Let’s make with Sonia a truly American, impressive looking layer cake: the Red Velvet Cake! Find this and many more recipes on the Giallozafferano App in English http://itunes.apple.com/app/giallozafferano-recipes/id384387249?mt=8
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New York… what an amazing city, the Magnolia Bakery… and the Red Velvet cake, I really feel like making it! Obviously, not only did I eat the Red Velvet cake in New York, but I also bought myself a copy of the bakery’s cookbook, so we’ll be making together the original recipe, taken from the cookbook!
Ingredients for three 9-inch round cake layers:
Ingredients
Red Velvet Cake
For the 9-inch (24 cm) cake layers
• 3 1/3 cups (440 g) of cake flour
• 1 ½ sticks (170 g) of softened butter
• 3 large eggs
• 2 ¼ cups (450 g) of sugar
• 6 tbsp of red food colouring
• 3 tbsp (16 g) of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ½ tsp (6 g) of vanilla extract
• 1 ½ tsp (9 g) of salt • 1 ½ cups (370 g) of buttermilk or whole milk yogurt
• 1 ½ tsp (7,5 g) of cider vinegar
• 1 ½ tsp (7 g) of baking soda
For the vanilla frosting
• 6 tbsp (50 g) of all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (500 ml) of fresh whole milk
• 2 cups (400 g) of sugar
• 4 sticks (450 g) of softened butter
• 2 tsp (9 g) of vanilla extract
Now let’s make together the red velvet cake layers, which of course are red in colour! So, place the room temperature butter in a mixing bowl and beat for at least 10 minutes with half of the sugar; now add the remaining sugar along with the eggs, one at a time. Once blended, add the vanilla… I am using vanilla extract, but you can use the seeds of a vanilla pod or vanilla powder… the red food colouring… and, once incorporated, the sifted unsweetened cocoa powder. The dough is ready, now remove the bowl from the mixer and add the buttermilk, in which the salt has been dissolved, alternating with the sifted flour. Mix in the baking soda, which has been dissolved in cider vinegar. All that’s left is to divide the dough into three 9-inch (24 cm) round cake pans and bake in static oven at 350°F (180°C) for 25 to 30 minutes, testing for doneness with a toothpick.
The cakes are cooked to perfection, so leave them to cool and move on to the frosting: pour the cold milk into a saucepan, whisk in the flour… and stir until dissolved, with no lumps. After that, place over low heat to thicken. This reminds me of when I was looking for the Magnolia bakery in New York, and when I found it, there was a lady making this famous cake right behind the shop window, so I couldn’t resist entering and tasting it… I must say it was really really good! Here we are, the mixture has thickened, so transfer to a container… cover with cling film, placing it directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and let it cool to room temperature. While the frosting and the cakes are cooling, let’s go on with the rest of the frosting recipe, that is, place the softened butter in a mixing bowl and beat with the vanilla extract and the sugar… until you have a pale, fluffy mixture.
As you can see the mixture is bright white and fluffy, so beat in the previous one, that has come to room temperature.
And now, let’s assemble the red velvet cake, starting with the first layer; if the cakes come out of the oven slightly dome-shaped, just level them off with a knife, as I did. Then spread the first layer with the resulting frosting, using a spatula… and repeat stacking the three cakes on top of each other. The red velvet cake is completely iced in white frosting, so if you happen to have a rotating cake stand like this, which by the way I saw in New York, hold the spatula straight as you rotate the plate… do the same on top… to make it smooth. Crumble the cake scraps and use the crumbles to garnish as desired. Now the red velvet cake is ready to be eaten… I can’t wait! See you next video recipe!