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2012 Cooking Club Week 33: Red Velvet Cake

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 713 ✭✭✭tatumkelly


    A Kenwood Chef is the one thing I really really want when I finally settle down and move into a grown-up flat/house. I would sleep on the floor for a while to buy the KC before a bed.

    Also, OT, I've never seen tritamyl flour or cake flour anywhere...is it just a gluten-free flour? Can you get it in supermarkets or would it be a health food shop jobby? I'm moving to a house with a nicer oven than currently soon so gonna give the cake a go then!

    I picked it up in Superquinn, it was with their gluten free/allergy type foods. I'm sure most of the big supermarkets will have it. €6 a bag.... I'm gonna be making a lot of Red Velvet cake to use it up :p


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,613 ✭✭✭Toast4532


    A Kenwood Chef is the one thing I really really want when I finally settle down and move into a grown-up flat/house. I would sleep on the floor for a while to buy the KC before a bed.

    Also, OT, I've never seen tritamyl flour or cake flour anywhere...is it just a gluten-free flour? Can you get it in supermarkets or would it be a health food shop jobby? I'm moving to a house with a nicer oven than currently soon so gonna give the cake a go then!
    I'm pretty sure I have seen it in Dunnes stores before, might be worth ringing your local Dunnes as they may be able to tell you over the phone whether or not they have it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Also, OT, I've never seen tritamyl flour or cake flour anywhere...is it just a gluten-free flour? Can you get it in supermarkets or would it be a health food shop jobby?
    It's just gluten-free. Fairly widely available, got mine in Tesco, have seen it everywhere.

    WFGFSRFlour.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    mmcn90 wrote: »
    I'd use strong flour as a substitute for cake flour. Isn't Tritamyl the gluten free flour?
    Yes, but it's got very low protein (4.5% or so). Cake flour is about 7%, cream flour 10%, AP flour about 12-14%, and bread flours 16% and up. It's the protein you're looking at, as it forms the gluten and toughens the cake. So gluten-free, low-protein flour makes a really light cake.

    I did try all cream flour and it's closer to bread than cake. Try it with bread flour and it'd be even closer to bread. Nice, but not cake.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,332 ✭✭✭Mr Simpson


    Sparks wrote: »
    Yes, but it's got very low protein (4.5% or so). Cake flour is about 7%, cream flour 10%, AP flour about 12-14%, and bread flours 16% and up. It's the protein you're looking at, as it forms the gluten and toughens the cake. So gluten-free, low-protein flour makes a really light cake.

    I did try all cream flour and it's closer to bread than cake. Try it with bread flour and it'd be even closer to bread. Nice, but not cake.

    Something to watch out for as well is, if you're using those stand mixers it's very easy to over work flour thus forming the gluten. Anyway the tritamyl sounds like a handy tip I must give it a go, it's pretty easy to find.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    mmcn90 wrote: »
    Something to watch out for as well is, if you're using those stand mixers it's very easy to over work flour thus forming the gluten.
    Yup, that's why you cream the sugar&butter on high, then mix the flours in on low speed and don't mix once they're incorporated...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,332 ✭✭✭Mr Simpson


    Sparks wrote: »
    Yup, that's why you cream the sugar&butter on high, then mix the flours in on low speed and don't mix once they're incorporated...

    *note to self, read the recipe better (at a less ridiculous time of the evening) :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,680 ✭✭✭confusticated


    Toast4532 wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure I have seen it in Dunnes stores before, might be worth ringing your local Dunnes as they may be able to tell you over the phone whether or not they have it.

    Oh god I wouldn't bother them for that, I'll just check when I'm doing my shopping! Thanks though.

    Never looked in the gluten-free sections before tbh, should be able to find it okay so. Although at that price I won't be looking for it again in a hurry! Thanks for the quick replies, fellow insomniac bakers. :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,680 ✭✭✭confusticated


    Finally made this as a surprise for my housemate's birthday. I managed to make the entire thing and ice it while she was in the house, she passed through our (tiny) kitchen several times and noticed nothing!

