Delicious Red Velvet Sheet Cake

Red Velvet Sheet Cake, with its almost undescribable flavor, is perfect for chocolate or vanilla cake lovers! As long as you love cake and cream cheese frosting, you will love this recipe.

With Valentine’s Day approaching,  a red velvet sheet cake recipe seems fitting. 

Red velvet cake from scratch, is something I haven’t made in years.

My mother actually surprised us with this pretty cake on Valentine’s Day when we were wee ones.

I’m not sure if she only made it once, but I do remember it.

My mom didn’t often make cake, so each cake was always special.

My brother-in-law was here a few weeks ago and I thought this occasion merited cake.

Frankly, I think most occasions merit a cake, but that is wishful thinking.

With little notice before he came, I was saved by Martha, of Stewart fame!

Red Velvet Sheet Cake or Slab Cake?

She made a red velvet “slab” cake in this months edition. Easy to do, I thought why not, and so I made the slab cake, sheet cake style. Is there a difference?

No there is not, but a slab cake sounds so much more with it, does it not? Just like whoever heard of a slab pie until a few years ago?

Whatever, the cake turned out delish and Martha did come up with an interesting way to serve this. 

Instead of slicing this red velvet sheet cake into squares, she sliced it in strips, width wise, which made for a fun slice.

And making this as a sheet cake means you get a ton of cream cheese frosting to dive through before reaching the gorgeous red interior.

A red velvet sheet cake is one divine cake, whether layered as a round or made as a sheet cake.

With a hint of cocoa, this vanilla flavored cake is rich with butter and soft and moist and should totally be eaten with joy. 

It’s hard to define red velvet flavor, because it is not a chocolate cake.

Nor is it a vanilla cake. But with vanilla, sour cream and  2 t of vanilla, this cake leans more towards vanilla, with hints of cocoa.

A red velvet cake is made with cocoa, and generally a true chocolate cake is made with chocolate and not cocoa.

But just like most things, not everything holds true in cooking.

What is a Red Velvet Cake?

Many say a red velvet cake must contain vinegar and buttermilk to provide  proper acidic proportions to make the cocoa turn red.

But this red velvet cake contains neither, though it does have sour cream which along with the cocoa, adds some acidity and also makes this cake tender and fluffy.

Historically, this cake was often made with beets which contributed to the color, but during the depression this recipe became popular when red food coloring came into existence.

Made by a company in Texas, this could be why red velvet cake is considered a Southern recipe.

However it has also been dubbed the Waldorf Astoria cake, because they may have been the originators of the recipe.

Whatever. This red velvet cake is a great sheet cake not only for those who love cake, but for  those who can’t choose between vanilla or chocolate!

Which in my opinion makes this perfect for Valentine’s Day. A day when all should just be celebrating love.

This year I’m pretty lucky. Alex just arrived home from Taiwan last night and we get to celebrate his existence for an entire month.

Unfortunately when he goes back he must quarantine for two weeks and Taiwan is very strict about this.

He must love us an awful lot to be willing to go through this.

To celebrate I must bake him a cake! This one disappeared way too fast. Any other suggestions?

Need a Few More?

Warm Chocolate Cake (And Gluten Free, Too!)

Cinnamon Hazelnut Meringues

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