Red Velvet Cake - Encore!

I know I have shared this recipe before here. (I still can't believe I used to share cakes looking like that on my blog. *shakes head in dismay*) But over the years, I have improved and tweaked the recipe where suitable, even coming up with a creative way of cake presentation.

Major changes in the recipe are:

1. New cream cheese recipe which uses butter instead of whipped cream. This makes the cream cheese more stable and spreadable.
2. Covering the frosted cake with red velvet cake crumbs. This is definitely easier than trying to spread cream cheese evenly on the cake to make it presentable.

Red Velvet Cake (Recipe from Joy of Baking)
2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (15 grams) of cocoa powder (I used Van Houten)
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 (If you do not have buttermilk, you can make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar, cider vinegar, or lemon juice to 1 cup (240 ml) of milk. Let this mixture stand 5 to 10 minutes before using)
2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Method of Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 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.
2. 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.
3. n 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

113 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
227 grams cream cheese, room temperature
290 grams confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted
zest of 1 lemon or orange (outer skin of lemon or orange)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method of Preparation:
Cream the butter and cream cheese together until nice and smooth with no lumps. Add the confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the zest and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy.

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.

Tips and Tricks:
Some tips and tricks from yours truly:

1. I prefer a deep red colour, but if you do not like it, go easy on the red colouring.
2. The recipe mentions lining the baking tins with baking paper. I hate lining baking tins because you have to put the liners properly or they would leave indentations on the cake. I prefer to forego the baking paper but grease and flour the tins generously. I repeat, generously.
3. The recipe also calls for cooling or freezing the cake before assembling it. I have honestly never popped them into the fridge. I usually leave them to cool on a wire rack. And then get hubby to cut the cakes in half, horizontally. (You know why? So that I can blame him if anything goes wrong!) *grin*
4. And last but not least, the cake is definitely best served cold and a day old (or more). Somehow the red velvet cake tastes better after a night in the fridge so don't be too particularly worried if you're having the first slice of your invention an hour after your baking is completed and it doesn't taste too particularly tasty. Thus, if you're planning to serve this for an occasion, you should bake and assemble the cake a day or two earlier.

Last but not least, I have discovered a much easier way of making the cake presentable. I have tried frosting the cake with cream cheese evenly - didn't work. I have tried piping cream cheese rose flowers all over the cake - total disaster. The cream cheese couldn't hold shape and the piped roses kept sliding down. In the end, this was what I did.

The easier way to coat a red velvet cake.

Quarter the recipe for the cake batter and pour it into a baking tin. Don't bother lining the cake pans because the whole cake is going to become crumbs, anyway. As soon as the cake is baked, leave to cool and then put it through a food processor. Use the crumbs to cover the cake. The cream cheese will act as an adhesive between cake and crumbs.

Can be decorated using fondant too.

Good luck, enjoy baking!