I have never really liked cakes with biscuits, perhaps because on many occasions they are served in restaurants and confectioneries with biscuits that are the most simple in terms of flavor and texture, in short, with nothing to contribute. Nevertheless, there are cakes that raise the concept of sponge cake to a unique levelas is the case with many american dessertsand those yes that I love, as it happens with this recipe.
Learn how to prepare the famous American Red Velvet cakewhich translates as Red velvet and whose name is motivated by the appearance that the cake that is made acquires. It’s a Biscuit what’s left moist and juicywith a slight sour touch that is wonderful and the sweet cheese topping It is what makes the combination authentic… scandal!
In the recipe I am teaching all the tricks to get the best texture, the best colorwhat is needed to cut the biscuits, how to fill them and any details to make it work for you very easy prepare this cake at home as it is great for celebrations and special occasions and its flavor leaves no one indifferent.
If you like cakes with sponge cake, don’t miss the fantastic Guiness dark beer and chocolate cake with cheese coverlike the carrot cake or carrot cake, since all of them have a delicious cheese cover. Also with biscuits is made the famous sacher cakebut this time the coverage is chocolate.
And if what you are looking for are juicy biscuits, my favorites are the banana and chocolate cake with walnuts (it is my favorite cake of all the ones I have published), the banana bread or banana bread, an irresistible moist sponge cake and the carrot and walnut cake.
Ingredients for the American Red Velvet cake (2 molds of 20 cm or 3 molds of 18 cm):
- For the biscuits:
- 130 gr of unsalted butter.
- 270 gr of white sugar.
- 2 eggs M.
- 300 gr of wheat flour.
- 1 tablespoon of pure cocoa powder.
- 1 dessert spoon of bicarbonate.
- Buttermilk: 230 gr of whole milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
- 1 dessert spoon of red gel colouring. I use Sugarflair’s extra red paste food coloring and it’s the only one I’ve tried that makes the color this intense.
- 1 dessert spoon of white wine vinegar.
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence or vanilla aroma.
- For the cheese topping:
- 150 g of unsalted butter.
- 200 gr of icing sugar.
- 600 grams of cream cheese.
Preparation, how to make the American Red Velvet Cake Recipe:
- Since we need the Butter is creamy or what is known as ointment, take it out of the fridge at least an hour or two beforehand. If you have not remembered to do it, there is a solution since you can cut it into cubes and half an hour is usually enough or, if you are in a hurry, put the container in the microwave for a few seconds until you see that it is no longer so solid but never melt.
- To prepare the buttermilk put the milk in a container or glass and add the lemon juice. Stir a little with a spoon and let it rest for about 10 minutes so that the milk is curdled, as this is the result we are looking for. It’s that simple to make at home and it goes great for the texture and flavor of pastry recipes like this one.
- Put a strainer over a bowl and pour over the flourthe baking soda and the pure cocoa powder and make them pass through it by holding it with one hand and tapping it gently with the other. This process is called sifting and it helps them fall without lumps or caking. Mix it up a bit with a spoon.
- Put in another bowl (wide, it will be the one in which we will finally gather everything) the Butter with the sugar and beat until smooth and fluffy. You can beat with a robot, with some manual rods or with some electric rods as I have done.
- Casca a egg, add it to the bowl where the butter is with the sugar and beat until it is well integrated. Do the same with the other egg.
- Pour into the container buttermilk the rest of the liquid ingredients: the Red colorantthe vinegar and the vanilla. Mix well with the help of a spoon.
- in the bowl of Butter and the sugar pour about half of the Dry ingredients and all the liquids and mix well but without beating to maintain the sponginess of the mixture. You can simply use some manual rods and mix everything by making circles.
- Finally add the rest of the Dry ingredients and mix until the appearance is homogeneous.
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC with top and bottom heat, without air or fan.
- Open each of the two molds, put baking paper on each base and close them again, this will make it easier to unmold later. I also like to spread the sides with a little ButterI usually do it with my own fingers or with a kitchen brush.
- Share the dough in the two molds and when the oven has reached temperature, place the molds on a rack in the oven at medium height and let them bake for about 25-30 minutes. When they take about 25 minutes, I usually do the toothpick test, which consists of inserting a toothpick into the cake, and if it comes out clean, it is ready, but if not, I leave it for a few more minutes. In this case it is possible that it comes out with a little red color, but with “clean” I mean that it does not come out with dough stuck, a sign that it lacks a bit of baking.
- Place the molds on a rack to cool slightly for 10 minutes and then remove the molds. biscuits carefully and wrap them separately with plastic wrap to retain moisture and make them very juicy.
- What I do to make them as smooth as possible is to place them upside down, so that the upper part that is usually more bulky is smoothed.
- Put them in the fridge immediately and let them rest for a minimum of 4 hours, although I like to prepare them the day before.
- To prepare the coverage remember we also need the creamy butter so take it out of the fridge ahead of time or do the microwave trick.
- Put it Butter in a bowl along with powdered sugar and mix well, either with a kneading robot (as I have used) or with manual or electric whisks.
- Then incorporate the cream cheese (Do it in 3 batches, adding 200 gr, mixing and then the following) and mix well until the result is homogeneous and fluffy, without cheese lumps.
- Take the biscuits out of the fridge and cut them in half. You could also leave them as they are and have a cake with only 2 layers but visually 4 is better and also by mixing more with the topping the combination is fantastic.
- To cut the biscuits the most convenient tool is a lyre like the one I am using, but you can also use a long knife and even a ham holder, and some people cut them with a well-tensioned thread.
- To fill them I place the biscuits as they are, that is, first the bottom part of one, spread with coverage and I place the top of that same cake on top and continue. To spread the coverage, the ideal is to use a spatula, although a kitchen tongue or similar can also be used.
- You have to spread the 3 intermediate layers and when all the cake is assembled, make a final layer on the outside. My recommendation is that for the intermediate layers you use half of the coverage and reserve the other half for the outside, although it really depends on the decoration you want to do. I have left it in the “rustic” mode, simply covering it but without perfecting the edges and others and letting the biscuits show through on the outside. You can also use a pastry bag to cover the inner and outer layers.
Time: 2 hours plus rest in the fridge
Difficulty: medium
Serve and taste:
Keep it stored in the fridge, if possible in a closed container so that it does not pick up other odors, and take it out at least 30 minutes before consuming it so that it is not cold. It keeps great for 3-4 days in the fridge and I’d say even longer, as it’s very juicy and has a hard time drying out if you keep it closed.
Enjoy the juiciness and moisture of the biscuitswith a sour point mixed with sweet that feels great, and that creamy and sweet layer of cheese that suits you so well. It is a combination of authentic… scandal!
Red Velvet Cake Recipe Variations:
The main variation is in the number of layers that it can carry, you can now bake the biscuits in 2 20 cm molds or in 3 15 cm molds and even more molds as long as they are smaller.
It is important that you use a suitable dye because if it is not powerful, the color will hardly be appreciated and it is undoubtedly one of the great attractions of this cake. I am very happy with the result of the dye that you can see in the photo above.
Tips:
Keep an eye on the biscuits in the oven. If they rise too much it is possible that your oven is hotter than indicated, in that case you can try to lower the temperature a little.