Red velvet has to be one of the best inventions in the culinary landscape! The combination of sweet and tart, with its crumbly texture and melt-in-your-mouth sensation, creates the perfect marriage with your tastebuds. We mostly see this delicious dessert in the form of a cake, but why does such an amazing flavour have to be limited to cakes alone?

With an irresistible flavour as such, the sky is the limit! Here are a few red velvet recipes beyond our very well-known traditional cakes.

Photo: Fariha Amber

RED VELVET CHEESECAKE BROWNIE

Ingredients

For the brownie batter –

½ cup butter

¼ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

¾ tsp white vinegar

100g milk chocolate

1 tbsp cocoa powder

½ cup flour

1 tsp red food colour gel

For the cheesecake swirl —

200g cream cheese

2 tbsp sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Start by making the brownie batter: Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler and stir occasionally. Once completely melted, add in sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Remove from heat and cool down slightly by stirring before adding in a couple of eggs. Mix the eggs entirely and then add vanilla extract and coco powder.

Once you have a homogenous mixture, add in red food colour and white vinegar. Lastly, add flour by the spoonful and stir to combine. Once the batter is ready, pour it into a greased baking dish leaving out a couple of tablespoons.

To make the cream cheese mixture, whisk sugar with room temperature cream cheese, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until it is a smooth mixture. Pour little dollops of the cream cheese mixture on the batter and slightly spread the mixture.

Swirl the mixture with a stick and bake it in a preheated oven at 180°C for 25 minutes. Let it cool slightly before cutting into pieces.    

Photo: Fariha Amber

RED VELVET LAVA CAKE

Ingredients

3 eggs

2 tbsp sugar

150g white chocolate

1/3 cup flour

100g butter

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp red food colour

Method   

Start by greasing three ramekins with sugar, and coat them with sugar. Add butter and 100g white chocolate into a bowl and melt over a double boiler. Crack in three eggs, adding sugar and vanilla extract to it. Whisk until the eggs are fluffy and add in the white chocolate mixture. Pour in red food colour to this mixture to get a striking red colour.

Add flour and coco powder together and sift this in while mixing. Pour this mixture into the greased ramekins and bake them in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, cut along the edges, and flip them over onto a plate. Dust with caster sugar and melt the remaining 50g of white chocolate to drizzle over.

Photo: Fariha Amber

RED VELVET COOKIES

Ingredients

1½ cups flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

½ tsp baking soda

100g butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

1 egg

80g white chocolate chips

1 tbsp red food colour

Method   

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda together. Sprinkle in chocolate chips (leaving a handful for garnish) and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, add butter, vanilla extract, and two types of sugar, and cream everything together. Crack in one egg along with red food colour and mix.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture little by little until a dough is formed. Cover the dough in cling film and refrigerate it for an hour. Once ready, form it into even-sized balls with your palms and bake them at a preheated oven at 180°C for 8-10 minutes.

Once baked, take it out of the oven and press over some chocolate chips while still warm, and let them cool before digging in!

Food: Fariha Amber