(Credit: Shane Redsar)
The "red aunt"
If our aunt were more like owner Terri Wahl, we would probably visit more often. An unapologetic former punk rocker, she used to play in, amongst other bands, the Red Aunts. Red on red—yet she insists “one doesn’t have anything to do with the other.”
The recipe
“When I opened the restaurant, I wanted all the food to be comfort food," says Wahl. "You know, all the stuff that you grew up with, but made with the best seasonal ingredients. A red velvet cake fit perfectly into that. The recipe was adapted and adapted and adapted by our original baker, Michael Sullivan. It started out as a recipe for a small two-dozen batch. But as people kept buying them, it became so ridiculous to make them in batches of 24. So he worked on the recipe for months, multiplying the batches into the hundreds. The recipe was in his handwriting for forever. We were like, ‘What if something spills on this?’ Our head baker just recently put it into the computer, finally.”
The cake
Yes, red velvet requires red food coloring: This particular concentration is double-strength Red 40. And there’s plenty of it. Auntie Em’s goes through a gallon a week—two during the holidays.
Vegetable oil, not butter or shortening. Regular old flour, not King Arthur’s or White Lily. The magic comes elsewhere.
“A traditional red velvet cake has a pinch of cocoa powder, or you’re not doing it right," Wahl explains. "The bit of cocoa powder gives it a depth of flavor so that it’s not so one-toned. Cocoa is inherently a little bitter, so it helps balance the sweetness of the batter.”
Buttermilk for moistness, plus a splash of white vinegar. The additional acetic acid provides the fizzy pop—like a junior high volcano project, but with red velvet lava—the leavening agent that creates the airiest cupcakes we know. It further satisfies the chemistry geek in us: As one theory goes, compounds known as anthocyanins in cocoa powder turn red(der) in the presence of acid.
The frosting
If you think there’s still debate over cream cheese or buttercream frosting, Miss Terri sets the record straight: “Cream cheese. Always. Some people have come in with a special order and tried requesting chocolate frosting or something, and it’s like, 'Uh, no. No way.'”
The frosting is three parts cream cheese to two parts butter, creamed together before powdered sugar is added to the mixture. What’s the most important element? “Everything has to be at room temperature. Otherwise, the frosting comes out lumpy," Wahl says. "We make 10-pound batches at a time, and that won’t even get us through the day. We go through four to five batches in one day.”
The girth
3.5 (width) x 3.75 (height); 7.5 ounces
“It’s huge! It’s more like a big muffin size," says Wahl. "I meant it to be for two people. That was the whole deal with it; it was supposed to be a romantic cupcake for two people to share after a meal at the restaurant. But now people get one whole one all for themselves.”
The craze
“I never meant to be known for cupcakes," she adds. "It wasn’t something I set out to do. I mean, I don’t mind it whatsoever, but it’s so crazy to me how all these places have popped up with just cupcakes. How does anyone live on that? We serve a full menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cupcakes were meant for after the meal.”
Jiyeon Yoo is Restaurants editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
