Red Velvet cake has been my favorite cake since I was a young girl. I remember the first time I had it. It was at a wedding, funny I can’t remember whose, and it was the groom’s cake. It was in the form of a gaudy bleeding armadillo cake and everyone thought it was hilariously clever! It had to be in the early 80’s, if I was the age I remember being and that cake was a life changer.
Steel Magnolia’s Bleeding Armadillo cake scene
I know, I know, there are people who hate it. They think it not “a thing.” They, like people who don’t like pie, have never had good red velvet cake. The haters of Red Velvet say it’s only good because of the cream cheese frosting and that it doesn’t even know what flavor it’s supposed to be. But if the cake is done right, it’s good on its own merits. A hint of cocoa, a hint of the buttermilk that makes it special, moist, stick to the fork goodness. I know how good it should be thanks to that one, memorable bite. When you have a good food memory, every other taste of that food will pale in comparison until you find “the one.” I have chased that food memory ever since that wedding reception.
Sadly, most of the Red Velvet cake I found on that chase was NOT an adequate quelch of the craving. I found dry cake, I found tasteless cake, I found chemically laden Red tasting cake in droves, but I knew in my heart that the one was out there and I kept chasing. Even when I started baking, I wasn’t happy with my own Red Velvet cake. Other people seemed happy, and it was good, but it wasn’t THE ONE. So, I kept tinkering, just like I did with the pumpkin pie. I changed the Sweet Bytes recipe 5 times! That is something way out of protocol for me. Usually I wouldn’t even sell it if it wasn’t THE ONE. However, at some point I had to wonder if my food memory was false. Like the emotions of being a child at a celebration such as a wedding were interfering with my memory of the taste of the cake. It could be possible. I haven’t been able to make cinnamon rolls to my own satisfaction because they will have to be at least as good as my Aunt’s or they will not do. So, I kept selling Red Velvet cake, but secretly searching for the answers to make it as good as I needed it to be.
Red Velvet Cake
At last. Finally. I have found it. I can say with contentment that Sweet Bytes Red Velvet Cake is now as good as my food memory from childhood. Granted, it is not in the form of road kill, but the taste is as delightful as my first bite of Bleeding Armadillo Cake. Whew. I can rest easy now. The best part is watching my family eat it. They thought it was fine all along, but now they know. In between stuffed mouthfuls, I swear I heard them say they were glad I kept chasing that food memory.