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Written by If Red Velvet Cupcakes simply don’t do it for you any more and you need bigger and better, here is a Red Velvet Cake recipe for you to try.
What’s more this is a great icing. it must be the Mascarpone Cheese that seals the deal for me on this one. I tried quite a few recipes but the icing was always like a cheap and nasty version made in China.
This is quite a process but the end result is well worth it and nobody will be disappointed with the outcome.
You will be famous!
Watch the video for a detailed look at how to bake a Red Velvet Cake recipe
| Cake Four | 250 | g | |
| Salt | 1/2 | teaspoon | |
| Cocoa Powder | 15 | g | |
| Softened Unsalted Butter | 115 | g | |
| Caster Sugar | 300 | g | |
| Large Eggs | 2 | ||
| Vanilla Extract | 1 | teaspoon | |
| Buttermilk | 240 | ml | |
| Red Food Colouring | 2 | tablespoon | |
| White Distilled Vinegar | 1 | teaspoon | |
| Bicarbonate of Soda | 1 | teaspoon | |
| For the Icing | |||
| Cream Cheese | 225 | g | |
| Mascarpone Cheese | 225 | g | |
| Vanilla Extract | 1 | teaspoon | |
| Icing Sugar | 115 | g | |
| Double Thick Cream | 360 | ml |
- Preheat the oven to 175C and place the rack in the centre
- Butter up two 23cm round cake pans and line the bottom with baking paper
For the Cake
- Sift together the flour, salt & cocoa powder into a bowl
- In the food processor beat the butter until soft (1-2 minutes)
- Add the sugar and beat until light & fluffy (2-3 minutes)
- Add the eggs one at a time. beat well before the next one and scrape down the sides
- Once the eggs are in add the vanilla extract
- In a separate jug whisk the buttermilk & red food colouring together
- Turn the food processor down to a low speed
- Alternate between adding the flour & buttermilk over three stages, beginning and ending with the flour
- Scrape down the sides as necessary
- In a cup mix the vinegar & bicarb together, allow to fizz and then fold into to the batter
- Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins
- Smooth out the tops
- Quickly into the oven for 25-30 minutes
- Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes
- Place a wire rack on top of the cake tins, invert and pop the cakes out
- Allow to completely cool down, seal and place the fridge for a few hours or even overnight.
For the Icing
- Beat the cream cheese & mascarpone until smooth
- Add the vanilla and icing sugar and continue to beat until smooth
- Using a whisk gradually add the double thick cream
- Add more sugar or cream as you go to reach a spreadable consistency
Putting it all together
- Use a serrated knife to carefully cut each layer in half
- Place the base down and spread the icing
- Add the next layer and the next spreading on the icing as you go
- Leave to set for a few hours before serving
A little wiki about Red Velvet Cake
James Beard’s 1972 reference American Cookery describes three red velvet cakes varying in the amounts of shortening and butter. All use red food colouring, but the reaction of acidic vinegar and buttermilk tends to better reveal the red anthocyanin in the cocoa.
Before more alkaline “Dutch Processed” cocoa was widely available, the red colour would have been more pronounced. This natural tinting may have been the source for the name “Red Velvet” as well as “Devil’s Food”.
While foods were rationed during World War II, bakers used boiled beets to enhance the colour of their cakes. Boiled grated beets or beet baby food are found in some red velvet cake recipes, where they also serve to retain moisture.
Adams Extract, a Texas based company, is credited for bringing the Red Velvet Cake to kitchens across America during the time of the Great Depression by being one of the first to sell red food colour and other flavour extracts with the use of point-of-sale posters and tear-off recipe cards.
The cake and its original recipe, however, are most well-known in the United States from New York City’s famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The cake’s original recipe is also made with buttercream icing, while a Southern variation of the cake is made with cream cheese frosting. Beetroot or beets are not used in the Southern version of the Red Velvet recipe.
