We have a
wonderful neighbor who loves to bake living a few villas away from us. And the best part about this fact is that
whenever she bakes, she’ll send some for us to sample, how sweet of her. One of the cakes she sent us was this
beautiful red velvet cake that quickly became a hit in our household. The boys were amazed by the red color cake
they’ve never seen before and Captain, thinking that the color came from beetroot
(what?!) was surprised when told the true story behind it. Since
the whole household couldn’t stop talking about the red velvet, I knew I had to try
and bake it.
Well, let me
tell you something about my baking skill.
My cakes in the past always ended up having nicknames like 'The
Spaceship', 'The Bread' and my all time favourite, 'The Cave'. I'm sure you have some idea why, right? So, baking something as beautiful as the Red
Velvet is truly a challenge. To get
the recipe, I contacted my blogger friend Cik Siti from http://airtanganku.blogspot.com/ and she walked
me through step by step on how to bake this cake.
Thank you, Cik Siti!
Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
2 1/4 multi-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 oz bottle of red coloring
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
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Method
Preheat oven to 180/350 degrees.
Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time. Then add in vanilla followed by the red coloring that has been mixed with cocoa powder.
Then alternately add in portions of the flour (that has been mixed and shifted together with baking powder and salt) and buttermilk. Beat well.
Mix vinegar and baking soda together and add into the batter beat a while more.
Divide batter evenly between 2 same sized cake pans (either 8' or 9') and bake them in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cakes completely before frosting.
Note
Don't worry if you cannot find buttermilk in the supermarket nearby. You can always make your own by mixing 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of full cream milk and stir for a while. Leave to set for 10 minutes and it is ready to be used.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
1 1/2 to 2 pack of cream cheese. I use fat free Philidelphia cream cheese, taste as good as the full fat!
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 to 3 cups of icing sugar (depending on your taste)
Some salt
Method
Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.Add in icing sugar, salt and vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy.
Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.Add in icing sugar, salt and vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy.
Frost the cake
and refrigerate for the frosting to set for a while before cutting.
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The result
The cake tastes great but I think the red could have been brighter. Next time I will use 2 bottles of red coloring instead of one. Now, why can't my cake looks perfect or at least normal? What's with the crack? Anyone?
Ida,
ReplyDeletenext time you can lower the heat to 160-170C.. as for the color, s'times depends on the brand.. original recipe uses 2oz
Wow, this cake is beautiful! I too don't have a good relationship with my oven, but I think I might give this recipe a spin. I love Red Velvet cake and would love to have this recipe up my sleeve for entertaining in the future!
ReplyDeletePlease give it a try and let us know how it goes :)
Deletehi, for the colouring part, its better for you to replace the red clouring with beetroot juice, its heathier! i've tried a very similar recipe before, i used a portion of 5tsp of beetroot juice + 1 tsp of red colouring instead. in order to get a pretty rose red from beetroot, its better for you to boil the beetroot first. once its softer, take it out to cool. remove the skin with knife (peeler might dirty your clothe), then cut beetroot into pieces. used a blender and squeere the juice out (you may want to use juice maker to save some time too!). you may want to see the result of the red! https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/250980_10150842397441752_1753461619_n.jpg
ReplyDeleteHi, Nana! Thanks for stopping by and for your tip. Beetroot? Wow, my husband was not totally wrong when he thought the red was from beetroot! I was thinking of trying red velvet again this month and I'll give this a shot! Any tips for not having little holes in the cake?
Deletep.s. your red velvet picture looked divine!
Hi! Your Chanel red GST brought me to your blog!! :P
DeleteHe's totally right! In fact you can use beetroot juice only without adding in red colouring. Also, you may want to add a little bit of yellow colouring. According to the chef, it will have a prettier red. I used gel typpe for my yellow colouring, so i can't tell you exactly how much i add, but i used a chopstick, dip it for 4mm, take out and mix with the beetroot juice.
the little holes were caused by baking soda(or powder? can't remember! LOL) here's the method i learned from baking class:
-for your dry ingredients: sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda together for 3 times.
-for your wet ingredients: combine beetroot juice (or colouring), vanilla, buttermilk, vinegar (u can replace it with lemon juice, more fragrance!)
so the steps are pretty much the same, beats butter and sugar, then add in eggs. after everything is well combined, fold in 1/3 dry mixture,mix well. then 1/2 wet mixture, mix well. repeats the steps make sure your last step is the dry mixture. everytime you fold in and stir well first, then beat for a bit, like half minute? make sure you dont over beat it!
Now that you mentioned it, I think I actually over beat the mixture thinking the better I mix it the fluffier the cake would be? I know this will sound silly to those who bake well ;D ! I am going to try again, this time hopefully without any drama or disaster!
DeleteYup, the red of that GST is truly delish! ;D Thanks Nana for your tips! Keep in touch and I will tell you the result of my next 'red adventure' in the kitchen!
LOL! my first sponge cake was hard like rock because i over beat the mixture way too much, i had the same thought as you too! i just started to bake like 4 months ago, my mom keeps saying "well, you can get a cake from bakery, thats easier". she thinks i am wasting money since i failed quite a few cakes already! =p
Deleteyou're more than welcome! i keep coming back for your blog because you have some yummy recipes here!
Haha! Even if I don't bake well, it is a challenge to do so and the effort pays everytime I see my boys eat like mommy is the best baker! Thanks so much for your support Nana.. I tried the chocolate mousse recipe over the weekend and it went in an eye blink! No time for pictures! Trying the RV this weekend but the cupcake version (ambitious!):)
Deletethe only person who normally taste my cakes is my sister since we both live together, my younger bro is coming back from the UK next week, so i will have another person to taste my baking! i guess i will have to lock him in the house if i want him to eat my cake =P
Deleteyou mean the baked chocolate mousse?? ohh i am so interested in that recipe! but what do you mean by "150 ml of low fat creme"? whipping cream?
my last RV was in cupcake form too! but i didnt realy like it because the recipe i used was less sweet, the sweetness in the recipe is from the cream cheese frosting. so it taste like not enough cream cheese frosting, unless i put extra while eating :(
I used the type of cream that can be used for both cooking and whipping from the brand President. I like the bake choc mousse because it light and takes only half an hour to make. I love them with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, highly recommended :)
Deleteohh i see, i think i will use whipping cream since i normally have it in fridge. i guess i will try it next week! tomorrow i am going to try Hokkaido cake since i promised my friend that i will make it for her if she really resign =P this will be my first time making custard from scratch! wish me luck!
DeleteOh, wow! I've never heard of this cake, would love to see it. Send me some pictures if you don't mind. You can e-mail me at mrsjackofalltrades@gmail.com if you want, which ever you are comfortable with :) I guess I have to try baking from scratch, meaning try bake something simple like a butter cake or something like that. I bought 2 trays of casserole for cream brulee and a blow-torch yesterday and I'm going to try the recipe I got from the resort I stayed in Maldives a couple of years ago given to me by the chef himself! I thicken my face and went asking for the recipe because it was so good! Surprisingly, he gave it!
DeleteHappy Baking, Nana.. it is such a pleasure to receive your message :)