A Valentine’s red velvet bundt cake
Original recipes from Bon Appetit and Erren’s Kitchen.
Where the inspiration to bake usually stems from an upcoming occasion, a sudden craving, or from leafing through recipe books, the motivation behind this cake was a little different. I’d recently purchased the Nordic Ware Party Bundt Tin and was eager to give its classic curves and pronounced ridges a whirl.
Pair this with a perpetual itching to celebrate any and all occasions and a Valentine’s Red Velvet Bundt seemed like the obvious outcome.
Forgoing passé hearts and indulgent lashings of chocolate ganache, this cake bucks the tired V-day clichés in favour of freeze-dried raspberries, a smooth cream cheese icing, and delicate marriage of cocoa and vanilla.
Starting with Bon Appetit’s red velvet cake, I shunned the recipe’s intended layer cake format to utilise my newfound Bundt potential. Seeking icing that would cascade down the crevices of the ring-shaped cake, I replaced Bon Appetit’s thick frosting for a thinner icing by Erren’s Kitchen.
The resulting cake was fluffy and not-too-sweet, offset beautifully by a rich icing and tart freeze-dried raspberries. As the Bon Appetit cake recipe was intended to rise in two 9-inch round cake tins, the Bundt rose dramatically and had to be levelled significantly to avoid rolling around on the board.
An equal ratio of cream cheese and butter makes for a deep, velvety frosting that beautifully contrasts the cake’ slight crumble. This results in a very balanced flavour profile, which (fair warning) may have you going back for seconds or even thirds.
When it comes to any red velvet cake, the million-dollar question is always colour related: does the cake have that infamous red hue? In this case, the Bundt has a discernibly rouge tint but an extra splash of food colouring wouldn’t have gone astray.
Where the original recipe called for a full tablespoon of red food dye, I was modest in my approach an instead used 12 drops. If you are looking for a vibrant red cake, I would recommend going the whole nine yards and upping the ante on the colouring.
Ingredients
Red velvet bundt cake:
315 g sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
225 g buttermilk, room temperature
12 drops red gel food colouring
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
150 g sugar
113 g unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
Cream cheese icing drizzle:
155 g icing sugar
125 g butter, softened
125 g cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp hot water
Topping:
1/3 cup freeze-dried raspberries
Method
Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180C and generously grease a 24 cm Bundt pan.
Triple sift the sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl.
Whisk the buttermilk, food colouring, vinegar, and vanilla in small bowl to combine.
Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well combined.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating until well combined after each addition.
Beat in the dry ingredients in four additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in three additions.
Bake for 32 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
In a clean bowl of an electric standing mixer, beat together the softened butter and cream cheese until smooth.
Add the sifted icing sugar ½ cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add the vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of hot water, mix until combined and the water no longer seems separate from the butter and cream cheese mixture.
Add remaining hot water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition, until a custard consistency is achieved. The icing should pour easily but should not be thin or runny.
Slowly pour the cream cheese icing over the red velvet cake, allowing it to run between the ridges and top with crumbled freeze-dried raspberries.