    My icing skillz are not so hot, it looks like it melted:

    redvelvet.jpg

    The text says happy bday :o Also it didn't glow in real life.


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Forget the icing, how did it taste? :D


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,680 ✭✭✭confusticated


    Glorious.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,080 ✭✭✭McChubbin


    Great Odin's Raven, I think I got diabetes just looking at pictures of this glorious cake. Having taken a look at the recipe, however, it seems quite out of my skill level what with all the faffing about with various flours and such. I also don't own a stand mixer. :(
    Still, I will happily save this recipe into my bookmarked folder of culinary delights and when I eventally come into possesion of a multi-purpose mixer this will be my first attempt! :)
    It looks so good! *grabby hands*


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,680 ✭✭✭confusticated


    McChubbin wrote: »
    Great Odin's Raven, I think I got diabetes just looking at pictures of this glorious cake. Having taken a look at the recipe, however, it seems quite out of my skill level what with all the faffing about with various flours and such. I also don't own a stand mixer. :(
    Still, I will happily save this recipe into my bookmarked folder of culinary delights and when I eventally come into possesion of a multi-purpose mixer this will be my first attempt! :)
    It looks so good! *grabby hands*

    It's actually fierce easy, you just need 3 bowls/jugs/containers. I don't have a sieve (sorry Sparks!) so I just put all the flours into one bowl, all the liquids into a measuring jug (easier to measure quantities) and butter and sugar into another bowl. I did have the hand mixer for creaming the butter and sugar, but did the rest with a wooden spoon and it was really easy - I was expecting my arms to wither and die but it mixed pretty quickly. Also was less messy as a result - as I said, made the cake pretty much under my flatmate's nose and she didn't notice what it was, so I think the mixer might make this process worse in terms of mess. YOU CAN DO IT - it's well worth it. Although make it for LOTS of people. There were over 20 at the party and everyone got a good slice from that. It's really rich. Someone told me they'd marry me for that cake alone - it is that good. (Thanks again Sparks!)


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Welcome confusicated, glad you liked it, and let us know when the wedding is :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,080 ✭✭✭McChubbin


    Confisicated has me convinced- after I get the hassle of Christmas out of the way, I am going to bake the living bejaysus out of this cake.
    I've got a 50th and a 21st birthday coming up so if all goes well, I might just find a contender for my go-to party cake. :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,057 ✭✭✭MissFlitworth


    Planning on making this for my family christmas party next weekend :) Someone on here before (I think Magic Monkey) pointed me in the direction of Polish/Eastern European shops for cake flour (maka tortowa)

    This is the version I usually buy (handy cake on the front so I know which one to pick up

    pzz-s-a-1kg-maka-pszenna-tortowa.jpg

    I might compare the protein content of this to tritamyl flour to see if it matches up cos it's a lot cheaper than a bag of tritamyl


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    I might compare the protein content of this to tritamyl flour to see if it matches up cos it's a lot cheaper than a bag of tritamyl
    Hells no, don't bother - if you can find cake flour, use it. The tritamyl is a substitute for the cake flour. And even if the cake flour's protein content is a percent or so higher, the bleaching of the cake flour and the finer milling would compensate to give a better end product anyway.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,057 ✭✭✭MissFlitworth


    Sparks wrote: »
    Hells no, don't bother

    Woohoo! No sneaking my bag of polish cake flour into Tesco to compare protein content for me so!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,981 ✭✭✭ElleEm


    Kettle on, frosting chilling, I cannot wait to try this cake!!!!


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,462 ✭✭✭Queen-Mise


    This is a man's recipe if ever I have seen one. Had the hubby helping me today with baking, I might get him to help me next weekend with this.

    This is Bookmarked for further investigation. Also loved the opening post - writing complaint emails, blood splattered walls and floor, with a three month old, all in a days cooking ;)


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  • Posts: 16,720 ✭✭✭✭ Jayla Tall Revolution


    Happy Sparks Day! Have been planning a chilli day with my mates for two months as the wife is away... so I thought I'd make some accompaniments!

