Red Velvet Chiffon Cake

This post is sponsored by Liv butter. Try Liv today!

Red Velvet Cake craze has never died off in my family for their birthday request. For the past years, it was those dense sponge cakes which are pretty heavy. This year, my sister's boyfriend happened to be in town and he requested for Red Velvet Cake again. I went online to check if there is a lighter version.

I found a Red Velvet Chiffon Cake recipe and decided to modify it. I used this cake as my sponge cake base. I also modified the usual cream cheese frosting to make it lighter for the chiffon sponge. This cake was very well received by my family members. They liked the light cake texture with the lighter cream cheese frostings. They added that this cake shall be the future RVC for them.

Recipe for Red Velvet Chiffon Cake
(Makes an 8" round cake)

Chiffon Cake, modified from LY's Kitchen Ventures.
Ingredients:
48g Unsweetened cocoa powder
112g Hot water
68g Buttermilk (64g whole milk + 4g fresh lemon juice)
80g LIV unsalted butter
1/2 tsp Fine rock salt
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 tsp Red colouring gel
144g Cake flour
8 Egg yolks, room temperature

8 Egg whites, room temperature
170g Caster sugar
1 tsp Corn flour

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Prepare two 8" round cake pans. Line the bottom but do not grease.
2. Dissolve the cocoa powder in the hot water.
3. In a small pot over low heat, warm the milk, butter, salt and cocoa mixture to about 60C or until the butter melts completely.
4. Add the vanilla extract and red colouring gel. Stir and ensure everything is mixed thoroughly. Remove from heat. Set aside.
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and colouring mixture and whisk thoroughly. The batter will become slightly thick.
6. Next, add the egg yolks one by one while whisking the mixture. Set it aside. 

7. Using a mixer on medium speed, beat the egg whites. Mix corn flour into the sugar well.
8. When they turn foamy, add the sugar and flour mixture gradually until soft peaks. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the red velvet batter using a whisk. When the mixture is just combined, pour the batter into the meringue and fold well.
9. Pour half the batter into the two pans respectively. Bang slightly to remove bigger air bubbles.
10. Bake for 10 minutes before reducing the temperature to 150C for another 27 minutes. This prevents the cake from burning. DO not open the oven door while baking or the cake will deflate.
11. Check if the cake is done by piercing a skewer through it. The skewer should come out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and invert them. Remove the pans and let them cool completely.

12. Refrigerate to enable easier slicing.

Cream Cheese Frosting
500g Cream cheese, room temperature
125g Liv unsalted butter, room temperature
120g Whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract (I used lemon oil)
200g Icing sugar (I used only 70g as I had ran out of them.)

Method:

1. In a cold mixing bowl, beat whipping cream till stiff. Transfer to a smaller bowl and keep in the fridge for later use.

2. In the same bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter on medium speed, just until blended. 
3. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the icing sugar in 4 batches, beating until smooth between each addition.
4. Fold in whipped cream. Chilled if not ready to frost yet.

To Assemble:

1. Slice each chilled cake into two equal layers. Slice the dome off for decoration later.

2. Place one cake layer on a serving plate/tray and spread some cream cheese evenly. Repeat this process until all cake layers are stacked.
3. Frost the cake completely.

4. With the remaining cake crumbs, add in some frosting, mix well and roll into 12 balls (I rolled 11).
5. Topped the balls with some frosting and placed it around the cake as decoration.
4. Chill the cake to set the frosting. Need not thaw before consuming.

Red Velvet Cake

This post is sponsored by Liv butter. Try Liv today!

Birthdays and more birthdays. My family members (nephews and all) seemed to have taken a liking to Red Velvet Cakes now. Earlier this year, I made a Red Velvet Cake (RVC) for my sister's 40th birthday, and last month, my nephew asked for RVC for his birthday again.

I decided to try new recipe rather than using my usual one. Found a recipe from Food Network which was easier than those I've tried. The cake was moist and dense and tasted good, like how RVC should be. This could potentially be another keeper for RVC.

