By now many individuals know the purported origin story of purple velvet cake—a nerdy story involving a chemical response between pure cocoa powder and baking soda. Whereas which will have been the case in historical instances, the purple velvet of this century is outlined by its startling shade, a fireplace engine purple so vibrant it stains your tongue for hours. Someplace alongside the best way the flavour started to matter lower than the hue. Purple velvet was not only a cake—it was a way of life. It was a cheesecake, an air freshener, a candle to be lit when you luxuriate within the bathtub. And this can be a disgrace as a result of purple velvet desires to be extra, to do higher, to transcend simply being a automobile for cream cheese frosting and purple dye 40.
Right here then is our apogee of purple velvet cake. It’s purple, sure, however subtly so, just like the flocked lining of a luxurious bag. Most significantly, it tastes perceptibly of chocolate. Nothing just like the bitter depth of fancy darkish chocolate, extra just like the warming milkiness of sizzling cocoa in a cup. Unsweetened chocolate proves to be a winner: The cocoa butter within the chocolate makes the cake additional fudgy and wealthy, with simply the correct amount of squishiness. We like Guittard, Ghirardelli, or Lindt.
Bleached all-purpose flour is an absolute crucial. In a cake as mushy and tender as this one, with the next quantity of sugar than flour (referred to as a high-ratio cake in skilled circles), solely bleached flour can take in and stand up to the additional moisture. With unbleached flour, the cake might be dense, bearing a visual band of gumminess towards the underside.
The quantity of cream cheese frosting, lightened by a beneficiant pour of heavy cream, is modest, designed to indicate off the cake. Double up if you happen to desire a thicker blanket of icing.
