Red Velvet Cake (with natural colour)

This is definitely one cake where there is a “science” behind its success!  And I have made it numerous times now in the past few weeks to get close to what I feel is right in flavour and colour when not wishing to use a colouring agent. Of course, using a colour is going to give you the absolute “brightest” red which some may want, but personally I don’t like the metallic taste that gives, and prefer to keep it as natural as possible.

It all started with a dear friend whose daughter wanted a Red Velvet Cake for her wedding, and we decided to see if we could make a batter using natural colour, which of course means using beetroot.  The issue was that her daughter doesn’t like beetroot … at all!  So the challenge was to use it but not be able to detect it. Unfortunately we didn’t succeed (some kids have an amazing sense of taste!), but I felt I had gone down the path so far, and was nearly there in terms of what I thought others may like, that I didn’t want to give up.  So in the past couple of weeks I have now made this cake six times … and as of yesterday I finally feel we have got there.

The final cake I made yesterday has now been approved by my family and gorgeous neighbours (I am incredibly indebted to them!), so I am confident in finally sharing it with you.

To help get this recipe together, I steered towards the version from Food52 (see here) where they explain about the science of using a natural colour (you need a very acidic batter), but incorporated raspberries into the mix as included in a recipe by my dear friend Tenina (see here). The raspberries help lift the “earthy” flavour of the beetroot, and I added extra vanilla and salt as they add their own special magic too.

Food52 specified not to use Dutch cocoa powder (it is not acidic), but as I prefer its flavour more so than natural cocoa powder I stuck with it.  So with a little juggling of ingredients (hence the numerous testing) I was able to use Dutch cocoa and still have that lovely red hue needed.

This batter will make 2 x 20cm (base measurement) round cakes, which are sandwiched together by a thick layer of the icing, before being surrounded by icing in the “naked” fashion that is popular at the moment. If you prefer to use less icing, then you can simply sandwich the two cakes with a layer of icing, and then top the cake with icing alone instead of covering the sides too.

If you wish to do the sides, I have found the best way to get a nice even finish, is to place each cooled cake on a plate or cake board – with the base baking paper still on – double wrap it in Glad wrap and pop it into the freezer for at least two hours.  This is sufficient time to “set” the crust of the cake, making it really easy to cover the cake with icing, and scrape around the sides thinly without collecting cake crumbs which can mar the final look of the cake.  This is not absolutely vital, but just my suggestion based on what I have found.

The icing can be made and used straight away, or made in advance and kept for up to a week in the fridge, or at least a month in the freezer. The day you wish to use it, take it out of the fridge in the morning and place on your bench … keep it in its container until you are about to use it, and then stir through a spoon to loosen it up well enough to be able to spread over your cake.  It should sit on your bench at least a couple of hours to loosen as it goes really firm in the fridge.

Once iced allow the cake to sit at room temperature for an hour or so to “set” the icing, then cover and leave at room temperature in a sealed container for 24 hours until ready to serve.  Leftovers will keep in the same sealed container for a couple of days as long as the weather is not too hot, in which case I would put it into the fridge, but remove at least an hour before serving.

This is not a large cake, but the combination of the cake and icing is quite rich, so it is perfect for a group of 10 to 12 people. If you wish the cake to be larger, then I would suggest you bake the entire batter in a 24cm round tin, and make the cake 2 or 3 times based on how many layers you wish to have.  Of course you will also then need to make more icing, but it keeps really well in the freezer which is what I do all the time, and can be a life saver.

If you wish to see the process for making the icing please see my post here where pictures cover the process.  The only difference to this recipe is that I increased the white chocolate a little to give more body to the icing to cover the sides of the cake.

When cutting the cake, if you wish to ensure a nice even slice, then dip your cake knife into a jug of hot water, wipe it clean with kitchen paper then cut each slice.  Continue to “dip and wipe” as you cut each slice to give you consistent pieces … this will also allow you to cut thin pieces which can sometimes be quite difficult if your cutting knife is not “hot”.

4.7 from 3 reviews

Red Velvet Cake (with natural colour)

 

Save Print

Prep time

45 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Serves: 1 cake

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS

• 360g plain flour
• 2 level tbls Dutch cocoa powder
• 3 level tsps baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes, or ½ tsp fine sea salt
  
  
• 180g raw beetroot, peeled weight, cut into quarters
• 200g cultured buttermilk
• 50g raspberries, frozen
• 40g lemon juice
• 20g apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbls vanilla extract
  
  
• 350g golden caster sugar, or plain caster sugar
• 120g butter, room temperature, cubed
• 100g light olive oil
• 3 x 60g eggs, room temperature
  
  

WHITE CHOCOLATE ICING

• 300g white chocolate, cut into small pieces (bud size)
  
