Claire's Crazy Cakes - Chapter 84 - The Red Velvet Experiment- part 1

So, although baking has not yet taken place, I feel like the planning of this cake is super important. I've been thinking about it in my sleep! Our youngest, enters his teens on Sunday, officially making @zakludick and I the parents of 3 teens 😱😱

Anyway, @matthew-williams was very clear that he was grown up now and didn't want a themed cake, so we sat and cuddled under the blanket (luckily for me, he is such a cuddly and affectionate child) , trying to figure out what I should bake for him. I was just going to do a chocolate cake, because it's easy, tbh, but then I came across some pictures, video tutorials and recipes for red velvet cake and Matthew and I were both sold on the idea of a Red Velvet Oreo Cake!

Red velvet seems simple enough, or so I thought. No one uses beetroot anymore, but there are definitely elements I've never worked with that make this cake sound like a chemistry test!

Apparently the vinegar and bicarb (yes, I'm putting vinegar in a cake) have a reaction that causes bubbles, making the sponge light and fluffy.

I am going to try a three tier cake which will hopefully look something like this:

The purpose of this post, really, is to get the recipe down so I can follow it later this week.

I'll be using elements from these Youtubers and hoping my cake turns out as good as theirs!

So, so far, I can surmise that the recipe will go something like this (I may change things up as I go, but I'm using this as a starting point):

Credit for recipe: Chelsweets
Tips:

1. Properly measure the flour(spoon into the cup and then measure and level
2. Ingredients at room temperature mix together better, so take refrigerated items out of the fridge to reach the right temperature
3. Use red gel to colour to achieve a dark, deep, and beautiful shade of red
   4.Level your room temperature cake layers with a serrated knife to make them easier to stack. Use what you cut of to crumb and use as decoration later - put in the fridge in the meanwhile.
4. Chill your cake layers in the fridge for about an hour. It makes them much easier to stack and ice!

Tools:
3 x 26 cm springform tins
Baking paper
Spray and cook
Something heavy for crushing Oreos - (a wine bottle?)
A fork
Tablespoons
a teaspoon
A large mixing spoon
An electric beater
Piping bag and French tip nozzle
Preheat the oven to 180 ° Celsius

Ingredients for the Cake:
1 cup oil
1 1/2 cups of buttermilk
3 large eggs
vanilla essence
1 tsp white vinegar
red gel food colouring
2 1/2 cups castor sugar
3 cups flour
2 tbspoons cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine salt
Oreos for between layers and for decorating

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 1/2 cups of butter (350g)
1 whole tub cream cheese
vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
7 cups icing sugar
Whipping cream

Method: Red Velvet Cake

1. preheat oven to 180 ° Celsius
2. Line and grease 3 baking tins (make sure they're all the same size)
3. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup oil, 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, 3 large eggs, vanilla essence, white vinegar and a generous amount of red food colouring, mix until combined and evenly coloured
4. Add 2 1/2 cups castor sugar and whisk on high for 30 seconds to dissolve sugar
5. mix in 3 cups of flour, 2 tbsp cocoa , 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda and one tsp salt. DO NOT OVERMIX!!
6. divide batter equally between the 3 prepared baking tins
7. Bake for 30 minutes
8. Remove pans from ove and allow cakes to cool in the tins for about 15 minutes
9. Gently flip the cakes out onto a wire rack for further cooling
10. place in fridge for about an hour (cakes must be cooled naturally to room temperature before placing in the fridge). This makes them easier to ice and stack
11. Level the cake layers with a serrated knife
12. Crumble the tops you cut off and set aside/ refrigerate for decorating later

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. beat 350g butter and the tub of cream cheese on medium for 30 seconds
2. add 1 tbsp vanilla essence and 1/2 teaspoon salt/ Beat on low till combined
3. slowly mix in the 8 cups of icing sugar and add little bits of cream to make mixing easier.
4. If it's too thick, we can add cream, if its to thin, add icing sugar
5. cover with plastic and refrigerate for an hour

Red Velvet Oreo Assembly

1. stack and frost the cake layers on a cake board, using a good dab of icing on the board to help the cake stick to the board
2. Add even layers of cream cheese icing and crushed Oreos between layers
3. add a thin coat of icing to cover the whole cake (crumb coat) and refrigerate. till firm to the touch
4. add a second layer of cake frosting and smooth
5. carefully press the red velvet crumbs along the bottom of the cake, using your hand
6. place the remaining icing into a piping bag (before you do this you can divide the icing and colour the one half red for a nice swirl)
7. Pipe around the top of the cake and add halved Oreos for decoration
8. Pipe "Happy Birthday Matthew" on the top of the cake with a thin nozzle

Wish me luck!!!!!