Pink Champagne Velvet Layer Cake

• Meat

  • 4 Wire cooling racks

• Produce

  • 1 Mint, fresh sprigs
  • 1 Raspberries and/or strawberries, Fresh red

• Refrigerated

  • 3 4 cup (180 grams egg whites (about 6

• Condiments

  • 1 Recipe best ever strawberry-raspberry sauce

• Baking & Spices

  • 1/2 tsp Almond extract, pure
  • 2 cups Granulated sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups Lily self-rising flour, White
  • 1 Metal angled or offset icing spatula
  • 1 Metal icing spatula
  • 1/4 cup Palm shortening, organic
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract, pure

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 1/4 cup Almond oil, organic

• Bread & Baked Goods

  • 1 8-inch cardboard cake, round
  • 1 Cake turntable

• Dairy

  • 1/2 cup Butter, unsalted
  • 1/2 cup Buttermilk, organic

• Beer, Wine & Liquor

  • 2 cups Champagne
  • 1/2 cup Champagne reduction
  • 1 Recipes pink champagne buttercream

• Tools & Equipment

  • 1 Wax paper

• Other

  • Three 8-inch by 1½- to 2-inch round or heart-shaped cake pans
  • Piping bag, coupler and/or decorating tips, necessary for piping

Found on wickedgoodkitchen.com

Description

Ingredients

• For the Champagne Reduction
• 2 cups (480 ml) champagne, pink champagne or sparkling wine, I used Santa Margherita Prosecco
• For the Champagne Velvet Layer Cake
• 2½ cups (280 grams) sifted White Lily® Self-Rising Flour
• 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick/113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¼ cup (48 grams) organic palm shortening, such as Spectrum® brand
• ¼ cup (56 grams) organic almond oil, or favorite vegetable oil
• ½ cup (120 ml) champagne reduction
• ½ cup (120 ml) organic buttermilk, at room temperature
• ¾ cup (180 grams) egg whites (about 6), at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) pure almond extract
• ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) pure vanilla extract
• Extra flour and shortening to prepare cake pans
• For the Pink Champagne Buttercream
• 1 to 1½ recipes Pink Champagne Buttercream, recipe by Wicked Good Kitchen™
• For the Strawberry-Raspberry Filling
• 1 recipe Best Ever Strawberry-Raspberry Sauce, recipe by Wicked Good Kitchen™
• For the Cake Adornments
• Fresh red raspberries and/or strawberries, optional
• Fresh mint sprigs, optional
• Special Equipment
• Three 8-inch by 1½- to 2-inch round or heart-shaped cake pans
• Four wire cooling racks, with the fourth being used to flip cake layers right side up
• One 8-inch cardboard cake round, helpful but not necessary
• Cake Turntable, such as Ateco®, helpful but not necessary
• Metal Angled or Offset Icing Spatula, such as Ateco® or Wilton®, helpful but not necessary
• Metal Icing Spatula, such as Ateco® or Wilton®, helpful but not necessary
• Wax paper, for lining cake plate for icing, helpful but not necessary
• Piping bag, coupler and/or decorating tips, necessary for piping

Directions

• Prepare the Champagne Reduction: In a medium heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, bring champagne to a boil. Boil until reduced to ½ cup, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, arrange oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease three 8-inch round or heart-shaped cake pans with shortening or oil. Line bottoms with parchment or wax paper cut to fit the size of pans. Grease paper linings and dust lined pans with flour, tapping out the excess. Set aside.
• Prepare the Champagne Velvet Layer Cake: Using an electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix self-rising flour and sugar (or flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) on low speed (stir) until well combined and aerated, about 1 minute. Add butter, shortening and oil and mix on slow speed until thoroughly combined. Mixture will be very thick.
• In a 2-cup glass liquid measuring cup, whisk together champagne reduction, buttermilk, egg whites and extracts using a fork until well blended. Slowly add half of the liquid mixture to the batter and mix on low speed. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of bowl as necessary with rubber spatula, about 2 minutes. Add remaining liquid mixture and beat just until smooth and thoroughly combined, again scraping down the sides of bowl as necessary, about 1 minute.
• Using rubber spatula, scrape and pour batter into prepared pans dividing evenly (a little over 2 cups of batter per cake pan). Smooth tops evenly with rubber spatula and then rap each pan on counter surface 2 to 3 times to expel any air bubbles. This step will create a nice level cake.
• Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. (I have found that 28 minutes is perfect.) Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Run thin metal spatula around edges of each cake to loosen, then invert onto wire rack and peel away parchment or wax paper. Turn right side up onto wire racks (using an additional rack to flip) and cool completely or wrap while still warm to retain moisture. Wrap each cake layer tightly in plastic food wrap and keep at room temperature until ready to fill and frost.
• To Assemble, Frost and Fill the Cake: Use a scant ¾ cup frosting between each layer. After frosting each the bottom and middle layer, pipe a simple ¼-inch border of buttercream around the perimeter of the cake to act as a dam to prevent the filling from going over the edge of the cake layer. Following this, lightly spoon about 4 tablespoons of the Strawberry-Raspberry Filling on top of the buttercream in the center. Using a small angled metal spatula, carefully spread the filling outward to the dam border of buttercream. Carefully place the next cake layer on top and press down gently. Proceed to frost the cake as desired with remaining buttercream.
• To Make a Rose Cake with “Rose Swirls”
• Use a scant ¾ cup frosting between each layer and then proceed to frost the cake with a “crumb coat” or thin coat, but not too thin. The cake should have good coverage and you should not see the cake peeking through the frosting.
• Next, assemble your pastry bag with coupler and tip. (I like to use my Ateco No. 846 tip because it makes gorgeous swirled roses. However, you can also use an open tip like the Wilton 1M.) Fill pastry bag and twist closed. Make sure your hands are not too warm or your buttercream will get too soft. You are now ready to pipe roses!
• To pipe roses, start at the bottom and work around the cake to complete a full circle of roses. To pipe each rose, start in the center of where you want your rose to be. Then pipe in a circular fashion counter-clockwise going around the center point once or twice depending on the size of roses you desire. The roses don’t need to be perfect! This is what is so great about piping swirled roses as they look lovely shabby and chic. It is best to end in the same place each time and I like to end at the top right side of each rose.
• Once you complete the first row around the cake, continue with the next row and then the top. To fill in any gaps, I like to pipe small stars or flourishes that contour the rose swirls. Rose Cakes are the best. So simple, but so stunning!
• To Bake Cupcakes
• See specific baking directions and tips in the Notes section at the bottom below recipe.
• In general, most cake batters may also be baked in standard paper bake cups in standard 12-cup muffin pans for cupcakes. Usually, a one-layer cake recipe will yield 12 to 15 cupcakes and a two-layer cake recipe will yield 24 to 30 cupcakes. Fill cups at least 2/3 full and bake at 350ºF. until tops spring back when lightly touched, about 15 to 20 minutes. (An exception to this is Wicked Good Kitchens Carrot Cake recipe, which requires a gentle oven at 325ºF. So, be sure to bake cupcakes at the same temperature as the cake recipe requires.) Rotate pan halfway through baking time for even baking and check for doneness 5 minutes before recommended baking time in recipe. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Transfer baked cupcakes to wire racks to cool completely, about 1 hour, before frosting.