Red Velvet V Cake

Photo: AngellovesCooking

Ingredients

Cake:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 1/2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Cream and Frosting:

I've wanted some light and fluffy cram, so I've used some different ingredients..

175 grams cream cheese

1 cup icing sugar, sifted

500 grams Mascarpone cheese

1 cup sweetened whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Filling:

340 grams raspberry jam

250 grams frozen raspberries, drained- or fresh

Preparation

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease and lightly flour 2 or 3 round 9" spring cake pans, or bake the layers one at a time.

Sift flour and salt together, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix well after each addition. Add the flour mixture to the bowl alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Blend in vanilla.

In a small bowl, mix the 1 1/2 tbsp red food coloring and 1 tbsp cocoa powder until a paste forms. Add to the sugar and butter mixture. Mix well.

In a small bowl or condiment cup, stir together the baking soda and cider vinegar. This will foam and should be put into the batter immediately after well mixed. After adding the foam mixture, blend on medium-high speed until batter is consistent.

Spoon batter evenly into pans - batter will be very thick! Level top of batter with an offset spatula.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cake springs back when pressed in the center.

Remove and let rest within the pans on wire rack for about 10 minutes and afterwards turn out on wire racks and cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a mixing bowl whip the sweetened whipping cream and vanilla until light and fluffy.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and vanilla together with the mixer on low, gradually pouring in the confectioners sugar until smooth. Add gradually the mascarpone cheese and beat again until blended completely. Increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy. Gently fold the whippe d cream. If mixture is too thick, add a little cream to loosen it. If it is too thin, add additional powdered sugar or put in the refrigerator to firm up.

If carving cake and coating with crumbs, be sure to put the crumbs on when the icing is fresh and still sticky.

Assemble:

For the heart template, trace the bottom of a cake pan on wax paper, cut out the 9" circle. Fold it in half and cut into a heart shape. Lay the paper heart on the cake and trim it down if it doesn't comfortably fit inside the cake's circumference.

Red velvet cake is dense, so it carves easily with a serrated knife.

To make the crumb coating, crumble the cake scraps with your fingers. Discard any crusty, hard or discolored crumbs. You only want the best and softest crumbs for coating.

Place the first heart shaped layer onto the serving plate, spread 1/3 part of the raspberry jam first and afterwards spread a thick layer of cream cheese and sprinkle 1/2 part of the frozen raspberries. Repeat with the second layer. Place the last layer, spread the last 1/3 part of jam and coat the cake all over with the rest of the Cream Cheese frosting.

My best way to apply the crumbs is to place the frosted cake onto the serving plate, lined with wax paper strips. Crumb the top of the cake first. Crumb the wax paper strips and gently press the paper strips with the crumbs to the sides of the cake. Remove the wax paper and remove the excess crumbs or add some more where necessary. Do a little clean-up around the cake edges with a damp paper towel.

Chill for at least 2 hours.

And most delicious Valentine is ready.