For those who love the chocolaty airiness of a Red Velvet cake, but find the "red" in it a little disconcerting, here's a satisfying substitute without that unpleasant carmine/cochineal aftertaste.
Brown Velvet Cake
recipe adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook
makes one 6 inch round double layer cake and 9 cupcakes
(also makes one 9 inch round double layer cake or 30 cupcakes)
INGREDIENTS
Make the cake:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup or 113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
5 tbsp water
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
Decorate the cake:
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
METHOD:
1. Preheat oven to 325F (163 C). Grease and line cake pans and muffin tins if using.
2. In a small bowl, sift or whisk together flour and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs one by one and beat until well combined.
4. In a small bowl, combine cocoa, vanilla and water to make a thick paste. Add to the batter and mix well until combined.
5. Mix in dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with buttermilk. Beat on high until smooth. Combine baking soda and vinegar in a separate dish and then mix in.
6. Pour batter evenly into the cake pans or fill prepared cupcake liners half full. Bake cakes for 30 minutes or 12-15 minutes for cupcakes (until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean). Rotate pans halfway through baking. Let cakes cool in pans for 20 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting (about 1 hour).
7. Make the frosting. For cupcakes, frost as desired.
8. For a cake, mix half of the frosting with the chopped strawberries. This will be your cake filling. The rest of the frosting will be your cake topping. Once the cakes are cool enough, trim them with a serrated knife so that the tops are flat. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread the strawberry filling evenly all the way to the edges of the cake. Place the second cake layer on top and spread the rest of the plain frosting on it. Decorate with the remaining berries. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
