“Whenever I’m interested in something, I know the timing’s off, because I’m always interested in the right thing at the wrong time. I should just be getting interested after I’m not interested any more.” –
So apparently, red velvet is yesterday’s news. I don’t really understand these fads and trends. If you like something, you should like it despite of it being cool to like it or not. Be it clothes or food. Especially food. Unless you just get sick and tired of eating something over and over again.
With red velvet, I know people who love it and I know people who don’t get what the big deal is. Red velvet done well is some good cake, whether it is with egg or eggless. And I have noticed that red velvet cake is almost always paired with frosting. Usually cream cheese, but ermine and white chocolate frosting go really well too.
I wanted to make a simple red velvet loaf – sans icing. Then I took it one step further and thought why not a marbled loaf instead! This red velvet cake is good enough to eat on its own. No frosting needed. Plus because of the marbling, the cake has some visual appeal without needing any added frills.
And before you think it, no.. Its not just vanilla cake with half of the batter coloured red. Red velvet cake is actually a South American cake which is buttermilk based and is basically a vanilla cake with a little bit of cocoa added in. As is this cake… The entire batter is a butter milk cake (really good without any mixing or marbling as well) and to half of the batter, cocoa and red colour is added. The red colour is optional but some might say what is red velvet cake without it being red!
At this point, I should stop typing as the pictures say it all. A deceiving brown crust on the outside but slice into it and voila… Soft crumb and lovely red swirls. Bite into it.. And yum!!!
Red velvet marble cake
Ingredients
- 280 grams or 21/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 180 grams or ¾ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 250 grams or 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 240 ml or 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon vinegar
- 3 to 4 drops red food colouring
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C. Butter and flour a bundt pan.
- Mix the tablespoon of vinegar with the cup of milk. Stir and keep it aside.
- In a bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla. Keep aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This will take few minutes.
- Add the eggs one by one and beat well after each egg. Scrape the bowl as needed.
- Add the vanilla and beat well.
- Now add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately. First add ⅓ of the flour mixture, beat until incorporated, then ½ of the butter milk and beat, next ⅓ of the flour mixture, beat, then remaining ½ buttermilk, beat and then the last ⅓ of flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.
- Remove half of the batter into another bowl. It doesn't have to be exact.
- Whisk in the cocoa powder, vinegar and then the red food colour.
- Into your prepared pan, using a icecream scoop or large spoon/ladle, place dollops of vanilla batter leaving gaps in between. In these gaps, now place dollops of red velvet batter.
- Over the red velvet batter place dollops of the remaining vanilla batter and over the vanilla batter dollops, place dollops of the remaining red velvet batter.
- Now take a knife or a skewer. Gently put in into the batter, almost reaching the bottom of the pan at one corner or point. Now move it gently in a zig zag across the batter until you reach your starting point again. Don't over do this or the marbling won't be clear.
- Bake at 180 C or 350 F for 35 to 45 minutes until the cake springs back when pressed.
- Cook in pan for 5 minutes and then unmould. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
You can half the recipe and bake in a loaf pan for 45 to 55 minutes.
If you have ready made buttermilk, you can use that instead of curdling the milk with vinegar.
You can skip the food colour, the red velvet section will have a rusty colour.
My measuring cup is 240 ml
I have two other marble cakes on the blog. A mango and vanilla marble loaf and a classic chocolate and vanilla. What I especially like about marble cakes other than the two flavours in one deal, is that every slice is different. I like that no two pieces look alike.
And I think that uniqueness is more vivid in this red velvet swirl cake !
