Now, the elephant in the room: the red. Historians will bore you with stories about cocoa reacting with buttermilk, but let’s be honest. Today, it’s mostly food coloring. We are all just adults playing with finger paints, but we call it “baking.” You’ve been there; you’ve dripped that little bottle of red goo into the batter and felt like a mad scientist. Your kitchen looks like a crime scene, but the cake will look impeccable.
There is a tiny amount of cocoa powder in there, but it’s usually just a tablespoon or two. It’s not there to taste like chocolate. It’s there to deepen the color, like that one friend who always wears black to make their red lipstick pop. It’s the team player of cake ingredients.
Delicious Magazine Red Velvet Cake