Recipe for Red Velvet Cake, adapted from Alton Brown.
(Make a 8" cake)

Ingredients:
270g Plain flour
15g Cocoa powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
250g Buttermilk (I use milk + lemon juice as I did not have buttermilk)
1 tsp Red liquid food coloring
1 tbsp White vinegar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
180g Dark brown sugar
113g LIV unsalted butter, room temperature
2 whole Eggs, room temperature

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C (or 160C fan oven). Line the bottom of the pan with a parchment paper round and set aside.

2. Whisk the flours, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl and set aside. Whisk the buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla together in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Combine the brown sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and cream on medium speed until lightened in color, 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Return the mixer to medium speed and slowly add the eggs and beat until they are fully incorporated.

4. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl between each installment. Mix on low speed until smooth, 30 to 45 seconds.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed.

6. Cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes, and then remove the cake from the pans and cool completely, about 1 hour, before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
200g Icing sugar
500g Cream cheese, room temperature
125g Liv unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Combine the cream cheese and butter on medium speed, just until blended, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. 

2. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and salt and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the icing sugar in 4 batches, beating until smooth between each addition. Refrigerate for 5 to 10 minutes before using.

To Assemble:
1. Slice the cool cake into three equal layers. 

2. Place one cake layer on a serving plate/tray and spread some cream cheese evenly. Repeat this process until all cake layers are stacked.
3. Frost the cake and decorate as desired.

4. Chill the cake to set the frosting. Leave in room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving.

Red Velvet Ombre Cake

My younger sister turned 40 years old last month. She decided to have a birthday bash for family members and some very close friends. She requested for a birthday cake which can serve up to 30 people. We discussed for quite a while, and I couldn't think of any good cake which I baked, that can serve her guests. Most of the cakes were meant for "internal" consumption. I baked my mum's 70th birthday cake, but decided the size was too big for her guests. Furthermore, she wasn't a big fan of blackforest cake. My initial proposal was to bake Tiramisu, since her birthday lunch was to be held in an Italian restaurant. Then I changed my mind because I didn't have most of the ingredients.

Finally, two days before her birthday party, I decided to bake her a (surprise) Red Velvet Cake. I know she loves my Red Velvet Cake and Chocolate Cupcakes. Instead of just frosting it normally, I decided to make an ombre rose frosting for her.

"Ombre refers to colors that blend into each other, often from dark to light." - Kind Arthur Flour. I'm very often awe by beautiful colours of ombre cakes and rainbow cakes. I've finally pick up the courage to try this ombre frosting. The Red Velvet Cake turned out to be really good. Her guests were very impressed with the beautiful frosting, and the great tasting cake I made. My sister was also very pleased and delighted. I was so happy to have made the right last minute decision.

Recipe for Red Velvet Ombre Cake, recreated from Joy of Baking and previous post.
Makes a 4-layered 9" round cake 


Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients:
500g Cake flour, sifted
1 tsp Fine salt 
30g Dutch-processed cocoa powder
227g Liv unsalted butter, at room temperature
280g Caster sugar
4 large Eggs
2 tsps Vanilla extract
480g Buttermilk (480g whole milk + 2 tsps fresh lemon juice)
2 tsp Liquid red food coloring
2 tsp White distilled vinegar
2 tsp Baking soda

Method:

Grease two 9" 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, 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 three prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. 

Bake in the preheated fan oven of 160C for approximately 25 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).

Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from Martha Stewart)
750g Cream Cheese
500g Liv unsalted Butter, softened
210g Icing sugar, sifted
3 tsp Vanilla extract

Method:

1. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, in three batches, then add vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth again.

To assemble:

1. Slice both the cakes into 2 layers, making a total of 4 layers.
2. Place one layer on the cake board, spread with cream cheese frosting.
3. Repeat for 2nd, 3rd and 4th layer.
4. Then crumb coat the whole cake, ie. frost the cake all over with cream cheese frosting.

