The NYC Establishment That Gets All The Credit For Creating Red Velvet Cake

New York City is not lacking in claims to fame. The fact that it's the largest city in the United States by population is enough to make it a household name for people across the globe. What's more, it often serves as a landing mark for the U.S. as a whole, thanks in part to the Statue of Liberty that sits on its harbor, whose plaque bears the poetic call to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." The bustling metropolis that never sleeps has also played host to its fair share of famous artists, musicians, writers, scandalous figures, and countless romantic comedies, at least four of which star Tom Hanks. 

If you ask us, one of New York's biggest contributions to society is its food. From pepperoni pizza and Coney Island hot dogs to bagels and lox and dill pickles (the latter two of which emerged from the kitchens of early Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe), the Big Apple has played a huge role in some of the country's most beloved comestibles. In many cases, the city simply popularized foods that already enjoyed a modest existence elsewhere in the country. Red velvet cake is on that list.

If red velvet cake is your go-to birthday treat, you might be inclined to blow a kiss to New York City's Waldorf-Astoria the next time you blow out the candles. The luxury Park Avenue hotel has long staked a claim on the dessert and indeed launched it into popular rotation. But before that, the cake was a favorite among Black communities in the South — and it still is. "It came out at Christmastime, Juneteenth, at birthdays," cookbook author Nicole Taylor told The Washington Post, recalling the red velvet memories of her youth. 

The first known recipe for "velvet cake" appears in "Good Things to Eat," a 1911 cookbook by chef Rufus Estes, who spent the first part of his life enslaved. The jury's still out on how the velvet cake's red-hued mascot came to be, but some historians give credit to beet juice, which, according to New Orleans pastry chef Kelly Fields, was commonly used as a moistening agent in place of oil during World War I and the Great Depression. So, how did the cake make its way to the Waldorf-Astoria?

In the 1930s, right around the time the Waldorf-Astoria moved from its original location on Fifth Avenue to an even grander plot on Park Avenue, the hotel began serving a cake spiked with buttermilk, cocoa powder, and red food coloring, topped with a generous layer of creamy white frosting. The red velvet cake was a hit, and guests began crediting the hotel with its invention. The chef who plated the luxurious-looking dessert clearly didn't volunteer any correction, even though he likely spotted the recipe in a Southern cookbook. The hotel still serves the cake, which boasts four layers of ruby-red goodness. 

If you're lucky enough to stay in one of the Waldorf's pricy rooms, you'd be remiss not to order room service. As far as claims of invention go, it's an actual fact that the hotel invented the modern concept of kitchen-to-bed meal service. "Room service was a luxury for travelers," Hilton chef Marc Ehrler told Eater. "Eating in your room was something unique and really special." By all accounts, eating red velvet cake in bed is as special as it gets.