Winter Velvet Layer Cake
by Carly Cerniglia
The holidays are here and it’s time to get whimsical! Bring the winter wonderland indoors this year with this winter velvet layer cake! This cake has white and red velvet cake layers wrapped up in candy-cane stripes and topped with peppermint bark and candy canes. Feel free to get creative with the candies and decorate to your heart’s desire! It’s a great task for the kiddos, too!
Ingredients:
For the cake:
5 ounces egg whites
14 ounces cake flour
13 ounces sugar
6 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ounces vegetable oil
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
10 ounces buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons red food coloring
For the frosting:
2 cups unsalted butter
10 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼-½ cup heavy cream, as needed
red food coloring
For White chocolate drip:
1 cup white chocolate candy melts
2 tablespoons coconut oil
For “snow”:
1 cup white chocolate candy melts
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon white corn syrup
assorted peppermint candies and fresh sage
Directions:
Preheat oven to 335 degrees. Grease and line four 6-inch cake pans.
In a stand mixer, mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and butter until it resembles coarse sand.
In a small bowl, mix ½ cup of the buttermilk with the oil. Mix remaining buttermilk with the eggs and vanilla. With the mixer running on low, slowly mix in the oil mixture. Raise speed to medium and mix cream for two minutes. Add in milk and egg mixture in small additions until blended. Scrape bowl and stir in.
Pour half of the batter into two of the cake pans. Add the red food color to the remaining batter and divide the batter between the remaining cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean. Bang pans against a heat proof surface and let cool for 10 minutes. Transfer cakes to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Directions for frosting:
Cream butter in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and then slowly add in powdered sugar, beating well after each addition. If the frosting starts to get too thick, drizzle in heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time. Let frosting beat for five to seven minutes until nice and fluffy. Remove two thirds of the frosting. Add red food color to the remaining third and mix until desired color is reached.
To assemble:
Cut each cake into 2 layers. Alternate cake colors as you frost and fill the cake with the white frosting. I used four white layers and three red. Lightly frost the outside of the cake, just to get the crumbs. Freeze or chill until the frosting hardens. Using piping bags, pipe even rings of white and red frosting. With a cake comb, smooth out the icing using long strokes. A turntable helps with this. Once satisfied, chill in the fridge.
Meanwhile, melt the drip white chocolate candy melts according to package directions. Mix in coconut oil until a smooth “drippable” consistency is reached. Spoon on top of the cake, encouraging it to start dripping. Smooth top and let it harden a bit.
Using a star tip, pipe white buttercream swirls on top of the cake. Press in peppermint bark and sage as desired.
Melt candy melts for “snow” and mix in coconut oil, then corn syrup. Mixture will seize with the addition of the corn syrup creating snow. Spoon onto cake and around the cake’s edge.