<Tr> <Th> Main ingredients </Th> <Td> Flour, buttermilk, butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and / or cream cheese icing, beetroot, or red food colouring </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Cookbook: Red Velvet cake Media: Red Velvet cake </Td> </Tr> <P> Red Velvet cake is traditionally a red, red - brown, or "mahogany" colored layer cake, layered with white cream cheese icing or Ermine frosting (sometimes called "cooked roux" frosting). It has a distinctive fluffy texture owing to the gas - producing reaction of alkaline buttermilk with acidic vinegar and / or acidic non-alkalized cocoa . The cake is commonly served on Christmas or Valentine's Day . Common modern red velvet cake is made with red dye, however the red color was originally due to non-Dutched anthocyanin - rich cocoa . </P> <P> Common ingredients include: buttermilk, butter, cocoa, vinegar, and flour for the cake; beetroot or red food coloring for the color . </P>

Where does the red in red velvet cake come from