Valentine Hangover: Red But Not Quite Velvet Cake

I have always felt that Red Velvet Cake on Valentine’s Day was so clichéd, it hurt. But…everywhere I looked, people seemed to be baking red velvet cakes, cupcakes and cookies. And I figured it was time to move beyond my safe pound cake variations. And I thought, why not be all red and valentine-y for a change?

So I caved; I bought the red food colouring and made a Red But Not Quite Velvet cake. (I thought they were clichéd and silly earlier, but after baking, I realized they are pretty and nice. And pretty nice, too.)

Most recipes for red velvet cake call for buttermilk or sour cream; I had neither and made do with regular cream and whole milk. So my cake, whilst moist and fluffy, was not completely velvety. Therefore, I christened it Red But Not Quite Velvet Cake.

RED BUT NOT QUITE VELVET CAKE (Adapted from IOU Coffee)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter softened to room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 oz red food colouring (3 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180 C and grease two 6-inch baking dishes (or any other dishes which will hold this amount of batter; I had two 6-inch dishes so used them,) and keep aside.
Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and sugar in a large bowl and set aside.
Add the butter to the dry ingredients, a little at a time, and beat until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
To this mixture, beat in one egg at a time.
Next, add the cream, and beat some more.
Now add the milk and beat some more.
Then, add the vanilla extract beat some more!
Once it is combined evenly, add the red food colouring and beat some more!! (I am enjoying the usage of ‘beat some more.’)
Now that everything is well and truly beaten, spoon the batter into your greased baking dish and bake at 180 C for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cut yourself and your loved ones good, economy-sized pieces and dig in.

I also made a basic buttercream frosting. All I did was beat together frosting sugar, butter at room temperature and vanilla extract. It is so easy and so yummy!

This cake is worth the effort.

It’s Red, But Not Quite Velvet.

But very very good.

And so pretty and RED.

And, after you have devoured a piece, if you get cake crumbs smeared on your teeth and lips, and your skin is pale and pasty, and you have a pained, vacuous expression in your eyes, you just might resemble Edward Cullen after a kill!!