Ooooh God. This is embarrassing. This is about to happen.
Here’s a small excerpt from Joy’s (before she was the Baker) diary circa late 1996. I had strong feelings about a lot of things back then… my first crush named Hayden, my best friend turned enemy, the television show Seinfeld, making the volleyball team and…. MTV’s The Real World. Yea… I’m not so sure about that last one either. I dunno. Here’s an actual excerpt:
Um. Diary. Seriously. (P.S.) Real World Miami sucked just to let you know.
Reasons to be on Real World…
1) I’m athletic… DUH
2) I’m funny… so how bout them Dodgers… who’s on first… knock knock.
3) I’m diverse. I’m a black girl (woman).
4) Kissing. But not on camera.
5) I’m from Los Angeles… with bright lights and clear skies.
6) I’m a country music lover… Come on baby let’s go to Vegas.
*HELL-OOO
My heavens! I laughed out loud when I found this little gem in my teenage diary. Ooooh but believe me… that little book is full of all sorts of priceless wallowing and poetry so terrible… so foul… that I can barely even stand to revisit it. This little list though…. hot dang… so funny. I think I love reason number three the most. Why did I feel the need to put the ‘woman’ in parentheses? My heavens. What a weirdo.
I just had to get that off my chest… now, cake.
I have gone through many a Red Velvet Cake recipe but I’ve finally found my favorite. The Humming Bakery Cookbook is just a dream when it comes to cakes and cupcakes. I turned my favorite Red Velvet Cupcakes into a cake with Fluffy White Seven Minute Frosting and topped with whole monster with toasted coconut. The recipe has a good dose of cocoa powder and buttermilk, making the cake both flavorful and moist. This beauty makes for a super lovely party cake. It’s impressive.
Can’t imagine Red Velvet without Cream Cheese Frosting… we’ve got that recipe too!
Red Velvet Cake with Fluffy White Frosting and Toasted Coconut
from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook
makes 2 8-inch or 9-inch round cakes
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 egg
5 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 Tablespoons red food coloring mixed with 2 Tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Turn mixer to high and add the eggs. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.
Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and salt and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.
Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar. Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.
Spoon batter into prepared cake pans and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.
Let rest in the pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Fluffy Seven Minute Frosting
from Epicurious.com
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
In large metal bowl, whisk together 1/3 cup water, sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt. Set bowl over pan of barely simmering water and mix with handheld electric mixer at low speed. Gradually increase speed to high, beating until mixture holds stiff peaks, about 5 minutes.
Transfer bowl from pan to folded kitchen towel on counter and continue beating until mixture is cool and billowy, about 2 minutes more. Beat in vanilla. (Frosting can be made 4 hours ahead and chilled, covered.)
Toasted Coconut
1 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Spread coconut on top of a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 6-10 minutes, tossing coconut occasionally so it browns evenly. Keep a close eye on the coconut, it burns quickly!
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I’m having a problem finding the liquid food coloring. I will often find those little sets of 4 colors (which I dont need) or gel food coloring. I’ve asked in some of these stores if they know how to convert the gel to equal the amount of liquid I’d need but to no avail. Any ideas?
I love teen diaries!!! My friends and I have reading parties. Since you live in L.A, you might enjoy this (or even participate!) It’s a GREAT way to relive teen angst in a loving and supporting (and hilarious) environment.
http://www.getmortified.com/
Fluffy white frosting is the only kind my mother has ever used on Red Velvet Cake which is one of her specialties. The first time I saw cream frosting on one, I actually wondered what was wrong with it.
Hilarious! Thank you so much for opening up and sharing. But there’s nothing funny at all about that cake. That cake looks like a dream come true. YUM! I’m new to your blog via a link from one of my readers, and I’m so happy to have found you! Delicious looking food photographed so well, and a witty writer to boot. I think I’ve struck a little goldmine :O)
Blessings, Susan
You are by far the funniest baker around. You make me smile!
BTW….I’ve never tried the 7 min frosting, but because you say its easy…I’m gonna.
Multi-Racial Bakers UNITE!
**I should make a t-shirt. lol
Have you ever tried an authentic butter roux frosting with red velvet? I keep meaning to try it…
joy,you make me laugh! i have been journaling since the seventh grade, and now i am a junior in college! i love to look back and to appreciate where i am now in my life.
That is an absolutely gorgeous red velvet cake–love the frosting and the coconut.
Hey Joy,
This looks fantastic and I plan to use the recipe to make cupcakes tomorrow– just wondering if you use liquid food coloring or the paste? I assumed it would be liquid on the cupcake version, but the mixing it with water part on here is making me think maybe it is gel or paste? If possible, I would appreciate if you could reply by tomorrow.
Thanks so much!! [o:
i used liquid and it came out great!!
Oh, your pictures are gorgeous. The cream cheese frosting is so amazing.
Love how you combine the cooking with the “blogging.” That cake looks amazing. I think the combination of coconut with the red velvet interesting. Will keep that in the back of my mind.
joy i actually admire everything you make.. It makes me want to eat the computer screen!! This looks heavenly!
cookteen.blogspot.com
looks delicious!! I wonder how can I do with powder food coloring ???
I love red velvet cake but somehow I always get an aftertaste from the food coloring. I love how it looks though. I wonder if they make a higher quality food coloring that has no bad taste?
On Saturday I baked this cake (minus the red dye) and it was delicious. Thank you!
What a gorgeous cake!
has anyone tried this or other recipes using some sort of natural food coloring? beet juice? fruit juice? i would love to hear about it if anyone has experimented with natural coloring.
i generally just leave out the food coloring in recipes (it makes me extra crazy). this cake looks fantastic, so it would be awesome to make it with the deep red color.
Hello from the UK!
