Red Velvet: the original recipe of the famous American cake
Red velvet is a very scenic cake of American origin and widespread throughout the world. The dessert is made up of layers of bright red pan di Spagna alternating with a cream cheese-based filling. Today I offer you the original recipe, perfect to prepare on the occasion of Valentine’s Day to amaze your sweetheart!
To make this dessert even more impressive you can prepare mini red velvet, in a single portion version, or a delicious red velvet cream tart.
Ingredients
For the dough (for 3 bases of 20 cm in diameter)
- 00 flour 250 g
- Butter 120 g
- Granulated sugar 240 g
- Eggs 3
- Vanilla 1 berry
- Cocoa 15 g
- Coloring red1 teaspoon
- Apple vinegarApple vinegar1 teaspoon
- Baking soda 1 teaspoon
- Salt to taste
For the cream cheese
- Philadelphia 275 g
- Mascarpone 275 g
- Fresh liquid cream 350 g
- Icing sugar 160 g
- Vanilla 1 berry
For the buttermilk
- Milk partially skimmed125 g
- Low-fat yogurt 125 g
- Lemon juice 1 teaspoon
Allergens
Cereals and derivatives
Milk
Eggs
Sulfur dioxide and sulphites
Procedure
For the buttermilk
To prepare red velvet, start by preparing the buttermilk. In a large bowl, combine the milk, yogurt and lemon juice, then mix the ingredients and let them rest for at least 15 – 20 minutes.
For the basics
Now you can focus on preparing the basics. Place the butter at room temperature together with the sugar in the bowl of a planetary mixer fitted with the whisk and mix everything until you obtain a soft and fluffy mixture: it will take about 10 minutes. Now add the eggs, one at a time, until they are perfectly incorporated, and continue mixing until you obtain a smooth cream.
Add the powdered coloring to the buttermilk and pour the mixture into the mixer.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour and bitter cocoa and add them, by spoonfuls, into the mixer, reducing the speed so as not to let the powders escape.
In another small bowl, combine the bicarbonate of soda, apple cider vinegar and salt and mix, add the fighting agent to the mixture in the planetary mixer. Turn it off and mix manually.
Butter and flour 3 springform molds of 20 cm in diameter each and pour 1/3 of the mixture obtained into them (about 350 g). You can also line them with release agent and baking paper. Cook each one in a ventilated oven at 160° for 15 – 20 minutes, or in a preheated static oven at 175° for 15 – 20 minutes.
Once the bases have been taken out of the oven, let them cool and level them well using a knife. Keep the cake scraps aside and blend them in a cutter: you will need the crumbs for the final decoration.
For the cream cheese
Now dedicate yourself to preparing the cream cheese. Sift the icing sugar and place all the cold ingredients from the refrigerator in the bowl of the mixer fitted with the whisk, turn on the machine and wait for the ingredients to blend and become of a rather compact consistency.
Place the cheese cream in a piping bag fitted with a smooth nozzle of 1 cm in diameter and place it in the refrigerator to harden for about 60 minutes.
Classic decoration
Place the first cake base on a serving plate, spread a layer of cheese cream on the surface and repeat the operation until the cake bases are finished.
With the leftover cream, cover the cake entirely and then decorate it by sprinkling the perimeter with the red crumbs kept aside.
Notes & advice
*The color pigmentation is due to the type and brand of food coloring you use. Gel, paste and powder dyes are more pigmented than liquid ones.
*If you have a ventilated oven, you can cook the three discs at the same time, otherwise I recommend taking a 24 cm diameter mold with rather high edges and then dividing the single base into 2 or 3 layers. If you were to choose the 24 cm cake tin method, you will have to cook the cake for at least 40 – 45 minutes at 175° in a preheated static oven.
*If you have some cream left over, you can create little roses on the surface or use it as a single decoration for each slice when you go to serve it.
Conservation
You can store Red velvet in the refrigerator for about 2 or 3 days closed in an airtight container. You can freeze the bases once cooked and cooled.
