Cake of the Day: Pink Velvet Cake from ‘Baking With The Brass Sisters’
Every day, Yahoo Food features delectable cakes. They taste good, they look good, and they’re made by good people — talented bakers from around the world. Today, Marilynn Brass and Sheila Brass share a pretty-in-pink velvet cake from their cookbook Baking With The Brass Sisters.
The Pink Velvet Cake relies on seedless raspberry jam for its pink color. (Photo: Andy Ryan)
By Marilynn Brass & Sheila Brass
Pink Velvet Cake
Yields one 7-inch, 3-layer cake; 8 slices
We’ve always loved Red Velvet Cake, even making it into diminutive cupcakes, but we were looking for a very special cake for a young birthday girl, and we decided to bake a Pink Velvet Cake, just as delicious, but very “girly.” We based this recipe on the Red Velvet Cake in Heirloom Cooking. We admit that this cake, when frosted and decorated, reminds us a bit of those plastic doll cakes from the 1960s and 1970s, with their skirts made of cake. The Pink Velvet Cake relies on seedless raspberry jam for its pink color. We found that boys and men also enjoy a slice of this feminine cake.
Cake
2 cups cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup seedless raspberry jam
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Raspberry Frosting
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ cup seedless raspberry jam
2 tablespoons water, plus more if needed
Topping
1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted if desired
Pink candy dots
Set the oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Coat the bottoms and sides of three 7-inch round cake pans with butter or vegetable spray. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper or wax paper and coat with vegetable oil spray. Dust the pans with flour and tap the pans to remove the excess flour. Set aside.
To make the cake: Add the cake flour and salt to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Cream the butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until soft and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the raspberry jam and beat to combine.
Combine the vanilla and buttermilk in a glass measuring cup. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the butter milk, beating well after each addition. Add the baking soda to the vinegar and fold into the batter.
Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a metal tester inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Transfer the cakes to wire racks and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Run a smooth butter knife gently around the edges to loosen the cakes. Invert the cakes and remove the liners. Set the cakes right side up on the racks. Let cool completely.
To make the raspberry frosting: Add the confectioners’ sugar, butter, salt, and jam to the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat to combine. Add 1 tablespoon of the water at a time and continue to beat until the frosting comes together. Add more water, one teaspoon at a time, if needed, to reach the desired consistency. The frosting should be a pale pink.
Carefully slice a thin layer off the top of each cake to level them, if necessary. Place the bottom layer of cake on a cake round lined with four small pieces of wax paper, and spread the frosting over the top of this cake layer with an offset spatula. Frost only the tops of the bottom and middle layers. Add the third layer and frost the top and the sides of the entire cake. Immediately cover the sides of the cake with shredded coconut. Pipe frosting flowers over the edge of the cake, using a #190 Ateco frosting tip. Place 1 pink candy dot in the center of each flower. Store the cake in the refrigerator. Remove the cake from the refrigerator 10 minutes before serving. Store any leftover cake in the refrigerator.
Reprinted with permission from Baking With The Brass Sisters, by Marilynn Brass & Sheila Brass (St. Martin’s Griffin).
Baking With The Brass Sisters, by Marilynn Brass & Sheila Brass. (Photo: Andy Ryan)
For more awesome cake inspiration, visit our Cake of the Day Pinterest board and get to pinning!
More pretty-in-pink cakes:
Strawberry Sundae Cake from ‘Grandbaby Cakes’
Cake of the Day: Rose Pound Cake from ‘Scandinavian Baking’
