red velvet

i have never made red velvet cake before. it's not a cake i would generally desire to bake, but for lindsey and my valentine's day soiree it was the perfect choice. rich, moist, a beautiful shade of red, with just a touch of chocolate and the creamiest cream-cheese frosting. It took a while to decide on a recipe, but we eventually settled on the joy of baking recipe (the frosting combines cream cheese and mascarpone- yum! i just couldn't resist).

the frosting is sooooooo good. if i ever play around with red velvet recipes it will be with the cake only. in my opinion, red velvet cake has to have cream cheese frosting, and this is the best cream cheese frosting ever. the combination of the cream cheese with the mascarpone is so creamy and delightful; then mixing in whipped cream lightens up the consistency, making it and extra fluffy...

we topped our cake with coconut and mini chocolate chips and shaved white chocolate.

here's the recipe

for the cake: 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 2 tablespoons dutch-processed cocoa powder • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature • 1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar • 2 large eggs • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract • 1 cup buttermilk • 2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring • 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar • 1 teaspoon baking soda

preheat...350°

pans...two 9-inch round cake pans, buttered

bake time...25-30 minutes

to make the cake: sift together the flour, salt, cocoa powder. set aside. in another bowl (large), beat the butter until soft. add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. in another bowl (small) whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. now, add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat lightly. add the buttermilk and beat lightly. add the rest of the flour mixture and beat lightly. in a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. the mixture will fizz, then immediately fold it into the cake batter. working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. bake for 25 to 30 minutes (test with toothpick). cool the cakes for about ten minutes in the pans, then remove them from pans and cool completely. it is recommended to refrigerate the layers for at least an hour before frosting- it will make frosting the cake easier.

for the cream cheese frosting: 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream • 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature • 8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature • 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract • 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

to make the frosting: beat the cream cheese with the mascarpone cheese until smooth. add the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until smooth. in a separate bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. with a large spatula, gently but quickly fold a little of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten it. then fold in the remaining whipped cream, in two stages.

to assemble the cake: this recipe suggests to cut each layer in half, horizontally, to make a four layer cake. we skipped this step, preferring to make a two layer cake. while the cake looks beautiful just frosted creamy white, there are many possible garnishes. some recipes garnish with pecans, which i think would be delicious. you can even mix chopped pecans into the cream cheese frosting. like i mentioned before, we sprinkled shredded coconut, mini chocolate chips, and a small amount of finely chopped white chocolate over the top and sides of our cake, which i loved. if that's a bit much, sticking to just coconut would be gorgeous. i also like the idea of covering it in white or dark chocolate ribbons, or white or dark chocolate shavings. there are a lot of options!

a couple modifications

• instead of 2 tablespoons cocoa powder we used about 1/4 cup sweetened cocoa powder + about 1/4 cup melted chocolate chips...we only had sweetened cocoa powder (our college-student budget preferred to use the cocoa powder my parents had at home instead of buying an $8 container of unsweetened. the recipe only calls for 2 tablespoons anyways). we then decided it wasn't chocolatey enough (haha) so we added some melted chocolate chips (this was after we had mixed everything together). i was a little worried about ruining the consistency, but it turned out sooooo good. perhaps it was the extra chocolate?

• instead of 1 1/2 cups sugar, we reduced it to 1 cup sugar...because of the sweetened cocoa powder, we needed to reduce the sugar. when we tried the batter, it was a little under-sweet, but i liked it and once we added the melted chocolate chips it was perfect

• instead of 8 ounces cream cheese, we used 8 ounces whipped cream cheese...not that it's a huge difference, but i've got to admit, the frosting was unbeatable. i can't stop raving about it!

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if i am ever tempted to make red velvet again i would love to try using beets to color the cake- i don't really like the idea of red food coloring in the first place. my sister was also considering baking red velvet for valentine's day and she sent me this recipe for red velvet cupcakes reddened with beets, from the blog coconut & lime. i would love to try it!


and, in the spirit of the holiday for which this cake was made, happy valentine's day!~

xox