Red velvet is a very complex, confusing cake. There are so many recipes out there, that you are not sure if it is a vanilla cake, coloured red, or a chocolate cake, colored red. Maybe it is the fact that it’s coloured “weirdly” that attracts you.
But, the fact still remains that red velvet cake is really something special. The iconic red velvety cake truly stands out between all the other types of cakes. Correctly baked they are moist, fluffy and just the perfect balance between buttermilk and chocolate.
Where did it all start?
This velvety cake dates back to the Victorian era when cakes were served as a fancy dessert. Way back when, when high quality, little processed cocoa was still available, bakers used this with a vinegar. The vinegar reacted to the cocoa bringing out the red colour in it. Later on they enriched the red colour by used beets. This gave the cakes their distinct red colour it also added some moist to the cakes. Today some recipes still use beets, in fact I have a very nice sugar free recipe that I bake that still use beets. The beet filled cupcakes are slightly heavier than the improved, newer recipes but still very tasty.
The distinct flavour of a red velvet cake comes from the mixture between cocoa, buttermilk and vinegar. It almost has a bit of a acidic flavour well balanced with the flavour of cocoa.
Traditionally red velvet cakes are frosted with cream cheese frosting. You just can not go wrong with a good cream cheese frosting…. This cake looks good but even tastes better!!
RECIPE:
(this makes 1 large three-layer cake or +/- 24 cupcakes)
125 g softened butter
250 ml castor sugar
2 extra-large eggs
30 ml cocoa powder
30 ml red food colouring
15 ml milk
500 ml Cake flour
2 ml salt
250 ml buttermilk
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
15 ml white vinegar
5 ml Vanilla essence
Cream cheese Frosting:
454 g softened cream cheese
227 g softened butter
480 g powered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions:
CAKE:
- Cream the butter and sugar together. Slowly add the eggs, one by one, making sure to mix the batter well after each egg addition. Mix until light and fluffy.
- Make a smooth paste with the cocoa powder, food colouring and milk. Add this to the egg mixture and mix well.
- In the meantime, sift the flour and salt together. Alternating between the flour mixture and the buttermilk add and mix into your egg mixture.
- Dissolve bicarbonate of soda in the vinegar and add, with the vanilla essence to the mixture.
- For Cake: Divide your mixture between 3 lined and greased 20cm round cake tins and bake for 20 minutes at 180˚C . For cupcakes : Line 24 cupcake holes and fill to 1/3 full. Bake for +/- 15 minutes. (Your oven’s heat might differ from mine, so check your cupcakes after 10 minutes by sticking a toothpick in the cupcake. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cupcake is ready)
- Let the cake/cupcakes cool of a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
FOR THE ICING:
- In a large bowl mix together the butter and the cream cheese until fluffy. Using a electric mixture will give you the best effect.
- Add the vanilla essence, and mix well.
- Beat in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until the mixture is smooth.
Spread your icing over your cooled cake or cupcakes.
