What Is Red Velvet?
If you’ve ever Googled Best Red Velvet Cake London or found yourself hunting for London’s best Red Velvet cakes, this post is for you.
Spoiler: It’s not just chocolate cake in a red wig😂
Red velvet is one of the most iconic (and misunderstood) cakes in the baking world. Some say it’s chocolate, others think it’s just a vanilla cake with loads of food colouring. But let’s get Back To The Bake: Red Velvet is its own thing, and when it’s made properly (Cough cough, Flavourtown Red Velvet), it’s rich, velvety and unforgettable.
BUT - Red Velvet has a bad reputation, so many bakeries are snobby about it (more on that later)
So… What Actually Is Red Velvet Cake?
Red velvet is a soft, pillowy, moist (sorry😂) cake with a subtle cocoa flavour, a hint of vanilla and a unique tang from buttermilk and vinegar. It’s not a chocolate cake in a red wig or vanilla cake in a red dress - it's a carefully balanced flavour combo with an amazing texture.
Flavourtown Red Velvet is our all-time best-seller and a customer favourite..
What Makes It Red?
Originally, the red came from a reaction between natural cocoa powder and acidic ingredients like vinegar and buttermilk. These days all bakeries add a few drops of red colouring to get that deep red hue. If it looks neon red, that's just vanilla cake with loads of colouring.
As bonkers as it sounds, it's not primarily the colour that makes an amazing Red Velvet Cake - it's the flavour, texture and down to the quality of the ingredients.
The Key Ingredients in a Proper Red Velvet
We can't speak for the 'other' bakeries, but here's here’s what goes into making Flavourtown Red Velvet- London’s best Red Velvet cakes:
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Buttermilk – Adds tang and keeps it tender
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Dutched cocoa powder – A small amount for subtle flavour
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Vinegar + baking soda – Gives lift and that signature crumb
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Red food colouring – A tiny amount - just to get that deep red colour
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Cream cheese icing – Soft, rich, and the perfect match
What Does Red Velvet Taste Like?
This is the really complicated bit to explain because, it's not quite chocolate, not quite vanilla. Red Velvet lives somewhere deliciously in between. It’s smooth and velvety (obviously😂), with just a hint of cocoa and good quality Madagascan vanilla, and a whisper of tang from the buttermilk. The cream cheese icing? That’s the cherry on top. Sweet, slightly sharp, and completely addictive. Our's is a closely guarded secret recipe - we've been offered money to sell the recipe to competitors - we politely declined.
If you've had Red Velvet from those 'other' bakeries and thought it was too sweet? That's the cream cheese frosting - they've packed it with icing sugar.
Where Did Red Velvet Come From?
Red Velvet’s been around since the early 1900s when its forbearers Mahogany Cake, and Devils Food Cake were combined to make something called Velvet Cocoa Cake. Th brilliant American Pastry Chef Stella Parks has a fantastic article on this.
It gained popularity during wartime rationing and eventually made its way onto high-end hotel menus, including the Waldorf Astoria in New York. It's become a Southern-staple in the USA, with heirloom recipes handed down the generations - frustratingly usually just by word-of-mouth. Food colouring companies gave it a boost in the ‘50s, and the rest is history.
The story goes that this American food colouring company had a huge excess of red dye and, rather than waste it, they came up with a recipe to encourage people to buy it and make the "amazing red cake"
We've, 'Flavourtown'd' Red Velvet, and upgraded the quality of ingredients, upped the amount of luxurious Belgian cocoa powder, dialled down the red, and come up with an iconic cream cheese icing that has just the right amount of sweetness.
Common Myths, Busted
Let’s clear up a few things:
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“It’s just chocolate cake dyed red.”
Nope. Way less cocoa, totally different texture and flavour. A very subtly cocoa taste.
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“It’s naturally red.”
Not really. You’ll get a slight reddish tint from cocoa and acid, but the bold colour comes from a little food colouring. A century ago cocoa powder was very different to the modern versions and was way more naturally red-tinted.
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“It should taste like chocolate.”
Wrong again. Red Velvet has its own unique flavour-profile. If it tastes like chocolate, it's just a pig in a red wig🐽
Why does Red Velvet have a bad reputation?
Some bakeries on this side of the pond struggle with Red Velvet, either getting the recipe wrong or swamping it with insanely sweet, grainy cream cheese icing. The truth is that many of them are total snobs and don't want to make Red Velvet cake because it's beneath them, but they have to have it on their menus and websites because customers want it. Instead of making the best possible version of Red Velvet, they use the 'pig in the red wig" option to satisfy demand.
The Flavourtown Red Velvet is a 13 year honed recipe and our bakers have to sign an NDA so that it stays under-wraps. That's how seriously we take Red Velvet.
Why Everyone’s Obsessed
There’s something a bit extra about Red Velvet. It looks dramatic on a cake stand. It works for birthdays, weddings, and just about any excuse you can think of for cake. When it’s made with proper ingredients and an amazing recipe, it’s got just the right balance of richness, decadence and deliciousness.
How to Spot the Best Red Velvet Cake in London
Judge a bakery by its Red Velvet!!! If you call yourself London's best this or London's favourite that - let your Red Velvet be your benchmark. Here’s what to look for:
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A rich, velvety crumb (clue’s in the name)
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Deep red colour—without looking radioactive
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Balanced flavour: not too sweet, not too bland
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Smooth, tangy cream cheese icing - not sugary-sweet or grainy
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No artificial aftertaste
Or, you know, just skip the guesswork and order from Flavourtown.
Why Flavourtown Red Velvet Is So Loved
It's actually loved and hated (misunderstood?) in equal measure. A bad Red Velvet tastes of absolutely nothing, and it's slathered in grainy saccharine-sweet icing.
People travel across London for our Red Velvet. When it's done properly, Red Velvet fans will seek it out.. We use amazing quality cocoa powder and Madagascan vanilla, a special flour blend, free-range eggs and real buttermilk - in fact, without giving the game away, we've developed a recipe that uses so much buttermilk that it shouldn't work - but it does 😍
Our Red Velvet is made fresh every day. It's called RedVelvetRoyalty for a reason - We get more emails, DM's and comments about our Red Velvet than any other cake.
Final Thoughts
Red Velvet isn’t about gimmicks. It’s not just red sponge with icing. It’s a carefully crafted cake with its own flavour, pillowy texture and following. If you haven’t had the real deal, you’re missing out.
Search out a recipe and give it a try at home, or leave the heavy-lifting to us, and order London's Best Red Velvet Cake right here - we delivery across London and inside the M25 by the way 😉