Red Velvet Cake for Apetit's 15th Anniversary
Red velvet cake will win you over not only with its beautiful red colour but also with its intense cocoa flavour. In the past, the vivid colour came from a chemical reaction between cocoa and the acidic ingredients in the batter, but due to changes in how ingredients are produced this reaction can no longer be relied on, so we now use food colouring. The moist sponge pairs beautifully with a light mascarpone cream, so it is no wonder this cake has won legions of fans. For an even more festive look, decorate it with macarons.
Prep: 1 h 30 min
Cook: 1 h
Servings: 1
Method
01.
Preheat the fan oven to 180 °C. Cut out two circles from baking paper to match the base of the cake tin (the recipe is for two 20 cm tins) and line the bases with them. Line the sides of the tins with a strip of baking paper too, or grease them with butter and dust with coarse flour.
02.
Sift the flour, cocoa and salt into one bowl and mix together.
03.
In a second bowl, beat the softened butter with the sugar until fluffy. Then gradually beat in the eggs one at a time. Finally add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and beat again.
04.
Mix the red food colouring thoroughly into the buttermilk, then gradually beat the coloured buttermilk into the butter mixture, alternating with the flour mixture. Mix until a beautifully smooth batter forms.
05.
In a glass, mix the wine vinegar with the bicarbonate of soda and quickly stir the resulting foam into the batter by hand. Immediately pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
06.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 60 minutes. Baking time depends on the type of oven. When baking with fan, check after 30–40 minutes by inserting a skewer, which must come out clean. If the top seems done but the inside is still raw, loosely cover the tin with foil and leave to finish baking. Leave the sponge to cool in the tin, then remove it from the tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
07.
Using a hand mixer on low speed, beat the cream cheese with the mascarpone. Add the vanilla extract, the sifted icing sugar and beat again. Whip the cream separately until stiff and gradually fold it into the beaten cream by hand with a spatula.
08.
Trim the cooled sponges level on top (set the trimmings aside). Then cut the sponges horizontally into 2 layers of equal height. Layer the sponges with cream one by one. Finally, cover the whole cake with cream and smooth it. Chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge.
09.
Decorating the cake is individual and depends entirely on your own imagination. You can use just the crumbs from the trimmed top, or, as here, add fresh raspberries and macarons.
