butter is also used to add to its creamy, rich bite, along with vanilla, which adds its own delicate note to a homemade red velvet cake. In fact, the vanilla serves as a harmonizer. It balances out the competing tang of the buttermilk and vinegar juxtaposed to the bitterness of the cocoa, while simultaneously enhancing them and allowing each to be the star of this dessert. Red velvet cake may look bold, but its flavor brings just the right amount of quiet luxury your mouth likes, bite by bite.