RED is romance, cupids and hearts. RED is violence and anger, passion and warfare. RED is power and attention, sensual and steamy. RED stirs to action and stirs up emotions. Who isn’t inspired by RED, pounding heart, racing pulse; lust and danger. Or love, celebration, joy?
But RED is also sweet and saucy, cherry and raspberry, candy canes and Valentines. Tangy cranberries and pomegranates red as rubies, rhubarb and strawberries melting into pink. Add a splash of color, bright and warm.
Red Velvet cakes and cupcakes have been all the rage for a quite a while. Recipes vary as much as the color, from a pinky-purple to a deep garnet red to a woody brown, the name itself invoking images of slinky, body-hugging gowns or kissable, sensuous lips. It’s origin is besides the point; the Red Velvet Cake is a gorgeous, delectable chocolate cake (who can have too many recipes?), dressed up in any number of lighter or richer frostings it can go from casual snack to luscious, elegant dessert.
My brother Michael has been raving about his Red Velvet Cake for a number of years now; he makes it for every special occasion, including his own birthday, pairing it with a deep, dark, rich chocolate ganache frosting. Wicked!
I once made a Red Velvet cake, but when I got to the part where it said “add ¼ cup red food coloring”, I balked! No way! Didn’t they tell us ages and ages ago not even to eat red M & M’s because the red dye would kill you? So my cake turned simply into a dark chocolate buttermilk cake.
But Michael’s recipe uses pickled beet juice, strange for sure, but he assured me that it only adds that deep, ruby red color, not the pickled beet flavor.
Visiting him last week, I decided to make his Red Velvet Chocolate Cake with the Chocolate Ganache Frosting as a special treat for him. It was truly a snap to put together and, although I didn’t really see a red color in the finished cake, it was beautiful, dark and moist yet surprisingly light, the frosting sinfully thick and rich and bittersweet.
(sorry for the yellow tinge to the photos! He must have yellow lighting!)
CHOCOLATE RED VELVET CAKE
From Joan Nathan’s The New American Cooking
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
½ cup water
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large or extra-large eggs
1 Tbs vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 ½ tsps baking soda
2 Tbs pickled beet juice or red wine vinegar
1 ½ cups flour + ½ cup cake flour (or I simply used 2 cups all-purpose) flour total
½ cup cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
Preheat the oven to 375°F
Grease two 9-inch round cake pans.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove pan from the heat, stir in water and cocoa powder until blended and smooth. Allow to cool.
Beat the eggs with an electric mixer. Add vanilla, buttermilk, baking soda and beet juice or vinegar. Stir well.
Sift together the flours, cornstarch, salt and sugar. Add this to the egg mixture and blend. Add the butter/cocoa mixture and blend thoroughly on low speed.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until set in the center.
Cool for a few minutes then turn out onto racks to cool completely before frosting.
CHOCOLATE GANACHE FROSTING
From Joan Nathan’s The New American Cooking
1 cup heavy cream
½ Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs sugar
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tsps vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
Heat the cream, butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring continuously, until it is hot and bubbly.
Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring slowly until smooth and silky. Add the vanilla and salt. Taste and adjust the sweetness to taste.
Cool and then frost. If, as I found, it is too liquid to frost, put it in the refrigerator until it is spreading consistency. After the cake is frosted and it sits to set, this ganache turns into a thick, creamy perfect frosting.
With ice cream it is the best!We ate this cake over several days, but as it is a light, less dense cake than I usually make (here and here) it did start to turn a bit stale sooner than one of my moister chocolate cakes does.
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