Soda, Vinegar, and Cake Batter?

When baking a red velvet cake, the recipe calls for mixing soda and vinegar, then fold into mixture while foaming. What does this do to the cake batter?

Hi Dave,

On this website, you'll find everything you'd like to know about baking soda and its reactions.
https://users.rcn.com/sue.interport/food/bakgsoda.html

After perusing the article, I speculate on one of two theories for dissovling the soda in the vinegar in this recipe:

1. Whoever passed along the recipe saw their mother or grandmother do this and just kept on doing it, OR
2. This cake doesn't need as much carbon dioxide (leavening) as would be produced by the soda added directly into the batter. Thus, it is stirred with the acid and some of the CO2 is released to prevent the cake from rising above its pan and/or spilling over into the oven.

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