Red Velvet Cake

It's been ages since I last updated. Come to think of it my last update was more than a month ago! I have been traveling quite extensively in the UK with my mum followed by visits to my friend and grandma in my home country before I came home. Being on term break and at home has allowed me to venture into my very long to-bake list and get one ticked. I suppose anyone who has seen a red velvet cake would never forget its strikingly red appearance. I'm no exception.

 

I used the recipe by Stephanie Jaworski which can be found here:

Red Velvet Cake Recipe Link

The cake:

2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (15 grams) regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, or full fat natural yoghurt

2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (115 grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted

1 1/2 (360 ml) cups cold heavy whipping cream (double cream) (35-40% butterfat)

1. Mix all the cake ingredients together until well combined and bake in two cake pans at 175C for 25-30 minutes. 

2. Mix all the frosting ingredients until well combined and of spreading consistency. Avoid over-beating or the cream may split.

I have changed the recipe slightly by using natural yoghurt in place of buttermilk and 500g of cream cheese as I couldn't get hold of buttermilk and mascarpone cheese where I live. I also used whipping cream (35% butterfat-ish) since no one sells double cream here either. The recipe worked very well indeed and it's not overly sweet either. I picked up a tip from Stephanie's blog and reserved the cake crumbs for decoration by sticking them on the sides of the cake. I also decided to pipe a few red roses, which turned out to be pink because I couldn't get myself to dye my guts even redder. I also had the idea of making leaf shaped stencils hoping to sprinkle the crumbs on top of the cake in the shape of leaves but that didn't work very well though. 

This is my first time ever frosting a cake as you may have noticed I've hardly made a proper cake since I started baking. I must say those pastry chefs on youtube have made it look SO much easier.

My decision to pipe cream cheese frosting roses was a risky one. Most piped roses are made using buttercream, which hold its shape a lot better than cream cheese frosting. Indeed I had a lot of trouble trying to pipe roses on a skewer to the point I decided to just pipe them straight onto the cake. They didn't look perfect but I think I could still tell they were.. flowers, at least.

I served the cake with a cup of lady grey and that was enjoyable. I don't have a sweet tooth so I'll leave the judging to my family especially my mum. 

Funny enough the bit I enjoy the most about baking is when I start taking pictures of my food. This time, in particular, I was quite happy to be using my dad's new camera, which, despite not being a bulky DSLR still did a fantastic job compared to my 6 year old camera.

That's all for this entry. I hope I have inspired you to give red velvet a go and if you wish, let me know how yours turns out! (or even with a pic) :)

Adel