Recently red velvet has been making a comeback and the ‘flavour’ is appearing in everything. From red velvet scented candles to red velvet hot chocolate and a rumored red velvet flavoured Ola Magnum ice cream. It is definitely here to stay and I think that is a good thing.

Red velvet to me is just chocolate cake coloured red (be it with food colouring or concentrated beetroot extract) ultimately the flavour is chocolate. Some sources say that it got its name from the chemical reaction between cocoa powder and vinegar which turned the cake batter red, I have yet to try this and confirm the myth.

Ultimately what makes a red velvet cake or cupcake is the frosting – CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Cream cheese frosting is super easy to whip up and can be flavoured with a lot of other things such as orange zest, vanilla extract, Amaretto, you name it. It is a good frosting recipe to have in any pastry chef’s arsenal and it pipes really well too.

I’ll post a recipe for the cream cheese and the red velvet cake batter – just preoccupied with exams at the moment.