Decadent Red Velvet Cake

This red velvet cake is denser than my usual recipe, because I needed it to be stacked to create this taller version. Despite having a bit more dense crumb, it is still very moist.

I really enjoy making birthday cakes, but without being able to go home for my niece’s and nephew’s birthday, I have not had many opportunities to bake these cakes. There is something special about being able to stack multiple layers on top of each other, and perfectly frost the outside to get sharp clean edges. Sometimes I also add fondant to the cakes, though this is more for aesthetic appeal rather than taste.

It was a friend’s birthday recently and I decided that I wanted to bake this red velvet cake. I have created a red velvet cake which is super light and moist and fluffy, but it would definitely not have held up under all these layers. So I came up with this alternative version which is a bit more dense, but still moist and yummy.

Red velvet is highly popularised for it’s distinctive red colour. Previously, its colour was achieved by the inclusion of beetroot in the cake. I am not particularly fond of this version however, so chose to use food colouring instead. Whilst ordinarily, the cake has a mild chocolate flavour, I prefer to boost that a bit with the inclusion of coffee. You cannot taste the coffee, but it does amplify the chocolate.

Making this cake really challenged me. It is incredibly difficult to get a smooth finish with buttercream and get super sharp edges. Creating this concrete effect was also tricky, but I do not think it is bad for a first attempt! You can make this as a 20cm round, two layer cake without having to go through all the stress of constructing a taller version. I hope you enjoy it!

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RED VELVET CAKE

• 210g cake flour
• 30g corn flour
• 350g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 15g cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 125ml oil
• 113g butter, essential to be at room temperature
• 2 jumbo eggs, at room temperature
• 180ml buttermilk
• 60ml instant coffee (around 1 1/2 tsp of instant coffee in 60ml of boiling water)
• 1 tsp red food gel

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Grease and line the base and sides of two 20cm cake tins with baking paper.
2. Sift the flour, cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cocoa and sugar into a bowl.
3. Add in the very soft butter to the dry ingredients.
4. In another bowl, lightly beat the two eggs, then add in the vanilla, oil, buttermilk, coffee and red gel food colour. Mix to combine.
5. Pour in half the liquid into the dry ingredients, which now includes the butter.
6. With the mixer on very low speed, start to combine all the ingredients until just incorporated. Starting the mixer on low prevents a cloud of dry ingredients getting all over your kitchen.
7. Once this is mixed in, add the remaining wet ingredients and mix, until just incorporated.
8. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula a few times to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated, before dividing it into two tins.
9. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

CREAM CHEESE ICING

• 700g cream cheese
• 300g butter
• 220g icing sugar, sifted
• 1tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

1. Cream the butter until light and airy.
2. Then add in the icing sugar and beat until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
4. Then gently fold the cream cheese into the butter and icing sugar mixture.
5. Beating the cream cheese separately ensures that it is not over beaten, and your icing does not end up being too runny
6. Frost in between the two cake layers and the outside of the cake.

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com