5. Refrigerate it for at least 30mins.
6. Meanwhile, take about 100g (or 120g) of the cream cheese, mix with your desired colour. In my case, it's pink. I used a toothpick, insert into my Wilton gel colour lightly, then stir it into my bowl of cream cheese.
7. Using a nozzle tip #21, pipe a flower at the side of the cake, starting at the bottom. Filling up gaps as you piped.


8. When completed 1st layer, with the remaining cream cheese, add in slightly more colour, adding more cream cheese as desired.
9. Continue piping the second layer.
10. Repeat #8 & #9 for the 3rd layer flowers.
11. Then using the remaining colour of the cream cheese, add in more cream cheese, and add in red colour. Mix well.
12. Using nozzle #1M. Pipe roses all round the top. Filling up gaps as you go.


13. Chill it before serving.

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #40: Rainbow and Ombre Party! (March 2014) hosted by Cynthia of The Baking Biatch.

Red Velvet Birthday Cake

This post is sponsored by Liv butter. Try Liv today!

My birthday and my nephew's are just four days apart. Sometimes, we celebrated together, other times, we have a cake each. For his birthday cake, I had been baking for the past years, whereas for mine, my sister will get it for me. This year, I decided to share a cake with him by baking it myself. My sister had kindly offered to buy a cake for my birthday. I rejected her kind offer and decided I shall just share a cake with her son. He requested for red velvet cake, instigated by my sister. I was fine with the request since I had the intention to bake this cake. So here is my shared birthday cake.
 
Recipe for Red Velvet Cake, adapted from Joy of Baking.
Makes a 3-layered 7" round cake

Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients:

250g Cake flour, sifted

1/2 tsp Fine salt

15g Dutch-processed cocoa powder

113g Liv unsalted butter, at room temperature

150g Caster sugar

2 large Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla extract

240g Buttermilk (240g whole milk + 1 tsp fresh lemon juice)

1 tsp Liquid red food coloring

1 tsp White distilled vinegar

1 tsp Baking soda

Method:

1. Grease three 7" round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
3. In bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. 
7. Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the three prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. 
8. Bake in the preheated fan oven of 160C for approximately 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. 
9. 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).

Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from Martha Stewart)

250g Cream Cheese
167g Liv unsalted Butter, softened
70g Icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Method:

1. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, in three batches, then add vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth again.

Assembly:

1. Place one layer of cake on the base.
2. Pipe the cream cheese on the cake, then use a spatula to even out.
3. Repeat this process for the 2nd and 3rd layer.
4. For the final decoration, use your spatula to swipe gently on the surface of the cream cheese to create the wave effect. Decorate as desire.

Martha Stewart's Red Velvet Cupcakes

One of my blogger friend highly recommended this book- Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. I know many bakers/bloggers have already owned this book. I was hesitant to buy it at first as I have many other cupcakes recipe books. I had it in my "wishlist" though. Finally, when there was a 10% off from Books Depository, I jumped in at it and ordered this book.

First recipe I tried was the Red Velvet Cupcakes. Actually, I dislike using american measurements - cups. It would never seem accurate to me. I wonder how they can use such metrics for baking where everything needs to be precise. Anyway, I followed their cup measurements. -_-// Whenever I tried recipes outside Asian countries, I tend to reduce the sugars, by quite a fair bit. There was no exception in this case. The Red Velvet Cupcakes were dense and moist. The cream cheese frosting was good too! (Especially with the reduction of sugars!) It is not overly cheesy with a good blend of butters. The frosting was really smooth and silky. I love this cupcake! Give it a try too!

Recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes, adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
Makes 24 regular cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups Cake flour
2 tbsps Unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tsp Salt
3/4 cups Caster sugar (original calls for 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups Vegetable oil
2 large Eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp Red food colouring
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 cup Buttermilk (1 cup whole milk + 1 tsp lemon juice)
1 1/2 tsps Baking soda
2 tsps distilled White vinegar

Method:

1. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Sift cake flour and cocoa powder. Add salt and whisk together.
3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food colour and vanilla.
4. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, whisking well after each addition. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl; add mixture to the batter and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.
5. Divide batter evening among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.
6. Bake in a preheated oven of 180C. Rotate muffin trays half way through, until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 20mins.
7. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months in airtight containers.

