A Better Red Velvet
How sweet is this little 4” two layer Black Velvet Mini Cake?
This is my Black Velvet Cake – Beet Colored Cocoa Cake + Cream Cheese Buttercream.
So, what is red velvet? Red velvet cake is a light vanilla and cocoa based cake (it’s not a chocolate! cake) that became popular in the south where it was originally made with a type of non-Dutched cocoa that was rich in anthocyanin – the natural pigment that gives many plants their black, blue, purple or red color – that when mixed with vinegar in this cake creates a natural brownish red color. In the decades since, the cake has been most often colored using lots (and lots) of artificial red food coloring aka petroleum based FD&C Red 40. That aftertaste after you eat something artificially colored red? That’s the FD&C Red 40 talking. Yuck.
Ours uses organic beet powder in place of all of that entirely unnecessary artificial red coloring along with raw cacao and Pineapple Collaborative’s apple cider vinegar – a superfood trifecta!
I finished this Mini Cake with lots of extra cream cheese frosting and an organic, free trade Lake Champlain dark chocolate baby bunny. The recipient of this cake said she loved frosting so I defied the laws of cake physics by torting the mini layers and getting as much cream cheese buttercream in there as possible. By request, this one was also made with the real deal – grass fed butter and real cream cheese instead of a vegan alternative I’d use for a dairy free cake.
Want to make this one? We’re still testing recipes but keep an eye out for a share of one soon! More pics of this one (including a sliced money shot!) soon too.
