Red Velvet Cake (红丝绒蛋糕)








Ingredients:

This recipe makes 9-inch red velvet cake.

For Cake

  • 2 cup + 2 Tsp Cake Flour
  • 3 Tsp Cocoa Powder
  • 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 2 Tsp Vanilla Pudding
  • 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 cup Sour Cream
  • 3 Tsp Olive Oil
  • 4 Eggs
  • 1/2 cup Buttermilk, or 1/2 cup Milk + 2 tsp White Vinegar
  • 2/3 cup + 2 Tsp Sweet Cream Butter
  • 3 Tsp Red Food Coloring (amount varies depending on the type of red food coloring you're using)

For Cream Cheese Filling

  • 460 g Cold Cream Cheese  (2 packets of 230 g individual packaged cream cheese)
  • 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 3/4 cup Softened Sweet Cream Butter (1 1/2 stick)
  • 2 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
  • 2 Tsp Condensed Milk

For Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Half of Cream Cheese Filling (Made above)
  • 1 drop pink gel food coloring

For Chocolate Ganache Drip

  • 6 Tsp White Chocolate Chips
  • 3 Tsp Milk Chocolate Chips
  • 4 Tsp Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 1/2 tsp Red Food Coloring (or adjust to her desired redness)

For Cake Top Decoration


  • 6 Strawberries - Halves
  • 3 Tsp Godiva Dark Chocolate Chips
  • 1 tsp Shortening

Tools/Materials:


  • 9 inch non-stick round baking pan (2)
  • Parchment paper to line the bottom of the cake pan
  • Stand mixer or hand mixer
  • Food Scale
  • Strainer
  • 3 qt sauce pan
  • Mixing bowls - different sizes
  • Spatula/Spoon
  • Knife
  • Kitchen Cloth Towel
  • Plastic wrap
  • Cutting board
  • Cake turn table (optional)
  • Icing Spatula
  • Piping bag(s), or ZipLoc Bag

Preparation:

For Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F degree.
  • Soften the butter stick at the room temperature
  • Set aside eggs, sour cream to get to the room temperature
  • Grease each of 9-inch round cake pan (2 of them) with oil.  Line the parchment paper at the bottom.  Generously grease the side of the cake pan with oil.  Set aside.
  • To  make buttermilk, add milk to a cup.  Pour in white vinegar.  Stir them well with the spoon and set aside for at least 10 minutes.
  • In a mixing bowl, mix cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla pudding.  Sieve them using the strainer and set aside.  Cocoa powder usually forms a clump so this step is a must.
  • In a stand mixer bowl, add softened butter, vanilla extract and granulated sugar.  Beat them at the medium high speed for a minute or until they are well combined.  Add one egg at a time to the mixture and continue to beat it at the medium speed.  Repeat this until all 4 eggs are combined in the mixture.  Make sure do not over mix.
  • Pour one third of the sieved flour and other dry ingredients to the mixer bowl.  Beat them at a low speed.  When it's combined, add sour cream and continue to beat it for about 30 seconds.
  • Pour the second portion of 1/3 dry ingredients.  When it's combined, pour in buttermilk.  Beat them for another 30 seconds.
  • Pour the last portion of the remaining 1/3 of ingredients.  When it's combined, add oil and beat them for another 30 seconds. 
  • Pour the red food coloring and beat them for another 30 to 45 seconds.
  • Divide cake batter two portions equally and pour it into the cake pan
  • Bake them at 350 F degree for 25 minutes, or until the toothpick has come out clean.
  • Let cool the cake on the cooling rack.  
Tip:  If desired, cakes can be baked one night before.  When the cake is still warm on the cooling rack, thoroughly wrap each of them with the plastic wrap.  Refrigerate them overnight.  Wrapping the cake while it's still warm and refrigerate will help keep moist.  Otherwise, the cakes can get dry during refrigeration.

For Cream Cheese Filling

  1. Remove cold cream cheese from the packet and put them in the mixing bowl of the stand mixer.  Add vanilla extract. Mix them on the high speed for a couple of minutes, or until they are well combined.
  2. Gradually add powdered sugar to the mixing bowl and beat them until it's well combined.
  3. Add the softened butter to the mixture and beat them at the high speed for a couple of more minutes. 
  4. Add condensed milk to the mixture and mix for about 30 to 45 seconds.
  5. Transfer the half portion to another mixing bowl to use it as the cake filling.

For Cream Cheese Cake Frosting

  1. Add one drop of pink food coloring to the remaining half portion of cream cheese filling in the stand mixer bowl.  Beat them at the low speed for about 30 seconds, or they are well combined. If the color gel is not thoroughly mixed, use the spatula to fold them into the cream cheese frosting to mix it well.

For Cake Decoration

  1. Wash strawberries well.  Pat them with the kitchen towel and dry them well.  Using the knife, halve strawberries.  Lay them on a plate.
  2. In a bowl, add dry chocolate chips with shortening.  Microwave them for 30 seconds.  Stir the mixture well with the spoon.  
  3. Pour it into the zip loc bag.  Make a tiny hole at one corner of zip loc bag.
  4. Drizzle them across each of the strawberry halve on the plate.
  5. Let the chocolate drizzle dry.

Putting Everything Together:

  1. Peel the parchment paper from the cake bottom.  Trim the cake top to level it if needed.  Do not discard the cake top after trimming.  Put them in a bowl and crumble them with the hand.  It can be reused later for cake decoration.
  2. Lay one cake on the cake turn table.  Spread the cream cheese filling on top.  Put another cake on top of it.  
  3. Spread the top and around of the cake with the cream cheese frosting. Spread it to your desired thickness and make the frosting even.  
  4. Using a spoon, pour the chocolate ganache from the top rim of the cake to its side.  Turn the cake turning table and repeat the step until the whole cake is covered.   It's very important that ganache needs to have the right consistency.  Otherwise, they will drip on the table or at the bottom of the cake and it could be very messy.
  5. Gently rub the cake crumbles set aside at step#1 around the cake, over the chocolate ganache.  This step is optional.  
  6. Lay the strawberry on top of the cake, with the even spacing between each of them around the cake.
  7. Sprinkle the cake with the leftover red velvet cake crumbles from step#1 and step#7.
  8. Sprinkle the powdered sugar on cake top using the small strainer.  

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