This layered red velvet American cake was something I had wanted to make in my kitchen for a long time, and when my son Andrew asked for this particular recipe, I immediately got interested in gathering the ingredients and the right gel food coloring for the preparation.
It’s a shame that you can’t really see much red, or at least, very little of it, and it really annoys me, but I have no intention of making it again because we eat a lot here and I didn’t want to throw it away!
I followed the recipe for this delightful American red cake after watching and purchasing an online pastry course on Instagram (here): the dough is soft and delicate, and the color is, let’s say, “debatable”!
I bought the red gel coloring 
but I’m not sure if it’s the right shade of red, also because with the addition of cocoa… the color of the dough changes a lot! I added just a little bit at a time, just a knife tip…
The filling of the American red cake is a creamy chantilly with cream, cream cheese, and mascarpone—a bomb of goodness!
Another ingredient not often used in our kitchens is buttermilk, buttermilk, or buttermilch that we can easily make at home, and I’ll explain how!
BUTTERMILK: what it is and how to prepare it in our kitchens
BUTTERMILK is the by-product of turning cream into butter, and we can prepare it using either whipping cream or a mix of milk, yogurt, and lemon juice.
BUTTERMILK WITH CREAM: whip the cream until it curdles, and you find butter, which placed on a strainer and pressed, will produce a liquid that is the buttermilk! (If using the classic 250 ml package of fresh cream, you’ll get about 90g of butter and 125g of buttermilk.
BUTTERMILK WITH YOGURT, LEMON, AND MILK: to get the same amount of buttermilk, mix 60g of yogurt with 60g of milk, and finally add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°I have opened a channel for recipes open to all and free on WhatsApp, no notifications and no sound, which you can subscribe to by clicking on the link here https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaHbGIn9cDDig7Cw2x0F and every day you can read one sweet and one savory recipe!
Still on the THEME OF AMERICAN RECIPES, I leave you some more proposals just below:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 8Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 150 g eggs (about 3 for me it was 162 grams which I kept!)
- 140 g sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/4 lemon (juice only)
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 7 g baking powder
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- to taste red food coloring (in gel)
- 1 tsp butter (melted for the molds I used)
- 1 tbsp flour (for the molds I used)
- 1 cup whipping cream, 35% fat
- 200 g mascarpone
- 100 g powdered sugar (even 120, taste and decide!)
- 175 g cream cheese
Tools
for 4 silicone molds of 6 inches each here 
- Stand Mixers
- Pastry Brushes
- Sifters
- Spatulas
- Food Scales
FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE RED VELVET AMERICAN CAKE RECIPE
So I mix the lemon juice with the milk and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
In the meantime, I beat the eggs with the sugar for about 10/15 minutes until it’s a light, fluffy mass.
After the resting time, I add the vegetable oil to the buttermilk mix and… the recipe says to add the coloring, a step I didn’t take, and I’ll explain why…
Because I think I could better control the shade of the color by adding the red gel to the already formed dough! But if you prefer…
I sift together the flour with the unsweetened cocoa powder, the baking powder, and baking soda and then add the rest, already done, at low speed or using a soft spatula called marisa.
I now added a knife tip of red food coloring, mixed, then added a second and a third, hoping to have gotten the color right even after baking.I let it cool thoroughly for several hours, and at the right moment, I prepare the cream by putting the mascarpone and cream and sugar in the stand mixer bowl, and whipping everything well.
I put everything in a piping bag with the nozzle I like best, smooth or star or duckbill, and fill the first one, then repeat the steps in this little red velvet, decorating it as my creative spirit suggests or getting inspiration from Pinterest.The layers are thin; I didn’t use any soaking, but if we want, we can make a syrup with equal weights of water and sugar, letting it simmer and cool before soaking the cake and building this delicious American cake!
ENJOY YOUR MEAL WITH THE RED VELVET, red velvet American cake!
Annalisa
SOURCE for the buttermilk is GZ’s website
MISTAKES… I could have trimmed all the edges of the 4 mini cakes, but I deliberately left everything so imperfect and artisanal, but if you want to, with a little knife or a saw and if you have good manual skills!
It’s very tall; maybe 3 layers would have been enough, but if you want to impress for a birthday or something else, it’s really cool!
BAKING TIME I indicated only 25 minutes because the total batter is spread in 4 small circular silicone molds, so the thickness is low, and it bakes faster than a 20 cm cake with greater thickness… but you know, I don’t want to be too much of a teacher!
I remind you that at the top where you see the blog menu, there’s a magnifying glass 🔎 that allows you to insert an ingredient or the title of a recipe, to find all the preparations that have that title or ingredient, and I hope that among these, you will find recipes to your liking!
