Happy New Year and a warm welcome to the year 2015! I hope you all had a great time last year and are enjoying your moments ushering into this new year. While I flip through the pages of my blog diaries, I am reminded of the fact that I had amazing different kinds of experiences and I’ll cherish them all. Thinking of them, I am also reminded of the things I couldn’t take up. But that doesn’t mean that I am going to kick myself hard for not achieving them. Rather I hope to nail them down this coming year. And that doesn’t count as a new year resolution at all. I am not the new-year-resolution kind of person. I just don’t believe in that madness. I rather enjoy moving along time, without feeling due pressure of any sort, even if that is self-inflicted. And while the life moves on, I hope to bake more and more cakes this year too. I just love baking cakes than anything else. That brings happiness to me. Cake is such kind of food. In fact everyone needs a bite of cake at some point of time. In my case that point of time occurs rather more frequently though 🙂 . So, I begin my new year with baking this gorgeous and delish red velvet cake which is layered with juicy seasonal fresh strawberries and creamy velvety cream cheese frosting. And I think it is just perfect to celebrate the beginning of this year.
- 375 sifted cake flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 150 gm butter, at room temperature
- 350 gm sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 360 ml buttermilk
- 2 tbsp red food colour
- 1 1/2 white vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 220 gm cream cheese, at room temperature
- 220 gm mascarpone, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 75 gm confectioner sugar
- 1 cup cold heavy cream
- strawberries, hulled and chopped, to layer
- fresh flowers to decorate (optional)
- Preheat oven at 175 degree C. Grease and line one 8 inch and one 6 inch round baking pans and keep them aside.
- Sift together flour, cocoa powder and salt and keep aside.
- In a bowl, beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl, after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk and food colour.
- Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
- In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.
- Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- Beat all the ingredients together in a bowl, to make a smooth frosting.
- With a serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the bigger cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting followed by strawberries.
- Place second bigger layer of cake on top of the frosting and strawberries and continue to frost and stack the remaining smaller cake layers.
- Decorate with fresh flowers, if needed.