Vegetarian Red velvet cake step by step pictures | My daughter's recipes
To make the batter, take 1/2 cup of buttermilk in a large bowl.
To the buttermilk add 3/4 cup of white sugar.
After adding the sugar, add 2/3 cup of oil. I prefer using vegetable oil or any oil that doesn't have a strong flavor. So I would not recommend using anything like olive oil or peanut oil.
Add a teaspoon of vanilla. Better the quality of vanilla, better the taste.
Using a whisk, mix them together until the sugar dissolves and it becomes homogeneous.
Place a sieve over the bowl and add 1 cup of all-purpose flour, also called maida.
Add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder. Again, better the quality of cocoa powder, better the result. I have used Hershey's cocoa powder.
Finally, add 3/4 teaspoon baking soda to help the batter rise in the oven.
Sift all ingredients together. I recommend sifting the ingredients into the wet mix as this makes sure that you don't have solids in the batter. This step also incorporates air into the batter making the cake light and fluffy.
Mix well thoroughly.
To the prepared batter add 2-3 drops of red fool coloring Gel or liquid food coloring will work here.
If you feel the batter is a bit thick and want to thin it out a little, add about a tablespoon of milk to adjust the consistency.
The final step is to add vinegar to the batter. Make sure you add the vinegar right before the batter goes in the oven because the acid will begin to react with the soda as soon as it's added.
Line three 6-inch tin with parchment paper and grease well. Do not skip this step as this will ensure that your cake will pop out easily out of the tin. You can also bake this in one tin and divide it into three layers afterwards.
Put the tins to bake at 180 degrees Celsius for roughly 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool slightly, flip them out of the tins and let them cool completely.
For the cream cheese, take 500 ml of mil and bring to a boil. I recommend using full fat milkas that will give you more curds than regular or low fat milk.
Once the milk comes to a boil, add 2-3 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice, one teaspoon at a time stirring continuously until the milk curdles.
Once the milk curdles strain it over a strainer lined with a layer of think cloth to collect all the curds. Allow all the whey water to drip out of the curds and squeeze to remove any excess water.
I baked the third layer later since my oven could only fit two tins at once.
Transfer the cream cheese to a blender and add 1-2 teaspoons of water to blend it into a smooth paste to resemble the texture of cream cheese.
Test with a toothpick or skewer.
Once the cakes have cooled completely, remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cakes.
Add the blended cream cheese to a bowl and add 1/4 of cup of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla for flavoring.
Whip this using an electric mixer or by hand until the mixture is mixed.
To this add one cup of cold whipping cream. I have used non-dairy whipping cream but dairy whipping cream can also be used.
Whip until stiff peaks form. The cream will whip up much better if it is cold. This is the whipped cream cheese frosting.
Add a little frosting to the cake board so that the cake doesn't move on the board when decorating.
Place the first layer of cake on the board and soak it with sugar syrup. The syrup keeps the cake moist and this step is a must if you are storing your cake overnight.
Add a generous layer of cream cheese frosting and spread evenly on the cake before adding the second layer. Repeat soaking the cake with simple syrup and layering with the whipped cream cheese frosting.
Coat the entire cake in a thin layer of frosting. This is called the crumb coat as it locks in all the cake crumbs so that they do not show in the final decoration. Put it in the fridge to set for 30 minutes.
Frost the cake with a final layer of frosting to give it a neat finished look. Put the remaining frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle ( I used Wilton 1M) and pipe stars around the top of the cake. Refrigerate one final time fore 20-30 minutes for the frosting to set before serving.
