To go along with the Butterscotch Pudding Tarts I made for my friend Dorothy and her brother and their families, I also made a second recipe from the same cookbook: the Red Hot Velvet Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream. I have a good reason for not trying the cake recipe before now. I absolutely love the red velvet cake I've been making for years and I'm also a strong believer that red velvet cake should come with cream cheese frosting (I always use this frosting recipe). But I also believe that the Baked guys know their layer cakes, so I was happy to try their modern take on red velvet.
To make the cake batter, you beat softened butter with shortening; add sugar; incorporate eggs; alternately add the sifted dry ingredients (cake flour and salt) and liquid ingredients (cocoa and red food coloring mixed with boiling water and cooled, then combined with buttermilk and vanilla); and stir in baking soda that has been dissolved in vinegar. You divide the batter between three 8-inch pans and bake.
The frosting for this cake is the standard Baked cooked buttercream: you cook flour, sugar, milk, and cream until thickened; beat until cool; and incorporate butter. Because the buttercream is flavored with vanilla extract and cinnamon it was a beige-light tan color. I leveled the cooled cake layers, filled and frosted the cake, and garnished it with Red Hots candies.
This cake was a hit with my tasters. My favorite part was the frosting, which was luscious as always; I was pleasantly surprised by the cinnamon flavor, which was unusual and satisfying without being too spicy. The cake was moist and springy, but I thought it was just okay -- it didn't have much flavor, and the texture was not particularly fine. I used one tablespoon of red liquid food coloring for the cake, and I liked the earthy red shade of the finished product.
As much as I enjoyed the cinnamon buttercream, I'm not ready to abandon the classic combination of red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting for this modern makeover.
Recipe: "Red Hot Velvet Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream" from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at delish.com.
To make the cake batter, you beat softened butter with shortening; add sugar; incorporate eggs; alternately add the sifted dry ingredients (cake flour and salt) and liquid ingredients (cocoa and red food coloring mixed with boiling water and cooled, then combined with buttermilk and vanilla); and stir in baking soda that has been dissolved in vinegar. You divide the batter between three 8-inch pans and bake.
As much as I enjoyed the cinnamon buttercream, I'm not ready to abandon the classic combination of red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting for this modern makeover.
Recipe: "Red Hot Velvet Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream" from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at delish.com.
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