Thursday, September 17, 2009

Red Velvet Cake


Yield: 3 cake layers

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place teaspoon of butter in each of 3 round 9-inch layer cake pans and place pans in oven for a few minutes until butter melts. Remove pans from oven, brush interior bottom and sides of each with butter and line bottoms with parchment.

2. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.

3. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring. (Be careful not to let it splash.) Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

4. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.

5. Divide batter among pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes. Then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting.

Cupcake variation: Yield is approximately 35 cupcakes, with the liners filled only 3/4 of the way, and the baking time should be between 20 to 25 minutes

Cocoa Notes

• Some red velvet cakes have no cocoa, others have up to half a cup. The less cocoa, the brighter the red, and the less food dye is needed to give it the desired hue. This cake has more cocoa and quite a bit of red dye, but as you cans see from the picture, it is a real stand-out red. Feel free to use less, but make sure you dissolve it in 6 tablespoons of water to compensate for any moisture lost.

• Dutch versus Non-Dutched cocoa: This recipe uses baking soda, so it calls for non-Dutch-Processed cocoa. The reason is that Dutch-Process cocoa is neutral and will not react with baking soda, so it can only be used in 1) recipes with baking powder or 2) recipes with enough other acidic ingredients that will compensate for the lack of acidity. However, you’ll notice that this recipe has both vinegar and buttermilk in it, or quite a bit of acidity, leading me to wonder if either kind of cocoa could be used with success. I

Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 6 cups

8 ounces cream cheese, room temp
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter room temp
3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. With a handheld electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat, on low speed to combine. If too soft, chill until slightly stiff, about 10 minutes, before using.

Icing Notes:

• Technique: Cake decorators will always tell you to ice a cake in two batches, first a “crumb layer” and then the more decorative one. Though I rarely bother, in this cake in particular, with its dark hue barely disguised by a thin layer of frosting, it is especially helpful. To do this, place a small amount of frosting on the cake and spread it over the entire surface that will be iced, thereby anchoring wayward crumbs in place so that they will not mess up the final product. A few minutes in the freezer or longer in the fridge will firm this up so that you have an ideal surface to build the real layer of frosting upon.

• Quantity: The recipe here creates an amount of frosting that allows for a thin coat between and over the cake layers. I found it to have the ideal cake-to-frosting balance for this recipe. However, you might want to double the recipe if you prefer a more decadent, padded frosting layer.


OK SO I CAN'T DECIDE WHICH RED VELVET CAKE TO MAKE: 

SO I AM POSTING ALL OF THEM UNTIL I FIND MY FAVORITE!!

Ingredients


• 1/2 cup(s) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup(s) sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoon(s) red food coloring
• 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup(s) cocoa
• 1 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 cup(s) buttermilk
• 2 1/4 cup(s) sifted cake flour
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1 teaspoon(s) white vinegar
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Directions

1. Make the batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using a small brush, lightly coat two 9-inch cake pans with butter or vegetable-oil cooking spray. Dust the pans with flour, tap out any excess, and set aside. In a large bowl, using a mixer set on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar until light. Add the yolks and continue to beat for 1 more minute. In a small bowl, stir the food coloring, the vanilla, and the cocoa together. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the cocoa paste to the batter. In a glass measure, mix the salt with the buttermilk and add it to the batter by thirds, alternating with the flour. In another small bowl, mix the baking soda with the vinegar and blend into the batter.

2. Bake the cake: Divide the batter equally between the pans and spread evenly. Bake on the middle rack of the oven until a tester inserted in the center of each layer comes out clean -- about 30 minutes. Cool in the cake pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Using a knife, loosen cake layers from the sides of the pans and invert the layers onto wire rack to cool completely.

3. Ice the cake: Use a serrated knife to split each layer into 2 even layers. Line the edges of a cake plate with 3-inch-wide strips of waxed or parchment paper and place a cake layer, trimmed side down, on top. Evenly spread 1 cup of icing over the layer and repeat with 2 other layers. Top with the final layer and cover the top and sides with remaining icing.


Cooked Vanilla Icing

• 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon(s) all-purpose flour
• 2 cup(s) whole milk
• 2 cup(s) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cup(s) confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
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Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk the flour and milk together until smooth. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until thick -- about 5 minutes.

2. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and set aside. In a medium bowl and using a mixer set on high speed, beat the butter and sugar until light.

3. Add the vanilla, reduce mixer speed to medium, and slowly add the cooled milk mixture. Beat for 1 more minute.

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