    6ZsQQT.jpg
    7BRKYx.jpg
    8bVL6C.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Dónal wrote: »
    Happy Sparks Day!
    My wife just read this.
    *hehehehhehehehehehehehehhahhahahahaMOOHAHAHAHAAHAH!*
    There is now a Sparks day :D
    To quote John Oliver, "**** yes, strap in".


  • Posts: 16,720 ✭✭✭✭ Jayla Tall Revolution


    By sheer coincidence Sparks Day (and the making of the man cake) appeared to have happened on International Women's Day!

    Anyways, wow, this is delicious. Very rich but delicious. I had a query about this from a friend abroad who had made red velvet cake before but it had been brown instead of red - I couldn't get over how red this was!


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Dónal wrote: »
    By sheer coincidence Sparks Day (and the making of the man cake) appeared to have happened on International Women's Day!
    This was indeed noted... along with it being the anniversary of the blowing up of Nelson's column and Cynthia Rothrock's birthday. You chose an odd day for it Donal :D
    Anyways, wow, this is delicious. Very rich but delicious. I had a query about this from a friend abroad who had made red velvet cake before but it had been brown instead of red - I couldn't get over how red this was!
    It's the food colouring. Real and authentic red velvet cake is a kind of dark brick red rather than bright arterial oh-crap-I'm-going-to-die red, and the colour was just a side effect when the vinegar hit the cocoa powder and you baked the result. Honestly though, they should taste identical and if they don't, you need to pick a different make of food colouring :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,292 ✭✭✭Mrs Fox


    Something went wrong somewhere.
    First of all, the cake crumbled when I turned it out of the pan. No worries, the cream cheese frosting will save it.
    Then cream frosting was lumpy, somehow I couldn't get it to beat smoothly. Then, it won't set. I poured it on the cake anyway, like a runny yoghurt.
    The sponge was light as air though.
    I present to you, my broken brick cake with soupy cream cheese drizzle.

    2014-09-18%2015.57.11_zpst2hb6pez.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    I'm guessing that the icing needs more powdered sugar. That can happen, I've since discovered, and it seems to be down to the cheese or butter you use. you can just keep adding the sugar until you hit a nice consistency, kindof half-way between greek yoghurt and soft butter.

    BTW, I get crumbling cake as well. I've found that if I leave the cake sit in the tin initially until it gets down from the NYARGHCALLTHEDOCTOR level of hot to the Oooh-oooh-oooh-juggling level of hot, and then turn it out onto the rack and try to move it as little as possible after that until it's at room temperature, that it helps. Beyond that, you could increase the protein content by just using cream flour, but it toughens the sponge. Another egg yolk might help, *maybe* - it's hard to do baking with recipes that say "Use $NUMBER of egg yolks" because every egg yolk is a different size (I had so little fun with yorkshire pudding until I stopped counting eggs and started measuring the volume of the eggs in a measuring cup).

    Sorry Mrs.Fox :(
    At least the sponge is nice.


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    I might suggest a recovery for the broken brick cake? Wipe off the cheesecake frosting and drown it in chocolate frosting (I like this recipe but I melt the chocolate in the microwave and do the mixing in a stand mixer). It tends to look like the picture in the original post afterwards, unless you make a sane amount of chocolate frosting in which case it just looks good instead of STUFFITINMYFACENYOMNYOMNYOM good.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,292 ✭✭✭Mrs Fox


    My fault entirely. I did add more icing sugar, like 40g more, which made it so so sweet. I'm blaming the butter. Damn you butter! Grrrrrr.


  • Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    I suppose if the water content of the butter was higher... but still, add enough sugar and you should counter that... of course, by then you might have diabetes frosting :(


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  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,653 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    Mrs Fox wrote: »
    My fault entirely. I did add more icing sugar, like 40g more, which made it so so sweet. I'm blaming the butter. Damn you butter! Grrrrrr.

    Chances are, it was the cream cheese. Philadelphia have reduced the fat content to 20% or so - they've essentially turned their "full fat" Philly into "light" Philly. You need a high fat content (circa 30%) for the icing to set. Adding more icing sugar does nothing other than make it too sweet, unfortunately.

    I'm not sure of the fat content of other brands, but it's worth checking.


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