Valentine's Day Special - Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hiii...
So its Valentine's day again and this time its a Sunday.. This day celebrates 'Love' so I think on this day each one of us should do the things we love with the person we love..Yes I know its getting too lovey-dovey here!!
Well since 'Red' is the color of Love, there is nothing more perfect than surprising your loved one/ones with a gorgeous and delicious 'RED VELVET CAKE' with some equally mouth watering 'Cream Cheese Frosting' .
Without wasting any further time and I will jump to the recipe.. (I have adopted this from my favourite Stephenie's Joy of Baking)

RED VELVET CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Makes: A two layer 9 inches Cake

Ingredients

Red Velvet Cake:

2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour (I made my own cake flour - one cup sifted cake flour (100 grams) can be substituted with 3/4 cup (85 grams) sifted all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch.)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (15 grams) regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk

2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:

100 grams cream cheese, room temperature

100 grams of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature (If you cannot find Mascarpone then just double the amount of Cream Cheese)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

70 grams  confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted

200ml cups cold heavy whipping cream


Procedure

1. In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

Cake Batter Preparations

2. In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

3. In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

Red Food Coloring

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

Batter ready for baking

5. In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. (I baked 1 cake at a time, so I took half of the required vinegar and half of the required baking soda and mixed it and folded it quickly to half the batter, once one of the cakes were baked I did this step for the rest of the batter. If your oven can hold both cakes together then you can do this step once for the entire batter)

6. Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Cooling off the Cake

7. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or overnight). (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

Whipping the cream

8. Cream Cheese Frosting: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until smooth.

Starting with Frosting

9. In another bowl, take the heavy cream and place the bowl over a ice bath and whip until peaks. Fold this cream with the cheese mixture. Add more sugar or cream as needed to get the right consistency.

Frosting the cake completely

10. Assemble: Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting.  Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish the cake with cake crumbles or chocolate shavings (I used Chocolate Shavings). Serve!

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and garnished with Chocolate Shavings

Wishing all of you a very very HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! Keep Loving!

The Perfect Simple Vanilla Tea Time Cake

Plain Vanilla Cake

For all those who know me also know my obsession with Baking.Its something which gives me immense pleasure.Its like watching a thriller movie where you can't wait for the climax.Well N (hubby) read somewhere that Baking a cake is quite similar to giving birth.Its because you are creating something yourself.I don't know how it is to give birth to a child but yes if Baking is equivalent then I will definitely choose the latter.That's because I get to have some cake too.
I have tried my hands at quite a variety of cakes,muffins and cheesecakes. From a decadent Chocolate cake, to a Banana Cake, some Carrot Muffins and also a Dulce-De-Leche Cheesecake but somehow whenever I tried to bake a Plain and Simple Vanilla Cake it never turned out perfect. Yes and everytime I had been really disappointed.

Ingredients

I think someone who is passionate about Baking should first get the Basic Plain Cake right, and that is what was not happening for me. But as they say 'You should never stop trying' ,so I again searched for tips and recipes and  finally zeroed in on the Vanilla Cake by Stephanie from 'Joy of Baking' and guess what THIS TIME I NAILED IT!! And Boy Was I happy or Was I Happy!!
Well this one's a No Fancy Plain Vanilla Cake but this can be used as the perfect base for any decorated cake. You can cover it with any kind of icing you want and make it look gorgeous. Just remember at the end of the day however good looking your food is the basic rule is that it HAS TO TASTE GOOD. So very proudly I present to you THE PERFECT VANILLA CAKE.
Note: Though this is one of the simplest cakes ever but the basic thing is what you do and for how long you do is really very important. And probably that is what I wasn't getting right all my previous times. So please note the procedure carefully!! Thanks!

PLAIN VANILLA TEA TIME CAKE

Makes: Two 9 inch cakes

Beating the Butter and Sugar

Ingredients:

3 cups (345 grams) sifted all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated white sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup (240 ml) room temperature milk

Please Note that the Ingredients should surely be at ROOM TEMPERATURE

Preparing the Cake Batter

Procedure:

1. In a bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, (or with a hand mixer) beat the butter until soft and creamy (about 1-2 minutes).

3. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes). DONOT OVERBEAT.

4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

5. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

6. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture (in three additions) and milk (in two additions), beginning and ending with the flour.

Preparing the Cake Pan

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) with rack in center of oven. Butter or spray with a non-stick vegetable spray, two 9-inch x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) cake pans. Then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper, then spray the paper and flour the pans.

8. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.

9. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in center. 

Just Baked

10. Place the cakes on a wire rack to cool, in their pans, for about 10 minutes. Then invert the cakes onto a greased rack.

11. Remove the parchment or wax paper and re-invert cakes so that tops are right side up.

12. If you are planning to frost the cake then make sure it has cooled completely, infact you can even chill it for a while in the refrigerator for best results.

When its cake Two is always better than One!! Plain Vanilla Cakes

The Joy of Baking Muffins - Raisin and Choco-chip Vanilla Muffins

RAISIN AND CHOCO-CHIP VANILLA MUFFINS

Ingredients

Who doesn't love Muffins...The very smell of one makes me drool..And when I started Baking  I realised that baking 'Muffins' was one of the easiest things to do..extremely simple, no frills and can be done without even using an electric or a hand mixer..What now, me being 'The Lazy Cook', 'Muffins' became my favourite things to bake!

When it comes to baking I can close my eyes and trust Stephanie's (from Joy of Baking) recipes. They are all full proof and have never let me down till now!! I have adopted her recipe for Choco-chip Muffins here though the quantities vary according to my requirement. I wanted Choco-chips but strangely they were out of stock from every possible grocery store nearby so I have used chopped dark chocolate instead and even added some dark raisins!! 

RAISIN AND CHOCO-CHIP VANILLA MUFFINS 

Mixing the Dry Ingredients

Makes: 20 Muffins


Ingredients

200gms unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 medium eggs

280ml milk (whole or reduced fat)

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

460gms all-purpose flour/Maida

270gms  granulated white sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

120gms chocolate chips/chopped chocolate

150gms Raisins

Wet Ingredients

Cinnamon Sugar Topping: (Optional)
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Procedure

Folding the Ingredients together

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and place oven rack in the center of the oven.
2. Butter, or line with paper liners, 12 muffin cups.
3. In a large bowl whisk together all the 'Dry Ingredients' the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips and raisins.
4. In another bowl whisk together the 'Wet Ingredients' the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.

Filling up the Moulds

5. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon fold the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are moistened and combined. (Do not over mix or you will have tough muffins.)
6. Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop.
7. In a small bowl combine the topping ingredients and then sprinkle a little topping on each muffin.

Just out of the Oven

8. Place in the oven and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

9. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5-10 minutes before removing from pan. Can be covered and stored at room temperature for a few days or they can be frozen.

10. Slightly warm it up just before serving.

Cooling over the Wire Rack

Next on my list is Pineapple and Orange Muffins or Carrot Muffins...Hope to catch you soon with any one in my hand!! Thanks for taking out time to read! Byee!