Meet Caroline King. She’s new around here, and we think you’re going to like her … as well as her treats. A baker of the truest kind (she’d carry her Kitchen Aid with her at all times, if she could), she’ll be reviewing recipes, filling us in on her latest culinary adventures and sharing her tips, ideas and expertise—and making your sweetheart’s red velvet the best they’ve had.

Today’s sweet: Red Raspberry Velvet Cake
Recipe from: Cooking Light

As a child, I remember my mom making a red velvet just once. (We are more of a pie family, so not a lot of cake-eating happened at our house.) I was totally mesmerized by its beauty—dark, red cake with glorious fluffy white frosting all over it. I had never made it or even enjoyed a bite of it myself until I ran into this recipe on Cooking Light a few years ago. Ever since I made it for a holiday party, it’s been on high request. It’s also perfect for Valentine’s Day, birthdays and any other feel-like-eating-cake day. The raspberry jam in the middle makes this one especially unique.

Here’s the recipe from Cooking Light. You’ll see my tips and additions in parentheses below.

Ingredients:

3 cups sifted cake flour (I used regular flour and it came out alright)
2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa (To me, Scharffen Berger is the best)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 large egg whites
2 cups fat-free buttermilk (I use regular milk with about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Let it sit for a bit until  the milk curdles like buttermilk. And that means one less thing to buy at the store!)
1 (1-oz). bottle red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

7 oz. “1/3-less-fat cream cheese” (Make sure this is softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar (I added a little bit of milk to make it less stiff)

Remaining ingredient:

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam (I tried jam with seeds; I like the added texture)

Preparation:

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray and line bottoms of pans with wax paper. (If you coat with a cooking spray that has flour mixed in, you don’t need the wax paper.)

Lightly spoon 3 cups cake flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, and next three ingredients. (Sift the cocoa if you have a way to do so; it will mix in much better.) Set aside.

Beat granulated sugar and butter with a mixer and medium speed for four minutes or until well blended. Add egg whites to sugar mixture; beat at medium speed 5 minutes or until fluffy. Combine buttermilk, food coloring, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until moistened.

Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350 degrees for 28 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (Be sure to rotate pans half-way through.) Cool in pans 10 minutes; then remove from pans. Cook cake layers completely on wire racks.

To prepare frosting, combine cheese and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer and high speed 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat at low speed just until blended. (Do not overbeat.)

To assemble cake, place once cake layer on a plate. Spread with jam; top with second cake layer. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

  

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Recipes, Sweet Caroline. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.