Cranberries the crowning glory on red velvet cake
I had never heard of red velvet cake until a trip to the United States a long time ago. I was in Maine on vacation, and was staying in a bed and breakfast. One day, I ordered a piece of perfectly moist red velvet cake for dessert — and I never looked back.
Since then, I’ve developed my own recipe, which was so popular when it was first published in French in 2007 that supermarkets across Quebec sold out of red food colouring! The cake was so good that I went on to create recipes for red velvet cupcakes, doughnuts, a yule log and even red velvet brownies. Red velvet has become so popular that I developed a ready-made cake, elegantly decorated with frosted cranberries, that’s available at grocery stores in Quebec. Whether you’re whipping it up from scratch, or buying it to go, red velvet is the ultimate showstopping holiday dessert.
Red Velvet Cake with Frosted Cranberries
Ricardo Tested Frosted Cranberries 1 egg white 1/2 cup (55 g) fresh cranberries Sugar, for coating Cake 2-1/4 cups (340 g) unbleached all-purpose flour 2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk 1/4 cup (60 ml) hot coffee 3 tbsp (45 ml) liquid, red food colouring 2 tsp (10 ml) white vinegar 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract 2 eggs 1-1/2 cups (315 g) sugar 3/4 cup (180 ml) vegetable oil Cream Cheese Whipped Cream 4 oz (115 g) cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup (55 g) sugar 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped 3/4 cup (180 ml) 35 per cent cream
Cream Cheese Icing 6 oz (170 g) cream cheese, softened 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened 2 cups (260 g) icing sugar
Frosted Cranberries
In a bowl, lightly whisk the egg white. Place the sugar in a second bowl.
With a small pastry brush, cover the cranberries one at a time with the egg white, letting the excess drip off.
Roll each one in the sugar to coat well and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Let dry for 12 hours at room temperature in a dry spot.
The frosted cranberries will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days.
Cake
With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Butter the sides of two 8-inch (20 cm) springform pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, hot coffee, food colouring, vinegar and vanilla extract.
In a third bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. With the mixer running, add the oil in a steady stream. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, and beat until smooth. Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans.
Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. Unmould and let cool completely.
Cut off the rounded top of each cake to make them as flat as possible. With your fingers, finely crumble the removed cake tops over a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Bake the cake crumbs for 15 minutes. Let cool completely. In a food processor, blend the cake crumbs until they are the texture of bread crumbs. Set aside. Cream Cheese Whipped Cream
In a bowl, beat the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla seeds until the sugar has dissolved.
Gradually add the cream and whisk until soft peaks form. Do not overbeat or the mixture may become gritty. Set aside. Cream Cheese Icing
In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the icing sugar and beat until the icing is smooth and creamy. Set aside. Assembly
Cut each cake in half horizontally to have a total of 4 cake layers.
Top three of the cake layers with the cream cheese whipped cream and stack them on top of each other. Add the fourth cake layer and cover the top and sides of the cake with the cream cheese icing.
Sprinkle the cake bread crumbs around the outer edges of the top of the cake to form a circular band. Garnish the cake with the frosted cranberries.