8/29/2014

No cake for breakfast

At least no red velvet cake before noon. Never mind about red states and blue states, the United States can be divided into two groups:

  1. People who think eating red velvet cake is like dying and going to heaven.
  2. People who find red velvet cake aesthetically alarming and too sweet. It's kind of like watching Boise State play on blue astroturf. Just plain wrong.

Until 1996 I had never been exposed to red velvet cake, but office birthday parties on that new job seemed to always feature this flavor. Coworkers would rub their hands together and say, "Ahhhh, uuuummm, there will be red velvet cake at three [p.m.]." And I would remember reading Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown. Eye of newt...tincture of beets.

Just recently two Texans have whispered to me that they also find red velvet cake creepy. One is from Kansas, the other from Wisconsin/Illinois. I'm from Nebraska, that bastion of sanity and good taste. So there you have it, or not. Please comment with your region, opinion of red velvet cake, and preferred cake flavors.

Oh... I do like pink lemonade cake, spice cake, and Sara Lee orange cake.


© 2014 Nancy L. Ruder

8 comments:

jules said...

Region: mixed. Born in MN, now in TX (by way of NYC and England.)
Red velvet cake is now my favorite, since it is the only flavor of cupcakes Sprinkles does in gluten free...

Collagemama said...

Hmmm, Jules, that is a complication.

Anonymous said...

It's chocolate, isn't it. I don't see a problem. Oh, I'm from Kentucky but have been in Dallas 40 years.

Kathleen said...

It's my favorite, too!

seana graham said...

I am a latecomer to it too, but one of my friends, an excellent baker frequently serves it at parties. Did I say frequently? Not frequently enough.

Though a Californian, she has roots in New Orleans, which I always thought was part of why she knew how to make it.

Kim said...

Born and raised in Illinois. Lived in New York, California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and South America before coming back to the motherland. I had red velvet cake just a few years ago and I cannot see what the excitement is all about. Give me a good carrot cake or a fudge chocolate brownie anyday!

Nezzie said...

While the taste is sensuous, red food coloring has always brought up warning flags for foods for children so why not warning flags for adults, too?
Chocolate is chocolate, so why not side step the what ifs and doing it au natural? Please do not skimp on the cream cheese/pecan icing, though!
Nezzie

Collagemama said...

Wow, loving this outpouring of cake opinion! Just found this NYTimes story about the origin of red velvet cake:

http://nyti.ms/1sFSKXk