Red Velvet Cake: First Attempt

My red velvet cake

Red Velvet cake has to be the hardest cake I've ever made so far. I have wanted to make one for such a long time, but I had no idea it wouldn't be as easy as a simple Victoria sponge.

Why was it difficult? There are different techniques used, I struggled to tell when it was baked, and I had issues when spreading the cream filling because the cake kept falling a part. With all that said, although it looked a bit messy, it tasted delicious. I'm not one to brag but the cream in particular was so good.

I found a great recipe so I thought I would share it with you with a few tips so you can avoid the mistakes and struggles I had.

Ingredients:

• 60g unsalted butter or soft margarine
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 large free-range egg, beaten
• 30g cocoa powder
• 1 sp vanilla extract
• Red food colouring
• 125ml buttermilk
• 150g plain flour, sifted
• 1 1/2tsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the frosting:

• 150g unsalted butter
• 600g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g cream cheese

All the ingredients

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas mark 3. Grease and line three 20 cm/8 in sandwich tins. I didn't have this size so I went bigger to 21cm - don't do this, it made my layers too thin. I would have been better off just having two layers or going for a smaller size.

Beat the butter and caster sugar in a mixer (or with an electric hand whisk) until really pale and fluffy. Make sure to take the butter out of the fridge for a bit before hand to soften it. 

Slowly add the egg, beating wildly as you go. 

In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa, vanilla extract and some red food colouring until you have a thick, dark paste. Then add 1 teaspoon of water at a time and mix well until the mixture just starts to run a bit (but it should still be pretty thick). This is the different technique I struggled with. There was no indication on how much food colouring to use (it just said some...how much is some?). I ended up using over half a bottle and it still didn't come out very red, and it was hard to understand the right consistency that was needed, so it required a bit of guess work. I would be quite generous with food colouring to try and get a nice red colour.

Add this to the buttery egg mixture and beat well until it is all incorporated. Add half the buttermilk and give it a good beat, then add half the flour and beat again. Repeat this process with the remaining buttermilk and flour. Finally add the vinegar and the bicarbonate of soda and beat away for another 1–2 minutes. Don't worry, you don't actually taste the vinegar.

Divide the mixture between the three tins and bake for about 25 minutes or until a skewer comes away cleanly. Cool the cakes on a wire rack. Don't try to move them too quickly. I made this mistake and because they were too thin because I used a bigger tin they started to fall a part.

To make the frosting beat together the butter, icing sugar, vanilla and cream cheese until fluffy and spreadable. You may need to add a bit more sugar if it is all too runny, or maybe a drop or two of milk if it is too thick. Do taste as you go, though, and make sure you’ve got enough vanilla in there. It may seem like way too much icing sugar, but it's not. Enjoy the tasting as you go - it tastes delicious!

Sandwich the cakes together with a thin layer of frosting and then spread the remains over the top and sides of the cake. Use some boiling water to keep the knife warm to make the spreading a bit easier.

I would definitely try and make a red velvet cake again, but I might attempt a recipe that involves beetroot to see if that makes a brighter red. I really want to be able to cut into my cake and see a gorgeous crimson colour.

Have you ever made red velvet cake?

Faye
xoxo