She wore red velvet

I used to swear up and down that red velvet was not a chocolate cake, recipe be darned, but if it's not, then what is it?

You can of course, go to wikipedia and learn the entire history of red velvet cake.  There are more recipes than  you can possibly imagine, but it's usually buttermilk and/or vinegar, red food coloring (artificial or natural, like beets), and cocoa powder.  Cream cheese is the traditional frosting, although buttercream is also popular. I recently made red velvet cupcakes and topped them with a marshmallow buttercream and decorations made from candy melts.

I always think of it as a not really a chocolate cake - it's not chocolate cake to me because the flavor isn't smack you in the face chocolate, it's more like the wallflower at the party chocolate -- there, but drawing attention to itself. The red originally came from the reaction of the vinegar and the cocoa, but is not a requirement -- you'll see everything from pink to blue velvet and are only limited by your imagination (rainbow velvet, zebra velvet, you name it), although I think white would be nearly impossible given the natural color of cocoa.

Why velvet? That, I have no idea. I do find that it's usually a slightly moister cake, depending on the recipe - so perhaps the denseness means a velvety mouthfeel? The cupcake recipe I used had a high amount of oil in it, which made for a tendency to cling to the cupcake wrapper, but also a nice level of moisture in the cake, even a few days later.

Neither fish nor fowl, with its most distinguishing feature being its color, red velvet is an odd cake indeed. It's not my personal favorite, but it's definitely enjoyed a resurgence of late. So, red velvet yes or no?