A fluffy festive Red Velvet Cake, with a twist! White chocolate added to the cream cheese frosting creates a remarkably silky smooth texture pairing beautifully with the subtle light chocolate-vanilla flavor and tang from the velvety cake. If desired, add a touch of peppermint to liven the holiday spirit!
The holiday season is upon us and I’m so excited to share this red velvet cake that I’ve been holding for far too long. Around this time last year, I was in the middle of a major transition so although this Christmas cake was ready, the holiday came and went so fast, it was too late to post. Speaking of time, thanks to the ease of this silky smooth white chocolate cream cheese frosting, this beauty came together surprisingly quick! It’s much easier to decorate than it looks… also thanks to the red velvet crumbs hiding any imperfections.
Like any other season, certain flavors get a little more attention than any other time of the year. In the case of Christmas sweets, peppermint is no exception! If you haven’t noticed yet, the frosting viewed from the sliced cake shows a red and white pattern mimicking candy canes. Naturally, I HAD to add peppermint flavoring to the frosting, but only to the red portion to not overshadow the flavors of the red velvet cake and white chocolate cream cheese frosting. If you prefer a strong peppermint taste, feel free to add more or simplt omit the flavoring if you’d like to stick with the classic flavor of cream cheese frosting.
How to Make Alternating Swirls of Colored Frosting
Below are step-by-step images on how to make alternating colors of frosting that’s visible on sliced cake. The captions over the image is a shortened description of the steps. For full recipe instructions, see the recipe card towards the end of this post.
Now onto the velvety cake, shall we? I’ve honestly never had a bad slice of red velvet. In my experience, some bakeries make theirs extremely moist while others are average, so depending on how you like yours, this may or may not be a dealbreaker.
I’d rate this cake as being average in moistness with a fluffy buttery crumb. The cake will have a light note of chocolate with a subtle tang from the buttermilk, and a hint of vanilla flavor. When you think of these ingredients together for a cake, it sounds like a wild mix but when baked, it creates a beautiful amalgam of the most tender crumb that’s not overly sweet.
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Peppermint Red Velvet Cake
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 8 inch cake 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A fluffy festive Red Velvet Cake, with a twist! White chocolate added to the cream cheese frosting creates a remarkably silky smooth texture pairing beautifully with the subtle light chocolate-vanilla flavor and tang from the velvety cake. If desired, add a touch of peppermint to liven the holiday spirit!
Ingredients
RED VELVET CAKE
- 2 1/2 cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (15 grams) unsweetened baking cocoa
- 1 tablespoon (12 grams) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs (100 grams)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (150 grams) buttermilk
- 1/2 to 1 ounce (14 to 28 grams) red gel food color, divided
PEPPERMINT WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 16 ounces (452 grams) white chocolate chips or white baking chocolate, chopped
- 16 ounces (452 grams) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) heavy cream, chilled
- 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1/2 ounce (14 grams) red gel food color
OTHER
- mini candy canes, crushed
Instructions
- CAKE: Heat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line three (3) cupcake wells with a cupcake liner; set aside. This will be used as the crumb for the sides of the cake. Spray the bottom and sides of three 8-inch (20 cm) round baking pans with baking spray with flour; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; set aside.
- Using an electric mixer or a large bowl fitted to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium to high speed, beat sugar and butter until light in color and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, about 3 minutes. Mix in vanilla until just combined. While the electric mixer is ON, reduce speed to low, slowly add in the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk beginning and ending with the flour mixture until just combined. Mix in 1 tablespoon of red food color, add more until desired red is achieved.
- Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 full of batter which is about 1/4 cup. Bake cupcakes for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry or with a few dry crumbs.
- Using the remaining batter, divide equally between the prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry or with a few dry crumbs. Remove cakes from the oven onto a wire rack. Leave cakes in the pan to rest for 10 minutes before removing the pans to further cool to room temperature.
- FROSTING: In a medium microwaveable bowl, heat white chocolate for 30 seconds and stir. Reheat for another 30 seconds and stir. If further reheating is needed, heat in 15 second intervals until 75% of the white chocolate is melted. Continuously stir to allow the residual heat to melt any remaining solid chocolate; set aside. Note: Avoid overheating as white chocolate can quickly burn. When completely melted, it should be thick and warm to the touch, not hot.
- Using an electric mixer or a large bowl fitted to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on low to medium speed, mix cream cheese and butter until light in color and smooth. Spoon in white chocolate and continue to mix until smooth. At this time, the frosting may become thinner due to the warm white chocolate.
- While the mixer is on low speed, add heavy cream. Continue to mix until the cream is incorporated into the frosting. Increase speed to high and mix frosting for about 1 minute. Frosting should slightly thicken.
- Divide about 1/4 of the frosting into a small bowl. Mix in peppermint extract and red food color.
- ASSEMBLY: Prep a piping bag with a coupler set and fill the bag 3/4 full with peppermint red frosting. Twist the wide-end opening to seal in the frosting and cut the plastic tip off; set aside. In a separate piping bag, repeat the process for the white chocolate frosting.
- Place the bottom cake layer onto a cake plate or board. Beginning at the outer edge over the top of the cake, pipe a ring of white chocolate frosting. The width of the ring should be no more than 1/2 inch (1.3 cm). Moving toward the center, pipe another ring using the peppermint red frosting. Continue piping alternate rings of colored frosting until the center is reached. To ensure frosting is uniform, use an offset spatula to run across the top of the frosting. Be sure to run across the frosting in the same curve of the rings to minimize bleeding of one color onto the other. Place the second cake layer on top and repeat the process.
- Place the 3rd cake layer on top. Frost the top and sides with remaining white frosting. If about 1 cup of white frosting remains, use a star tip to pipe swirls. Sprinkle crushed peppermint candy.
- Shred the 3 red velvet cupcakes to crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the cake and lower half of the sides. Slice, serve and ENJOY!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Cake
- Cuisine: American
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