Vinegar is usually called for in combination with baking soda and you’re required to mix the two and you will get a foaming action. These tiny little oxygen bubbles will then be folded into the cake batter which will cause the cake to bake into a light and fluffy tasty treat. Mmmmmm Red Velvet is my specialty.

I looked at some recipes. It seems like they are using the vinegar and baking soda combination to lighten the batter(similar to the way beaten egg whites will lighten a batter), rather than to flavor the cake.

Think of your classroom volcano experiment: mix soda and vinegar and you get a big old foamy mess. Add that foamy mess to cake batter and you get a lighter, fluffier cake.

if you use the mix of vinegar and baking soda to make it fluffy and light, why not use yeast?

Yeast is not good for cakes, that is just foul (to whomever said that). Yeast flavor is vastly distinct and it would taste far more like a bread than a cake.

As for the vinegar, it’s actually because the acidity reacts to the cocoa powder. It is a mixture of vinegar and buttermilk (which, when made, usually uses vinegar) that causes a reaction.

Some cake recipes call for Dutch process chocolate, as it has alkaline added to it to give that reaction as well as a milder flavor.

why do you use white vinegar in red velvet cake?

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