December 16, 2018

Red velvet cake with white chocolate ganache frosting

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Red velvet cake with white chocolate ganache frosting

Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 35 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Servings 8 slices

Ingredients
  

For the cake

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tbsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • pinch salt
  • 1.5 cups castor sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp warm water
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • red food colouring*
  • 1 tbsp vinegar

For the white chocolate ganache frosting

  • 100 g white chocolate
  • 200 g whipping cream

Instructions
 

For the cake

  • Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 3 8-inch cake tins with parchment paper and grease with butter
  • In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt.  
  • Give the dry ingredients a light whisk.
  • Add the sugar, eggs, buttermilk, warm water, oil, vanilla essence and red food colouring to the dry ingredients.
  • Using a hand mixer, or a whisker, mix together all ingredients, until well combined.
  • Add vinegar in the last step and combine well.
  • Divide and pour the batter evenly in the 3 cake tins.
  • Bake for 30-35 minutes, and check by seeing if a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
  • Let the cakes cool in the cake tins for 10 minutes. Demould. Then let them cool completely at room temperature (at least 30 minutes) before frosting. 

For the frosting

  • Chop the white chocolate roughly and add it in a large bowl.
  • Place the whipping cream on a saucepan, and heat until you see bubbles. (don't boil!)
  • As soon as you see bubbles forming, turn off the heat, and pour the cream over the chopped chocolates.
  • Cover the bowl for 1 minute.
  • After 1 minute, mix together the chocolate and cream, until smooth*
  • Let it cool completely at room temperature, until it thickens. 
  • Before whipping the ganache, put the bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes. 
  • Using a hand mixer, whip the ganache, using it has a frosting consistency and almost doubles in volume. This will take 5-7 minutes. 

For assembling

  • Slice the top of the cakes to get even layers*
  • Put the frosting in a piping bag, and pipe a layer of frosting between each layer. 
  • Finish with a crumb coat, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  • Apply another layer of frosting, and using a bench scraper, even out the frosting. 

Notes

*you can either use gel food colouring or food powder colours. I used a red food powder colour, and added 1/4 tsp, since it gives a strong colour in the smallest amount. Add the food colouring according to the intensity of your food colouring.
*if you wish to make just the cake, without any frosting, half the recipe. 
*buttermilk here was made by adding 1/2 cup for curd with 1/4 cup milk. If you do not have these ingredients on hand, add 1 tbsp vinegar to 3/4 cup milk, and let it sit for 5 minutes before using.

This red velvet cake recipe is so versatile: use it for layered cakes, solo cakes and even cupcakes!

You can either make it with or without the frosting, and it’ll still taste so good!

I also decorated this with a white chocolate drip, coloured pink, the recipe for which you can find here.

Some people wonder what makes red velvet different from vanilla or chocolate, except its typical red colour.

Red velvet cake has relatively less amount of cocoa powder in it, thus the chocolate flavour is rather mild. Red velvet cake uses buttermilk, and the vinegar gives it its slight acidic flavour

To sum it up, red velvet cake is just amazing, and a must-have in every baker’s try-list

 

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