A sneak peek at Operation “Operation” (Red Velvet Cake)
4 Comments
Karen Hamilton
October 19, 2008
I never thought that people would feel anything but disgust at the kind of cakes I tend to get on my birthday, but it turns out that the proximity of Halloween and the macabre senses of humour amongst my set of friends work in my favour. This year’s birthday cake project is dubbed Operation Operation: an edible version of that what-were-they-thinking surgical board game.
Photo by Cyndie@smilebig! (Creative Commons)
Tonight was a trial run of the recipe that we are thinking of using for the cake layers. The sifting of ingredients was a giant pain; prep from start to bake took nearly 2 hours. I’ll have to figure out how to do 4 layers in time for the birthday party on October 25th. Can probably make 2 on Friday and another 2 on Saturday morning (with lots of help from the Operation crew).
The cream cheese frosting was so-so. If you know of something that might taste better with this type of cake, I’d love to hear it.
Below is my variation of the recipe I found on Epicurious (based on suggestions by people who’ve made this recipe before, and with ingredients grouped a little more logically than in the original).
Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Buttermilk Mixture
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In the Mixer
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 large eggs
Baking Soda Mixture
- 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Frosting
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, cubed
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Making the cake
Each batch makes 1 layer using a 9×13 pan or 2 layers using two 9″ round cake pans (with 1.5 inch high sides).
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour pan(s).
- Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl.
- Whisk all ingredients for the buttermilk mixture in a small bowl.
- Beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until well blended (speed 2 for stand mixers).
- Add eggs in one at a time, beating until well blended after each addition.
- Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in 3 additions. (So that’s four ~2/3 cup portions of dry and three ~1/3 cup portions of wet, in dry / wet / dry / wet / dry / wet / dry order.)
- Mix the baking soda mixture together in a small bowl and blend. Fold into batter.
- Place batter into pans, taking care not to fill each pan more than halfway up.
- Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
- Cool in pan(s) on racks for 10 minutes. Turn out onto racks; cool completely.
Making the frosting and final touches
- Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth.
- Beat in vanilla.
- Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
- Place one cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over top of cake.
- Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake.
Cake layers can be made 1 day in advance. If you do so:
- Cover cake in saran wrap before refrigerating.
- Make frosting the day of assembly.
- Let assembled cake stand at room temperature at least 1 hour before serving.
Categories: Dessert, Food, Recipes
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Hey Karen,
Hope all is well! A colleague of mine from school (Annika) referred me to you as I’ve been trying to find restaurant food group.
She told me that you organize these things and I think it would be so fun!
Keep me posted as how to join you guys. Cheers!
Maria.
powdered sugar goes into the frosting..at least that’s how I make it
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