Red Velvet Cake and Happy New Year!
As the year fades, good resolutions, stock of situations, dreams for 2010 come to my mind. And every year I’m an Italian Bridget Jones, trying to cope with things to do and things not to do. Every year, the same things. Is it useless or not?! So, to be clear and transparent, I’ll let you know my good resolutions for this upcoming year. Just 5, so it will be easier to fulfill them!
- go to gym and swimming pool more often (where have I already heard it?!)
- follow a regular and healthy diet, favouring light and organic food (again, I think I have already read or written this somewhere)
- give myself up to my personal growth: I mean, intellectual and cultural growth, made up with good readings and acquaintances, not a body growth, as it would be in declared contrast with good resolution #2;
- travel, as much as I can!
- form functional relationship with responsible adult (as written in Bridget Jones’s Diary. Maybe this upcoming 2010 will gift me with a Mark Darcy, won’t it? it would be ok even with a pullover with reindeer, no problem at all!).
I wanna wish you and wish me an amazing New Year and I want to gift you with my Red Velvet Cake, so that 2010 would be as white, peaceful and serene as the outside frosting, so passionate and joyful as the inner cake and so velvety and smooth as the dough!
I’ve used this recipe, with some changes.
Ingredients for the dough:
- flour, 250 gr
- salt, 1/2 teaspoon
- cocoa powder, 20 gr
- softened butter, 110 gr
- granulated sugar, 300 gr
- eggs, 3
- vanilla pod, 1
- half skinned milk, 125 ml
- white yogurt, 125 ml
- liquid red food colouring, 4 tablespoons
- white vinegard, 1 tablespoon
- baking powder, 1 tablespoons
Ingredients for the frosting:
- mascarpone cheese, 500 gr
- whipping cream, 350 ml
- icing sugar, 115 gr
- lemon juice, 1 tablespoons
- dessiccated coconut flakes
The following instructions are copied and pasted from the original post published on Joy of baking, with just a few changes due to different ingredients.
Preheat oven to 175°C. Butter and flour two 23 cm round cake pans. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl sift together flour, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.
In bowl beat the butter until soft, add sugar and vanilla seeds scraped from the pod with a knife: beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Whisk yogurt, milk and the red food colouring.
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking powder. 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. Bake in 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 freezer for at least an hour. (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier: I didn’t know this procedure but it is absolutelu amazing!)
Cream Cheese Frosting: In your food processor, process the mascarpone cheese until smooth with some lemon juice. Add icing sugar and process until smooth. Transfer this mixture to a large mixing bowl.
Then, in the bowl of your electric mixer whip the cream until stiff peaks form. With a large spatula, gently but quickly fold a little of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream, in two stages.
Assemble: 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. Can garnish the cake with sweetened or unsweetened coconut.
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