Red Velvet Cake

This blog entry is waaay long overdue! I baked this cake almost a month ago and the draft has been sitting in my draft compartment for a long time too. It was the cake I baked for Father's Day in Australia which is celebrated every 1st Sunday of September and have brought in for the family to enjoy. Many family events had overwhelmed us these past few weeks, not that we are complaining huh, just been extremely busy so it was a little bit daunting.

Anyway going back to the cake, lol!  This is the only cake I have ever baked that I wasn't able to taste or even had the chance to do proper photo op for that matter. It was wiped out.totally.there and then. I even received a text message from the "kids"of the family, singing the praises for this cake. I was taken aback by the enthusiasm of the family so much so that I am paying homage to the hype about red velvet cake or red velvet cupcakes if you may. You can say Im a bit cynic about having a go, red velvet is anything but.

Lo and behold,  if you shoved the humble pie into my mouth, in my case my humble cake, gladly I'll do it. Red velvet cake is anything but boring. The texture is so velvety, lustrous, delectable and so moist-ful. So now,  I bow my head with respect. Red Velvet cake had me at hello.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (15 grams) regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (115 grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted
1 1/2 (360 ml) cups cold heavy whipping cream (double cream) (35-40% butterfat)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. 

Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or overnight). (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

Cream Cheese Frosting: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until smooth. Using the whisk attachment, gradually add the heavy cream and whip until the frosting is thick enough to spread. Add more sugar or cream as needed to get the right consistency.

Assemble: With a serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting.  Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish the cake with sweetened or unsweetened coconut.

Serves 10 - 12 people.

Caramel Custard, "Leche Flan"

I started this blogsite with my feeble attempt to re-enact my childhood memories and how those memories nurtured the cook or baker in me (click here). I have sworn never to bake caramel custard again as back in the day, I have done them gazillion times. But my dearest brother sent me this recipe from yahoo foods about caramel custard that I couldn't say no. So here I am again, seemingly transported back in time - when my siblings and I were young and silly, and my dearest Mommy was the queen in the kitchen - doing what I do best, pestering my siblings around. Hehehe. While in my youthful childhood, the recipe caramel custard tattooed in my mind was 8 eggs, 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of granulated sugar, the recipe sent by my brother was re-engineered (now, that's a big word) and well thought of in terms of how not to have bubbles in the texture. One thing remains the same though, it tastes like my childhood.

And so, to my dearest brother who I think the world of, this one is for you...

Ingredients

• Caramel:

1 cup white sugar

1/8 cup water

1/8  white vinegar

• Flan

8 egg yolks

¾ cup sugar

1½ cups fresh milk

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Fill a 13x9 roasting pan halfway with water. Let heat inside the oven while it preheats. This is the water bath.

2. Meanwhile, mix ingredients for caramel in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. On medium heat, stir until sugar has dissolved. Once mixture boils, do not stir. Let mixture boil until it becomes a light golden brown. Immediately drizzle the caramel into a 9x5 loaf pan or into 2 llaneras. Tilt the pan(s) so that the caramel completely covers the bottom(s).

3. In a bowl, thoroughly mix the flan ingredients. Strain mixture into the prepared pan(s). Place mixture into pan(s). Cook in the water bath for 40 minutes, or until 1 hour. A knife inserted in the middle of the flan should come out clean.

4. Cool the flan still in the water bath at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remove from the water bath and un-mold onto a platter.