Red Velvet Cake

Red velvet cake is a soft, spongy, melt-in-the mouth dessert. This decadent dessert is light on the palate. It gets flavor from the vanilla and cocoa powder but does not taste like a chocolate cake at all.

Traditionally, red velvet cake is iced with a French-style butter roux icing (also called ermine icing), which is very light and fluffy, but time-consuming to prepare. Cream cheese frosting and buttercream frosting are variations which have increased in popularity. I always use the White Chocolate Mousse to layer and frost my cake.

The main cake ingredients are flour, butter, buttermilk, and sugar. The red color comes from either beets or food coloring. These ingredients combine to create a red velvet cake.

Please don’t get intimidated by the long recipe, the actual cake is very simple but you need to make sure every step is followed in this recipe. Hence, the detailed explanation.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30-35 minutes

Serves: 6-8 people

Ingredients	Quantity	Quantity for Eggless
Flour	1 ½ cup	½ cup
Corn starch	1 tbsp	1 tbsp
Butter	115 gms	115 gms
Sugar	1 cup	1 cup
Baking Soda	¼ tsp	¼ tsp
Butter milk	½  cup	½ cup
Vinegar	1 tbsp	1 tbsp
Cocoa Powder	1 tbsp	1 tbsp
Egg	1	1 tbsp oil+ 2 tbsp water
Egg replacer powder/Milk powder	-	1 ½ tbsp/1 tbsp
Vanilla extract	¼ tsp	¼ tsp
Red food coloring	¼ tsp	¼ tsp
Milk (optional)	¼ cup	¼ cup

Method

Sift together flour, corn starch and cocoa powder. Roughly divide into 3 parts.

Mix buttermilk and food color. Roughly divide into 3 parts.

In a large bowl cream* together butter and sugar using a hand blender until sugar is well combined. Add egg and beat at low speed till it is incorporated.

Pre heat the oven/microwave at 180°C for 10 minutes.

Add 1 part of buttermilk and 1 part of sifted flour. Beat using the blender once combined add another part. Blend the ingredients repeating the process. Add milk little at a time at this stage if you feel the batter is too dry.

Mix together vinegar and baking soda, add to the batter, add vanilla extract and combine well. The batter should be the same color throughout and it should not have any streaks.

Bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. A few crumbs are okay but it should not have batter on it. If you are checking the internal temperature of the cake it should be between 93°C to 95°C maximum.

Eggless version:

Sift together flour, corn starch and cocoa powder. Roughly divide into 3 parts.

Mix buttermilk and food color. Roughly divide into 3 parts.

In a large bowl cream* together butter and sugar using a hand blender until well combined.

Pre heat the oven/microwave at 180°C for 10 minutes.

Add 1 part of buttermilk and 1 part of sifted flour. Beat using the blender once combined add another part. Blend the ingredients repeating the process. Add egg replacer powder/milk powder and mix well.

In a small bowl beat 1 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp water till frothy and add to the batter. Add milk little at a time at this stage if you feel the batter is too dry.

Mix together vinegar and baking soda, add to the batter, add vanilla extract and combine well. The batter should be the same color throughout and it should not have any streaks.

Bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. A few crumbs are okay but it should not have batter on it. If you are checking the internal temperature of the cake it should be between 93°C to 95°C maximum.

Points to remember:

• For the cake shown above I have used White Chocolate Mousse as in between the layers. I have used the same mousse for frosting and then sprinkled the crumbs of the cake on top to make it look like a pillow.
• It is very important to use an apron while baking this cake as the food color might stain your clothes. Once you add food color to buttermilk mix very carefully. You could use a pair of disposable glove if you don’t like the color on your hands.
• Once you add the vinegar and baking soda to your cake the batter looks like its curdling, but you need not worry the reaction of these two ingredients result in a very spongy cake.
• Whenever you make a cake batter which requires you to use a hand blender use a large deep bowl to avoid splatter.
• If using the White Chocolate Mousse for frosting the cake as shown in the picture below you have to refrigerate the mousse before piping it. Transfer the mousse into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle of your choice and refrigerate for 15 20 minutes or until the mousse is firm to pipe. 

Another way of decorating the cake

Carrot Cake

A very moist, healthy, cake made from grated carrots and whole wheat flour. The best part is, it can be made eggless or with eggs. This cake can be served with a sweet, yet light carrot glaze.

Carrot is a cool season crop and when grown at 15°C to 20°C will develop a good color. Therefore it is more grown in hilly areas and areas where the temperature goes down below 20°C in winters. 

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Serves: 6-8 people

Ingredients	Quantity	Quantity for Eggless
Carrots grated	2 cups	2 cups
Eggs	3	-
Sugar	½ cup+2 tbsp	½ cup+2 tbsp
Whole Wheat flour	¾   cup	¾   cup
Cinnamon Powder	½  tsp	½  tsp
Salt	a pinch	a pinch
Baking Soda	½  tsp	½  tsp
Baking Powder	¼ tsp	¼ tsp
Oil	2 tbsp	5 tbsp
Curds	-	3 tbsp
Vanilla essence(optional)	few drops	few drops

Method

Sift together all dry ingredients like flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder 3 times.

Grease 8 inch cake tin using oil and line the base with parchment paper.

Pre heat oven at 180°C for 10 minutes.

Beat together eggs and sugar using a hand blender till sugar dissolves.

Add carrots to the bowl and mix well. Add all dry ingredients and mix using a spatula. 

Add oil and vanilla essence. Mix together. The cake should be at pouring consistency.

Pour the batter in the cake tin and place the cake on the middle rack. Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Eggless version:

Sift together all dry ingredients like flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder 3 times.

Grease 8 inch cake tin using oil and line the base with parchment paper.

Pre heat oven at 170°C for 10 minutes.

Coarsely powder sugar in a blender. Whisk together oil and curds. Add sugar, whisk till sugar is completely dissolved.

Add carrots to the bowl and mix well. Add all dry ingredients and vanilla essence, mix using a spatula. Add few teaspoons of milk if you feel the cake batter is too dry. The cake should be at pouring consistency.

Pour the batter in the cake tin and place the cake on the middle rack. Bake at 170°C for 40-50 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the tin for 30 minutes. Run a knife around the cake to separate any sticking on the edges. To demold the cake, it with cake board or a plate and flip the cake on it. Cake cooling rack works best.

For Glaze:

Ingredients	Quantity
Carrot juice	5 tbsp
Icing sugar	4 tbsp
Orange Juice (optional)	2 tbsp
Gelatin  (optional)	½  tsp

Method

Soak gelatin in 2 tbsp of water. Mix together carrot juice, orange juice and icing sugar in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil on high heat and then simmer for 5 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture, mix well and boil for 2-3 minutes. You can strain the mixture if you feel the glaze is lumpy.

Cool down to room temperature and then pour over the cake. Keep the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes for the glaze to set.

You can serve this with vanilla ice-cream.

Points to remember:

·        Let the cake cool down completely before adding any icing or glaze.

·        The thickness of the glaze really depends on your liking. If you like a thicker glaze you can reduce on the flame.