Definition
Red velvet is a classic American cake flavor: a soft, lightly cocoa-flavored crumb with a tangy buttermilk note, red color and cream cheese frosting.
Red velvet is a classic American dessert flavor best known from red velvet cake: a soft, fine-crumbed cake with a gentle cocoa taste, a slight tang from buttermilk and vinegar, a deep red color, and usually a cream cheese frosting. It tastes like something between vanilla and chocolate cake.
Where red velvet comes from
In the nineteenth century, "velvet" cakes were cakes with an especially smooth, soft crumb. Early red velvet recipes relied on the reaction between natural cocoa and acidic buttermilk, which can give a reddish-brown tint. In the twentieth century, food coloring made the red much brighter; a Texas extract company is often credited with popularizing the vivid version in the 1940s. The cake enjoyed a big revival in the 2000s through cupcake bakeries.
The taste profile
- Cocoa: present but mild, less intense than devil's food cake.
- Tang: a light acidity from buttermilk.
- Richness: buttery and moist, often balanced by tangy cream cheese frosting.
Red velvet at Polkadot
The Polkadot Red Velvet Chocolate Bar folds soft red velvet crumbles into creamy Belgian milk chocolate. The crumbles act as inclusions, adding a cake-like texture and that familiar mild cocoa-and-vanilla flavor to the smooth chocolate. It is $25 and sits in the milk chocolate bars collection.
Who will love it
Red velvet is a great pick if you enjoy bakery flavors more than candy flavors. Other dessert-inspired bars to explore include Strawberry Shortcake, Apple Pie and S'mores.
Storage tip
Cake crumbles can soften if exposed to humidity, so keep the bar sealed in a cool, dry place and rewrap any leftover squares.
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