Thursday 11 November 2010

Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting

I think every food blog should have a red velvet cake recipe...what say???? I know I want one and trust me I've been at it for so darn long. The Hummingbird Bakery here in Notting Hill got me hooked on to the lil red darlings about a year back and since then I have been trying to recreate it at home. Five times and I've never been successful. Have tried different recipes, different brands, different procedures, but never have I managed to get that red colour....that I am so deeply in love with. I know using food colouring is not the best, but what the hell...once in a blue moon you crave some red velvet goodness and its OK to indulge, I guess!

So anyhoo, after all those disaster episodes I finally decided to use a ready mix..yes, I'm a cheater..a good one at that, because I couldn't for the love of me find a red velvet cake mix in any of the supermarkets here in London and so I wrote to my cousin in the US, who happened to be visiting me, to bring me the original Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake mix. He did and boy was I glad. If you cant make em, buy them...that motto kinda works great with me, you know :)
I was waiting for an occasion to make it, but my baby (read Ro) was nagging me saying I never make cakes (ya rt!) for him. So finally I decided to give this mix a go and I was so happy when I saw the red colour appear when I mixed it all together. I forgot how amazingly easy ready mixes were. I even thought out loud, that I should go back to being a Betty Crocker ready mix fan. It makes life so much more easier especially if you have any intention of filling and frosting it. The cakes were ready in no time and they were so spongy and soft and doing the job of the original red velvet so beautifully.

Now what is red velvet without the traditional cream cheese frosting? So I finally put my cupcake decorating class to good use and for the first time my cream cheese frosting came out perfect...it was the right consistency to spread and to pipe, something I always managed to screw before I was shown how to do it. A lot of you wrote in asking for tips from that cupcake decorating class. This is one of the proportions I learned for the cream cheese frosting and hence forth I think I'm gonna follow it and be a happy gal.

I am not giving you the cake recipe simply because I didn't make it from scratch and the recipe that I have been following haven't been yielding good results. So here is the cream cheese frosting recipe.
Cream cheese- 175 gms
Mascarpone cheese- 175 gms
Icing sugar- 83 gms
Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Mix together all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and using a paddle attachment beat on low speed till they are all just combined and then on medium speed for about a minute or two max till you gain the required consistency. Don't over-beat it because once the icing becomes loose, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Trust me, I KNOW!
Once thing I learned while making a layer cake is to weigh the batter equally for a consistent cake size. That way you wont end up with 2 different sizes.
I also find that after doing a crumb coating for the cake, placing it in the refrigerator for about 15 to 20 minutes helps while doing the final layer on top.

28 comments:

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious icing beautiful cake Nisha

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Look at that awesome color. I have had the same disaster episodes with the coloring. It was always the color of rust. Looks like I should take the route you did. That is one beautiful cake.

Anonymous said...

This looks soo good.I m a red velvet fanatic...and completely agree with opening line of your post!

Suji said...

That look truly delectable Nisha...

Unknown said...

Looks too gud and nice..luv the frosting too

Satrupa said...

The cake looks utterly gorgeous ...... perfect color for the season !!

Binys Recipes said...

Wow...watta colour...love it...u have bee so frank abt the recipe...adore it...the icing sounds yummy...i think this is similar to one of my frens recipe who has a cake business,but she wud not tell it to anyone.....thx for the useful tips as well.....red velvet cake,surely looks beautful on this blog!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

love ur cake stand, very fancy and unlike all the similar ones I have seen so far. Oh my! redness struck me totally knocked out. Love ur cheating idea Nisha, coz it just plain simple hehe i have no chance to order from US but will to give it a go pretty soon! Very good idea to maintain the cake size :)

Sanchita said...

I love the first photo...also red and white combination looks simply gorgeous :)

Soma said...

What can I say.. Gorgeous is an understatement. does not matter about the cheating :-) .. no it looks really really good.

Sreelekha Sumesh said...

That looks really fab...

Priya Suresh said...

Gorgeous cake, fantastic cream cheese frosting..

JishasKitchen said...

WOW..YUMMMY...YOU ARE HAVING A NICE BLOG..

aipi said...

That looks beyond amazing!!

US Masala

Vineetha Sush said...

U r too good in baking..Wht a fab colour.I had this cake yesterday from a toddler grp which was a homemade one,let me try if i can get that recipe.Loved it !

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

fabulous colour....looks oh so good.

Suja Manoj said...

Mine was also a disaster..this looks so good,you said right this red beauty should there in every food blog:)

Monet said...

I agree! I have a very old red velvet cake recipe on my blog, but I need to do an update. Especially after seeing these AMAZING photos. Thank you for sharing. I hope your weekend is full of love and fun.

Azee said...

This looks absolutely gorgeous..

Padhu Sankar said...

Wow !! What a color ..Looks so irresistible!!

vrinda said...

Lovely, came out perfect in texture n color...

Unknown said...

what a recipe and what a color, looks like its piercing out of the screen :) too good and yummy

Unknown said...

WOW!! Stunning clicks! This cake looks soo pretty!

Akila said...

very lovely cake dear....

Sarah Naveen said...

Super Super Super pic Nisha!!!!
awesome color contrast too!!!...Cake looks so tempting..

Prerna@IndianSimmer said...

You are right. No food blog is complete without a red velvet cake! Love it and I like mine with cream cheese frosting as well!

indianspicemagic said...

Yummy .Nice pictures...

Sushma Mallya said...

This is such a beautiful cake,looks very attractive...