  
• 100g butter, room temperature
• 250g cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes, or ½ tsp fine sea salt
  
  
• 500g icing sugar mixture
  
  
• Freeze dried raspberries, crushed, to sprinkle around edges if desired

Instructions

METHOD FOR THE CAKE

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees, fan forced, and place rack into middle of oven
2. Grease and line 2 x 20cm round bake tins (base measurement) with baking paper (only line the base with paper, and well grease the sides with butter)
3. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into TM bowl and mix 10 seconds / speed 4 to combine, put aside, do not clean TM bowl
4. Place beetroot, buttermilk, raspberries, lemon juice, vinegar and vanilla into TM bowl and blend 20 seconds / speed 6, scrape around bowl, then blend again for 1 minute / speed 9 to puree into a liquid, put aside, do not clean TM bowl
5. Add sugar, butter, oil and eggs to TM bowl and blend 30 seconds / speed 4, scrape around bowl
6. Add half flour mix and half beetroot mix and blend 10 seconds / reverse / speed 4
7. Scrape around bowl, add the last of the flour and beetroot mixes and blend 10 seconds / reverse / speed 4, scrape around bowl then repeat 2 seconds / reverse / speed 4
8. If there is any flour on top that still needs to be mixed in do that with your spatula
9. Divide mix evenly between the two cake containers (approximately 810g per tin … I place each tin onto a digital scale and measure in the batter to get the exact amount into each tin to ensure even cake layers) and level the top
10. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (it takes exactly 35 minutes in my oven)
11. Cool in tin 15 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely, keeping the base piece of baking paper on in case you wish to freeze the cake layers as mentioned in the notes
    
    

METHOD FOR ICING

1. Place chocolate into TM bowl and mill 5 seconds x speed 9 (if there are still some large pieces, then repeat 2 seconds x speed 9)
2. Scrape around sides, then melt 6 minutes / 50 degrees / speed 3 (pause and scrape after 3 minutes if chocolate is not melting uniformly … you want it to be completely melted so keep going until it is all liquid … if after 6 minutes it still has some small lumps, scrape around bowl and melt for another minute until smooth)
3. Set aside, do not clean TM bowl
4. Add butter, cream cheese, vanilla and salt to TM bowl and mix 10 seconds / speed 5, scrape around bowl and repeat 5 seconds / speed 5
5. Add icing sugar first to the TM bowl, then place melted chocolate on top
6. Mix 15 seconds / speed 10, scrape around bowl and repeat 10 seconds / speed 10, scrape around bowl and repeat for a final 2 seconds / speed 10
7. Use as desired

Notes

This batter will make 2 x 20cm (base measurement) round cakes, which are sandwiched together by a thick layer of the icing, before being surrounded by icing in the “naked” fashion that is popular at the moment. If you prefer to use less icing, then you can simply sandwich the two cakes with a layer of icing, and then top the cake with icing alone instead of covering the sides too.

If you wish to do the sides, I have found the best way to get a nice even finish, is to place each cooled cake on a plate or cake board - with the base baking paper still on – double wrap it in Glad wrap and pop it into the freezer for at least two hours. This is sufficient time to “set” the crust of the cake, making it really easy to cover the cake with icing, and scrape around the sides thinly without collecting cake crumbs which can mar the final look of the cake. This is not absolutely vital, but just my suggestion based on what I have found.

The icing can be made and used straight away, or made in advance and kept for up to a week in the fridge, or at least a month in the freezer. The day you wish to use it, take it out of the fridge in the morning and place on your bench … keep it in its container until you are about to use it, and then stir through a spoon to loosen it up well enough to be able to spread over your cake. It should sit on your bench at least a couple of hours to loosen as it goes really firm in the fridge.

Once iced allow the cake to sit at room temperature for an hour or so to “set” the icing, then cover and leave at room temperature in a sealed container for 24 hours until ready to serve. Leftovers will keep in the same sealed container for a couple of days as long as the weather is not too hot, in which case I would put it into the fridge, but remove at least an hour before serving.

This is not a large cake, but the combination of the cake and icing is quite rich, so it is perfect for a group of 10 to 12 people. If you wish the cake to be larger, then I would suggest you bake the entire batter in a 24cm round tin, and make the cake 2 or 3 times based on how many layers you wish to have. Of course you will also then need to make more icing, but it keeps really well in the freezer which is what I do all the time, and can be a life saver.

When cutting the cake, if you wish to ensure a nice even slice, then dip your cake knife into a jug of hot water, wipe it clean with kitchen paper then cut each slice. Continue to “dip and wipe” as you cut each slice to give you consistent pieces … this will also allow you to cut thin pieces which can sometimes be quite difficult if your cutting knife is not “hot”.

3.5.3251