So, last summer, I did a little research into red velvet cakes. I wanted to try making one, but without the red food coloring and using a different frosting recipe. I told someone I was going to try making one with beets and they didn't believe that it would work or that anyone made cakes that way. That's not true. A lot of people use either beet juice or pureed beets to make their cakes red. Beets are used for color in a lot of natural foods.
One emotionally trying night later that summer, I was in the mood to eat an entire cake myself, so I gave it a try. I have no idea what recipe I used. At this point, I couldn't even tell you what cookbook it came from. However, as you can see, the cake wasn't red. Did I really use a red velvet recipe? I thought I did, but I have no idea. I'll be honest, I was happily dancing around my apartment in heels to La Roux and drinking wine (I had to practice walking/dancing in my bridesmaid shoes for the following weekend). The cake wasn't my top priority. I believe I used beet juice in some way, but I have no idea how. In spite of the concerns I have about what I actually made, I knew I needed to try again. My cake turned out black. The recipe I used called for a lot more cocoa powder than most red velvet recipes I've seen. So, I'm going to blame the recipe for the color of my cake (regardless of wether or not it was actually for a red velvet cake). I can't imagine this cake could have been a normal red color even with the addition of food coloring because of how dark it is. Whatever I made, it was delicious and improved my mood significantly!
This summer, I decided to try again. What sparked my interest was an article about Cajun and Creole food in St. Louis' Feast Magazine. It included a recipe for red velvet cake with a creole cream cheese frosting (which can be found on their website). I liked the sound of the recipe because the cake was colored with beet puree instead of red food coloring and the batter included butter and cream cheese (cream cheese in the frosting and the cake? Woah!). The frosting recipe called for cream cheese, butter and creole cream cheese. I decided it wasn't worth looking for creole cream cheese in Madison, Wisconsin. We're a long way from New Orleans.
Creole cream cheese is made with milk, buttermilk and rennet.
As little Miss Muffet could tell you from her tuffet,
coagulation produces curds and whey.
You get creole cream cheese by straining the curds
and letting all the liquid drain away.
The digestive enzymes contained in rennet coagulates the milk (there's a good chance you did this in biology class in high school when you were learning about digestion). Obviously it wouldn't be a problem finding a major enzyme used in cheese making in Dairyland (after all, it's how they make cheese curds). However, I didn't want to call around looking for it or end up with a ridiculous amount of cheese-making enzymes. Instead, I decided to use sour cream.
I didn't like the flavor of the cake, but the color and presentation were perfect! Also, the frosting was top-notch (recipe follows). It was very light and creamy. It wasn't overly buttery or overly cream cheesy. The sour cream lent a bit of tang without being overpowering, which would make it a great frosting for a sweet cake. My aunt is visiting from Lake Tahoe and requested cinnamon rolls. I plan on using the leftover frosting on the cinnamon rolls (my dad tried to get me to throw it away. Sorry dad, no way. He won't eat sweets, so he can't possibly understand how delicious it was).
Now, it's important to note that while I didn't care for the cake, some of my family members did. Even my cousin who chose not to have a piece the first night because of the beets had a piece a few days later and enjoyed it. To me, the cake was far too acidic and tasted like beets (which to me is very earthy). The beets were pureed with lemon juice. Then I was supposed to add 1 tablespoon of vinegar. I couldn't find the vinegar (the woes of baking in someone else's kitchen), forgot I needed it, and left it out. Vinegar is acetic acid. The lemon juice is a different type of acid (citric acid), but will perform the same acid/base chemistry as acetic acid. I can't imagine that the problem was too little acid, because the whole cake tasted tart and acidic (which tells me there wasn't enough base in the cake to neutralize the acid).
Most red velvet cakes contain buttermilk. This recipe did not use buttermilk. Instead, I imagine the purpose of the cream cheese was to replace the fat of the buttermilk and the lemon juice/vinegar was to replace the acidity of buttermilk (and keep the beets a bright red color). The cake uses baking powder, so the lemon juice/vinegar is unlikely to play a big role in leavening because baking powder contains acid and base (when they react, they release carbon dioxide which creates bubbles in the batter). Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base, which makes me wonder if the leavening agent should have been baking soda to help neutralize the acid. Cocoa powder can also be acidic unless it's been "dutch-processed" or alkalized to neutralize it.
The moral of the story is that I still haven't found a red velvet cake recipe that's worth making again. After I botched a second "red velvet" cake (the microbiologist in me just looked up the origin of "botched" to make sure it doesn't refer to botulism, it doesn't!), my motivation to make a delicious red velvet cake is as great as ever. Have any of you found the perfect red velvet cake recipe? If so, I'd love to try it!
Dairy-Lover's Frosting
adapted from Simone Faure's recipe in Feast Magazine
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. sour cream
3 Tbs. heavy whipping cream
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Whip until light and creamy. If the frosting is runny, place it in the fridge to firm up for about 20 minutes before use.
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