The $350 Cake
A one-inch red velvet cube with cocoa-cream cheese & a whisper of beet
The Waldorf's velvet cake — and the recipe a furious guest gave the world for spite
Why this bite? The Waldorf's red velvet cake spread worldwide after a guest, billed $350 for the recipe, shared it out of spite. Revenge, frosted.
The Story
The Waldorf served a deep crimson 'velvet' cake long before the name caught fire. The legend is better than the cake: a guest loved it, asked for the recipe, and received a bill for $350 — so in revenge she mailed the recipe to everyone she knew, and red velvet escaped into the world. This one-inch cube honors that delicious act of spite: cocoa-rich, beet-tinted, crowned with cream cheese.
Ingredients
- Flour
- Cocoa powder
- Buttermilk
- Beet purée
- Cream cheese
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla
Preparation
- 1.Bake a cocoa-buttermilk sponge tinted with beet purée.
- 2.Cut into precise one-inch cubes.
- 3.Whip cream cheese with butter, sugar, and vanilla.
- 4.Crown each cube with a swirl of cream cheese frosting.
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