Cream Cheese Frosting

(12 oz) 340g Cream Cheese

(2 sticks) 227g Unsalted Butter

(4 cups) 100g Icing sugar, sifted

3/4 tsp Vanilla extract

Method:

1. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, in three batches, then add vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth again.
3. To frost the cupcakes, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Red Velvet Christmas Logcake

This post is sponsored by Liv butter. Try Liv today!

Early November, in the Facebook group of the Singapore Bakers, someone posted a red velvet logcake. I thought it might be a good idea to make red velvet logcake this year. There were already some famous bakery selling this. I supposed the recipe for red velvet logcake will be different from the normal red velvet cupcake. As shared by the member, the recipe was modified from Yummyholic site. The batter from the original recipe was too stiff that it was really difficult to fold. So I added oil and milk to it, to make it more foldable.

Recipe for Red Velvet Christmas Logcake
Makes a 11" x 14" cake sheet

Ingredients:
Cake Sheet
4 Egg yolks
30g Caster sugar
25g Whole milk
20g Vegetable oil
60g Cake flour
10g Cocoa powder
3/4 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Fine salt
A few drops of red colouring

4 Egg whites
1/4 tsp Cream of tartar
90g Caster sugar

Method:

1. Prepare a cake tray and lined with parchment paper.

2. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt; set aside.

3. Whisk egg yolks and sugar till light and frothy. Add milk and vegetable oil, mix well. Then add colouring.

4. Add in the sifted flour mixture into the batter and mix well.

5. Beat egg whites in a mixing bowl till frothy.

6. Add the cream of tartar into the caster sugar, mix well. Gradually add in the caster sugar into the egg whites. Beat till stiff peak.

7. Fold the egg whites into the egg yolk batter. Mix well.

8. Bake for 12 mins in a preheated oven of 180C or until browned.

Cream Cheese Frosting

300g Cream Cheese

90g Unsalted Liv butter, room temperature

100g Icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp Lemon juices
1 punnet of fresh blueberries (optional)

Method:
1. Beat cream cheese and butter until light and creamy.
2. Add in sifted icing sugar and mix well.
3. Add in lemon juices and combine well.

Assemble:

1. Spread the cream cheese frosting onto the swiss roll, followed by blueberries if using.

2. Roll it up tightly.

3. Trim both sides of the cake and placed the swiss roll to the main log.
4. Frost the whole cake with cream cheese.
5. To make the spikes, just use the spatula to gently pat on the cream cheese frosting and lift it up quickly. Repeat the process for the whole cake.

6. Decorate with X'mas cake ornaments as desired, then chill it in the fridge before serving.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I finally "threw in the towel" - I made Red Velvet Cupcakes (RVC). This was despite the fact that I knew how much red colourings it went into the cupcakes. The cupcakes were rather special. I can't really tell the taste of the cupcakes, except that it tasted rather good with the cream cheese frosting. Actually, it was a colleague who "inspired" me to bake this as he was raving about how great the RVC from Twelve Cupcakes were! I hesitated for a long time as the amount of colourings freaked me out!

The ultimatum to bake this RVC was when I watched "Chuck's Day Off" last week and saw how beautiful his RVC was! Initially, I wanted to bake using his recipe, however, as I do not have plain yoghurt on hand, I decided on Sonia's recipe instead. It's straight forward and simple!

So here it is. I made some modifications. As I wasn't able to find my cake flour, I replaced it with plain flour. I also used 2 tsps red colouring instead of 1 tbsp. I found that ChefMaster's colours are very strong. Just 2 tsps of red colouring made it so red! I shall reduce to 1 tsp the next time I try. The cupcakes turned out to be moist and yummy (if you will ignore the colourings). When I let my colleague tried it, he actually said it's as good as Twelve Cupcake's RVC! However, he commented that it has a bitter after taste. We concluded that it must be the taste from the colouring. Otherwise, I'm happy to know that it's good! Well, if you can convince yourself to bake RVC, then try this recipe. It's really good!