Spit cake translates as "tree cake". Baumstriezel is made of a batter made with yeast, and has a caramel crust while the Baumkuchen is not baked with yeast but with baking powder, and has no crust of caramelized sugar. Baumkuchen has as its ingredients eggs, marzipan, sugar, butter and flour. Baumkuchen is served plain or with white sugar icing or covered with chocolate. This type of cake is known in Austria as Prügelkrapfen and in Luxembourg called Baamkuch, traditionally served on special occasions, such as weddings. The Austrian Prügelkrapfen or Prügeltorte is a variety of spit cake with a liquid base dough
Red velvet cake was a description used to let consumers know the dessert was a soft and velvety crumb cake. During that same time devil's food cake was introduced, which is how some believe that red velvet cake came about. The difference between the two cakes is that devil's food cake uses chocolate and red velvet cake uses cocoa. When foods were rationed during World War II, bakers used boiled beet juices to enhance the color of their cakes. Beets are found in some red velvet cake recipes. Beets were and are in some recipes used as a filler or to retain moisture.Adams