Your blog gives a real taste of America. The way of cooking is definitely different to ours. I’ve never ever seen cake with red food colouring added like this. And the frosting is completely new to me too.
I’m looking forward to trying some of these recipes…
Hi, Between this and the Carrot Cake Pancakes, I am Beginning to think you should be regulated!! Yum!
I stuck my teenage diaries on the fire one night. I like your list though. My lists weren’t quite as good as yours, but probably equally angst-filled!
Cake looks super.
I used this recipe to make my son a red velvet Elmo cake. It is the most delicious cake ever! I haven’t had one this good in years, loved it, and my son did too! You can see the pic on my home page, its only my second theme cake, and I am still learning from great bakers like you! Thanks again!
I just made this cake (without the dye) and it was delicious! It was definitely one of the best cakes I have ever had. The toasted coconut made it look so beautiful!
The cake was amazing. However the 7 min. frosting gave my husband and I both the runs the second day we ate it…such a bummer because we LOVED the cake.
Hi Joy! Your blog has turned me on to some incredibly delicious things since I started reading it. My coworkers love everything I bring in, so thank you!
I have a question about this recipe. I’d like to make it in a 13×9 pan, doubling the recipe to make two layers. Do you think I would need to adjust the baking temperature or just the baking time?
Also, I was thinking of trying to make it more pink than red (it’s going to be a baby shower cake). Would I just minimize the food coloring amount, or should I lower the water amount proportionally?
Thanks!
hi joy,
my red velvet cakes are in the oven as we speak and while waiting for the beautiful cakes to be done i began to read your following post noting that you grabbed this recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. what is your personal opinion about all of the recipes in the book and have they all turned out successful for you? i went to amazon and some of the reviews are not that convincing for me to purchase the cookbook.
thanks to you, queen of all things red velvet, and our shared love for the hummingbird bakery cookbook, i made red verlvet cake for the very first time last weekend. a celebration cake was in order and it was gooood! =) i changed up the frosting a bit though and didnt have quite enough red food colouring… guess thats a good thing though because i have to slowly accustom people to so much red brightness! ;o)
you are awesome. i just discovered your blog and am in love with it! the photographs are divine and the recipes make my heart skip beats. i am literally in love with all of it. plus your posts are hilarious! great blog… i am an official follower and i added you to my blog roll.
p.s. red velvet… yum, just made some cuppies the other day in all their red and cream cheese glory.
Hi Joy!
I want to make this cake, but dont want to use the red food coloring. Can I just leave it out, or do I need to replace it with something else (ex. milk)? I’m worried that if i just leave it out, the cake will come out differently because it will be missing 6 tablespoons of liquid. If anyone else has any advice, please let me know! thanks!
hi Emi.
if you’re not going to use the red food coloring, i would suggest making an entirely different cake. maybe make these gorgeous cupcakes into a two layer round cake? http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2010/02/sweetheart-rose-cupcakes/
this option will have a much better flavor and be an all around prettier cake.
here’s the situation–its my best friend’s birthday tomorrow. her all time favorite cake is red velvet but I am really not into artificial ingredients. if you think leaving it out will ruin the integrity and flavor of the cake, mabye I should just suck it up. after all, it is HER birthday cake.
by the way, thanks for the quick reply! i really appreciate it.
Hey Joy!
i love your blog and all your recipes, so when i was wanting a delicious red velvet cake recipe i knew to look on your blog!
i have one question though.. most red velvet cakes i’ve made before and most recipes i’ve seen all call for 2 tablespoons of chocolate and sometimes even 1. so i just wanted to know why you like using 5 {is it better?}
thanks so much!
Hi Joy!..or anyone else that can answer this question!
I doubt you will be able to answer this by tomorrow so I will probably just end up making the cream cheese frosting…but my question is does the frosting call for powdered sugar or granulated sugar? I’m assuming it means powdered, but it doesn’t say!
Thanks!
Granulated sugar!
dear joy
how about you do a take on braided challah bread – the jewish one for shabbat?
we love your site
sarah
that’s a good idea! i’ll try!
I’m going to make this for a Christmas party tomorrow afternoon. Will it be ok if I make it today and leave it out until the following afternoon?? I’m afraid that the fluffy white frosting will not hold throughout the night. Thanks!
Hi and thank you for your great recipes!!
I tried to use some beetroot powder instead using artificial red food colour but didn’t work! Wouldnt be lovely to use some natural beetroot powder instead using red food artificial coloring?? Please help, thank you S
Dear joy,
I made this cake for my husbands b-day and I was a bit disappointed. I don’t know if I did something wrong but the cake came out to sweet and very dense..is it suppose to be like this? I really enjoy your blog and hope to try more recipes in the future. Thanks!
hi! does this seven minute frosting chill well overnight? i once made it and it was absolutely perfect, but after leaving it in the fridge overnight it developed a crunchy shell which totally ruined the whole batch. :( does this happen to this too? thanks :)
To solve this problem, you might consider placing a piece of plastic wrap directly over the frosting… Like you would cover a pudding when you want ton avoid pudding skin. That should do the trick!
We tried these for the 4th of July as cupcakes. They turned out really well! Thanks for the yummy recipe, Joy :)
Am using your red velvet cake and frosting recipe TWO years in a row for boyfriend’s birthday cake. Huge success! Thank you – I was so glad I bookmarked the recipe last year :)
Hi joy! :)
My cakes are in the oven this now! Cant wait to see how they look they sure as heck smell all kinds of awesome! Made these in cupcake form before but this is my first attempt at a BIG cake. Im not a real big fan of the seven minute frosting though :/ plus im making this cake for my grans 75th birthday and she told me “dont be stingy with the buttercream” so planning on decorating with vanilla bean buttercream and cinnamon buttercream roses (apparently theyre a lot easier than one would think :/) Wish me luck!
lulu
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