MY LOVE OF RED VELVET!

As they put the finishing touches on the Red Carpet for the Academy Awards Ceremony tonight, I find my mind wandering to something else I adore that is red. Red Velvet Cake! Yummmm. I am fairly new to this delicious delight, it has only become a recent phenomanom in Canada. I have now found that there is not only Red Velvet Cake and Cupcakes but many other scrumptious incarnations.

Thanks to Willow Bird Baking I have discovered delicious cheesecake.


Red Velvet Cheesecake

Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking
Yield: 11-13 pieces

Crust Ingredients:
32 chocolate sandwich cookies, finely processed into crumbs (cream and all – it’ll disappear when you crush them up!)
5 1/3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Small pinch of salt

Ganache Ingredients:
3/4 cups heavy cream
10 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used half semisweet and half bittersweet chocolate chips)

Cake Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
1 ounce red food coloring

Filling Ingredients:
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs

Decorative Toppings (optional):
2 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
white chocolate for drizzling
strawberries

Directions:

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom and the sides of an 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides to make it easier to lift the cake out of the pan when it’s done. Cream shortening, sugar, and eggs. Make a paste of the cocoa and coloring and add to the shortening mixture. Add salt and vanilla. Add buttermilk alternately with the flour, beginning and ending with flour. Mix vinegar and soda right before using and add to mixture by folding in. Pour batter into the cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely, cover in wax paper, and freeze for 30 minutes or until firm.

Make the cheesecake: To make the crust, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet. Combine the chocolate cookie crumbs, melted butter and salt in a small bowl. Toss with a fork to moisten all of the crumbs. Press into a thin layer covering the bottom and sides of the springform pan (at least 3 inches up the sides).

Bring the cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Once the cream reaches a simmer, pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand 1-2 minutes. Whisk in small circles until a smooth ganache has formed. Pour 1 – 1.5 cups of the ganache over the bottom of the crust. Freeze until the ganache layer is firm, about 30 minutes. Reserve the remaining ganache; cover and let stand at room temperature for later decorating.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F and position a rack in the middle of the oven. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until well blended. Beat in the flour. Add in the vanilla and beat until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition.

Pour the filling over the cold ganache in the crust. Place the springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the top is lightly browned, puffed and cracked at the edges, and the center moves only very slightly when the pan is lightly shaken, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire cooling rack. Cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator and let cool at least 3 hours, until completely chilled and set.

Assemble topping: Whip room temperature ganache to create a fluffy texture perfect for piping. In a separate bowl, mix together cream cheese, butter, and confectioners’ sugar to make a small amount of cream cheese frosting for decorating.

Assemble the cheesecake: Wrap a warm towel around the outside of the springform pan to help loosen the crust from the sides. Carefully remove the springform. Transfer the cake to a serving platter. Here, you can schmear some ganache on the cheesecake to help the red velvet cake adhere. I didn’t, but it’s a good idea. Then place your red velvet cake layer on top of cheesecake (right side up). Decorate top of cake with drizzled white chocolate, piped cream cheese frosting, whipped ganache, and strawberries.

And Sweet Peas Garden
introduced me to these fabulous brownies.

Red Velvet Cheescake Brownies

1/2 cup butter
2oz dark coarsely chopped chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 eggs
1tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp red food colouring
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
8oz. room temperature cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Prehat oven to 350.F. Butter bottom and sides of 8 inch metal baking pan. line with parchment paper. Butter parchment paper.
2. Melt butter and chocolate together in smal heatproof bowl over simmering pan of water. Cool for a few min.
3. In large bowl whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and food colouring. Add chocolate and stir until smooth. Add flour and salt and stir until just combined and no streaks or dry ingredients remain.
4. Pour into pan and spread evenly.
5. Beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla in medium bowl until smooth. Pour 8 dollops over brownie batter and swirl in.
6. Bake 35-40 minutes until set. Insert knife into brownies it should come out clean. Edges should be lightly brown. Cool completely before removing brownies from pan.

So at the end of this evening when all of the little gold men have found a home, I will be planning a Red Velvet Ceremony of my own. For tonight I will settle for a lovely cup of Red Velvet Hot Chocolate while I watch the walk down the Red Carpet.