Red Velvet Cake in France

Finally I get around to telling you about the red velvet cake I made for my sister's birthday. Here's a picture:

As you can see it was made in the shape of a giant cupcake. I hate baking in this pan, you can never get the cake perfect. It's always a little overcooked. But you'll probably bake in a normal pan, right? Good plan. My sister loves cupcakes and cute pans, and she loves red velvet cake. The recipe was beautiful, as I said before we made a couple substitutions, as you can see below. Try it out, it's a fabulous and tasty recipe that will most likely turn out beautifully!

Red Velvet Cake with Fluffy White Frosting and Toasted Coconut

     Adapted from Joy the baker, from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

     makes 2 8-inch or 9-inch round cakes

8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 egg

5 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

4 Tablespoons of liquid, either half coffee and half water, or half food coloring and half water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or one package of vanilla sugar)

1 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup plain yogurt and 1/4 cup milk)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda (or one package of leavening)

3 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).  Grease and flour two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans.  Set aside.  

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Turn mixer to high and add the eggs. Mix very well

In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring (or coffee & water) to make a thick paste. Add it to the butter/sugar and mix it very thoroughly (this is especially important if you're using the food coloring - get all the batter red!

Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk.  Add half of the flour and salt and mix until combined.  Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour.  Beat on high until smooth.

Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar (we weren't sure if we should add them in the same place at the same time, so we put the baking soda on one side of the bowl and the vinegar on the other. It probably makes no difference whatsoever).  Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.

Spoon batter into prepared cake pans and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean. It took our cake a looooong time to bake (over an hour) because of the mold it was in. I don't recommend it, the giant cupcake tends to overcook on the outside (although the inside was perfect).

Let rest in the pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

We didn't have cream cheese, so we used weird French cheese spread. I didn't know what proportions to use but it basically goes like this: Butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar. Mix it until you get the right consistency... Better yet, go to Joy's website and get one of her recipes!

Tips for frosting your cake: this is not easy. I'm not good at it...that being said, here are some tips that I've heard. Make sure the frosting isn't too cold, or it will be harder to spread. The cake should be at room-temperature or cooler at this point. Don't do it when it's right out of the oven! If you need to make a layer cake, make sure the tops of the layers are fairly even so they will sit flat when stacked. Start by putting a layer of frosting on the first cake layer, then placing the second layer upside down on top. Lightly press it down if it's uneven in certain areas. Now you're going to put the "crumb layer" of frosting on top. This is a thin layer of frosting that will be harder to spread and not look as nice. Frost the top first, then the sides. Put the cake in the fridge for a while and let the frosting set. After an hour or so, take the cake back out and put a much thicker layer of frosting on it, top first, then the sides. Let that set in the fridge for a while. Then you're ready to serve it!