My favorite Red Velvet Recipe

It can be hard to find a really good red velvet recipe that balances the hint of chocolate, touch of vanilla and the creamy tang of buttermilk but after playing around with a few recipes and using my friends and workmates as guinea pigs I now have my recipe down pat. This one is popular with both my cake and Cakepop customers.  Please enjoy....

In a bowl sift the following ingredients twice:
125g plain flour
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10g of the best cocoa powder you can afford.

The quality of the cocoa powder will affect the overall colour of the finished cake. Pure cocoa triggers a chemical reaction with the vinegar added in the last step and actually deepens the red tine of the cake naturally meaning you can use less food colouring. This does not mean you can't use your everyday baking cocoa, you just need to add a little more red when mixing.

In a measuring jug combine the following ingredients mixing well to evenly distribute the colour:

130ml Buttermilk
1 tablespoon red liquid food colour (Queen Pillarbox Red is best).

If you don't wish to use the food colour, substitute 2 tablespoons natural beetroot juice (omit 1 tablespoon of the buttermilk) or 1 tablespoon of pomegranate syrup. Both of the will change the colour slightly from a rich red to burgundy shade. They are great for those with sensitivity to artificial colours.

Mixing the cake is best done in a bench top mixer but you can use a hand held electric mixer.

In your mixer cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
57g unsalted butter at room temp.
150g white sugar (not caster sugar)

When fluffy add 1 large egg and 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Beat for 2 minutes on medium.
Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, mix until fully combined. Add 1/3 of the buttermilk mixture, mix well to combine then repeat this process twice with the remaining dry and wet ingredients. Once combine set your mixer on high for 2 minutes.

In a small bowl or cup stir 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda into 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar. Add to the mixer and combine for a further two minutes.

This mix will make one 8"x 3 inch cake or 14 medium sized cupcakes.

Place in a preheated oven at 175 degrees C.
Cupcakes 18-23 minutes
Cake 28-35 minutes - test with a skewer.

This mixture will dome slightly on cupcakes but remains fairly even on a cake.

If you have the patience allow it too cool then serve with the buttercream,ice cream or frosting of your choice. Lemon cream cheese buttercream is a personal favorite!

Enjoy
xoxo
Sugarpie

Elegant Back and White wedding

On Saturday I had the pleasure of both styling and creating an amazing cake for Emma and Aaron's wedding. The brief was timeless elegance with the lovely heritage surroundings of Gipps Restaurant as the backdrop.

As Emma's stunning dress was a fitted lace creation reminiscent of the 1940's it was decided that a black and white classic clean look highlighted with deep red roses was the perfect plan.

So here are a few shots of the lovely tables.

And then came the cake.

The Centre piece cake was a 2 tier Raspberry and white chocolate mud cake with a double height top tier. Here are a few pics of the making of the cake. the top tier was wrapped in Sugarveil lace highlighted with edible pearls. The base tier was a black and white chevron pattern, gift box styles cake. The cake was topped with a floral bouquet replicating the look of the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets. White Sugar roses, rosemary sprigs, fresh red tea roses and diamantes created a dramatic top to the white cake.

 The cake was surrounded by tiers of cupcakes featuring piped Butter cream roses.

This was a cake of firsts for me - first chevron, first sugarveil and first piped roses! I am so in love with sugarveil and I can't wait to use it again!

 

I wish Emma and Aaron all the best and a long and happy life together.

xoxo

Sugarpie.